This is a biography of a book: the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays printed in 1623 and known as the First Folio. It begins with the story of its first purchaser in London in December 1623, and goes on to explore the ways people have interacted with this iconic book over the four hundred years of its history. Throughout the stress is on what we can learn from individual copies now spread around the world about their eventful lives. From ink blots to pet paws, from annotations to wineglass rings, First Folios teem with evidence of its place in different contexts with different priorities. This study offers new ways to understand Shakespeare's reception and the history of the book. Unlike previous scholarly investigations of the First Folio, it is not concerned with the discussions of how the book came into being, the provenance of its texts, or the technicalities of its production. Instead, it reanimates, in narrative style, the histories of this book, paying close attention to the details of individual copies now located around the world - their bindings, marginalia, general condition, sales history, and location - to discuss five major themes: owning, reading, decoding, performing, and perfecting. This is a history of the book that consolidated Shakespeare's posthumous reputation: a reception history and a study of interactions between owners, readers, forgers, collectors, actors, scholars, booksellers, and the book through which we understand and recognise Shakespeare.

An international team of scholars covers every aspect of one of the most famous books in the English language.

Curated from the Applause three-volume series, Once More unto the Speech, Dear Friends, edited by Neil Freeman, these monologue from Shakespeare's works are given new life and purpose for today's readers and actors alike. There are twelve titles in this series, which is divided into four categories: monologues for younger men, monologues for older men, monologues for women, and monologues for any gender, the latter being a unique feature since most monologue books are compiled for either men or women. Each book is presented in a smaller format that is more consistent with standard monologue books. Titles in the series: Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Any Gender: The Comedies Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Any Gender: The Histories Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Any Gender: The Tragedies Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Women: The Comedies Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Women: The Histories Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Women: The Tragedies Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Younger Men: The Comedies Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Younger Men: The Histories Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Younger Men: The Tragedies Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Older Men: The Comedies Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Older Men: The Histories Monologues from Shakespeare's First Folio for Older Men: The Tragedies

This major reference book for Shakespeare scholars and bibliographers is in the second part of the story of "the greatest book" in the English language. Listing 228 copies of the First Folio, the Census gives concise descriptions of each, covering condition, special features, provenance, and binding. It traces the search for copies, deals with doubtful identifications, describes the tests for inclusion, and presents details of missing copies.

The never-before-told story of how the makers of The First Folio created Shakespeare as we know him today. 2023 marks the 400-year anniversary of the publication of Mr William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, known today simply as the First Folio. It is difficult to imagine a world without The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Antony and Cleopatra, The Winter’s Tale, and Macbeth, but these are just some of the plays that were only preserved thanks to the astounding labor of love that was the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays. When the First Folio hit the bookstalls in 1623, nearly eight years after the dramatist’s death, it provided eighteen previously unpublished plays, and significantly revised versions of close to a dozen other dramatic works, many of which may not have survived without the efforts of those who backed, financed, curated, and crafted what is arguably one of the most important conservation projects in literary history. Without the First Folio Shakespeare is unlikely to have acquired the towering international stature he now enjoys across the arts, the pedagogical arena, and popular culture. Its lasting impact on English national heritage, as well as its circulation across cultures, languages, and media, makes the First Folio the world’s most influential secular book. But who were the personalities behind the project and did Shakespeare himself play a role in its inception Shakespeare’s Book: The Story Behind the First Folio and the Making of Shakespeare charts, for the first time, the manufacture of the First Folio against a turbulent backdrop of seismic political events and international tensions which intersected with the lives of its creators and which left their indelible marks on this ambitious publication-project. This story uncovers the friendships, bonds, social ties, and professional networks that facilitated the production of Shakespeare’s book—as well as the personal challenges, tragedies and dangers that threw obstacles in the path of its chief backers. It reveals how Shakespeare himself, before his death, may have influenced the ways in which his own public identity would come to be enshrined in the First Folio, shaping his legacy to future generations and determining how the world would remember him: "not of an age, but for all time." Shakespeare’s Book tells the true story of how the makers of the First Folio created “Shakespeare” as we know him today.