8-2FirstFolio

What is the First Folio and why is it important? //Answer prepared by Andrew K.// The First Folio is the first collection of William Shakespeare’s plays that was published. The full title of the First Folio is “Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies.” Compiled by John Heminge and Henry Condell, it was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death. It consisted of 36 of the 38 plays that are believed to be authored by Shakespeare. The First Folio was published by William Jaggard and his son Isaac. Undoubtedly this was a terribly tedious task, as they had to set over 900 pages of type. Laurie Barth, states in her travel blog that the First Folio cost a grand sum of one pound, which is around $150 today. The First Folio contains a drawing of Shakespeare known as the Droeshout Engraving, according to Linda Alchin on William-Shakespeare.Info. The Droeshout Engraving is quite strange and many have speculated about the meaning of it. For example, there is a strange line running from Shakespeare’s ear to his chin. This suggests a mask, which means that Shakespeare may not really be who he seems. Below this picture is an inscription by Ben Jonson reading:

"To the Reader. This Figure, that thou here seest put, It was for gentle Shakespeare cut, Wherein the Graver had a strife with Nature, to out-doo the life : O, could he but have drawne his wit As well in brasse, as he hath hit His face ; the Print would then surpasse redress All, that was ever writ in brasse. But, since he cannot, Reader, looke Not on his Picture, but his Booke."

Mr. Jonson is basically saying to look at William Shakespeare’s works and not at the person he was. This should be done because his works are so great that they outweighed the person he was.

A great controversy exists with the First Folio. Starting in 1594, many of Shakespeare’s plays were published in books called quartos that would usually contain only one play. According to Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine in a preface to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as they were first published, quartos would contain unauthentic, often garbled versions of Shakespeare’s plays (XLV). Publishers often attained these texts from an actor’s memory or an audience member who took notes on a play. John Heminge and Henry Condell claim in the book’s forward that the versions of Shakespeare’s plays are “according to the True Original Copies.” In other words, the plays in the First Folio are ostensibly taken from Shakespeare’s original manuscripts and therefore much better than the quartos. After further review, the manuscripts in the First Folio are often not any better than the quartos. For example, four plays in the First Folio were basically copied out of quartos, four more were based off a professional scribe who recorded performances of Shakespeare’s plays, and one is thought to be taken from an unknown manuscript. There were no copyright laws in the 16th and 17th century, so this could very well be true. Unfortunately, none of Shakespeare’s manuscripts have ever survived, so we may never be able to known which is correct: the quartos or the First Folio.

Despite the apparent lack of authenticity of the First Folio, it is still invaluable in understanding the complex works of Shakespeare. It is approximated that 238 copies still exist, scholars around the world are continually studying these. It would be quite interesting to examine the difference between Dream, based on a 1600 quarto and A Midsummer’s Night Dream in the First Folio. From such processes, we can learn a great deal about Shakespeare and how his manuscripts evolved into the plays we know today. We can also examine the picture of Shakespeare known as the Droeshout Engraving, and the words of Ben Jonson to better understand Shakespeare. Maybe, they will be used to finally erase the cryptic shroud of mystery surrounding this man from Stratford-upon-Avon. Works Cited Alchin, Linda. "The Droeshout Engraving." William Shakespeare Info. 2005. 4 Apr 2009 .

Barth, Laurie. "First Folio." Shakespeare. USM. Accessed 4 Mar 2009 .

Mowat, Barbara A., and Paul Werstine. //A Midsummer Night's Dream//. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993.

A copy of the First Folio, in which one can see the Droeshout Engraving and the inscription by Ben Jonson.

Here is a link to a video about the First Folio from the Kennedy Center: []. Unfortunately, embedding was disabled for the video.