First Folio

The title page of the First Folio with the famous picture of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout

The First Folio is the common name for the first collection of William Shakespeare's plays. It was published in 1623. Its title is Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. The collection was assembled by Shakespeare's theatrical colleagues, John Heminges and Henry Condell.

Four plays are missing: Pericles, Prince of Tyre, The Two Noble Kinsman, and the "lost plays" Cardenio and Love's Labours Won. It is believed about 750 copies were originally published. Two hundred twenty-eight remain in existence. The Folger Library in Washington, D. C. holds the most copies at 82. Copies that arrive at auction realize prices in the millions.

First Folio Media

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  Memorial to William Shakespeare in the Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey

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  Comparison of the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy in the first three editions of Hamlet, showing the varying quality of the text in the Bad Quarto, the Good Quarto and the First Folio

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  Table of Contents from the First Folio

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  Memorial to John Heminges and Henry Condell, editors of the First Folio, at Bassishaw, London

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  The First Folio (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

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  The Folger Shakespeare Library owns 82 copies of the First Folio—more than one third of all known surviving copies.