The Literature Book

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collected together and published

as a whole. His Works appeared

in 1616, the year of Shakespeare’s

death, and its popularity inspired

others to consider similar volumes.

Two of Shakespeare’s fellow

actors and close friends, John

Heminges and Henry Condell,

oversaw the mammoth task that

went into producing the First Folio.

This would have been a difficult job

and their first priority was to locate

the play texts. The playwright’s

original manuscript was either

used, or transcribed, by the

company, and then served as

the text from which “cue scripts”

were created: each actor would

have their own lines transcribed

with just a line or more to listen

out for as their cue. Over time

manuscripts disappear, or are

altered, revised, and covered in ink.

Today there are no Shakespearian

manuscripts in existence, although

there are 147 lines in a play called

Sir Thomas More that are thought to

be in Shakespeare’s own hand. The

First Folio serves as a monument

then to Shakespeare’s memory; it

proved so popular that it had to be

reprinted (with revisions) just nine

FIRST FOLIO

years later, and it has continued to

be republished in differing formats

ever since. It is no wonder that the

First Folio is regarded as such an

important book today, given the

vision and determination that went

into ensuring its publication.

A threefold division

The First Folio divides the plays

of Shakespeare into comedies,

histories, and tragedies. The

division into three genres is

somewhat arbitrary, and is more

reflective of the publisher’s desire

than it is suggestive of the way

King John

Richard II

Henry IV Part 1

Henry IV Part 2

Henry V

Henry VI Part 1

Henry VI Part 2

Henry VI Part 3

Richard III

Henry VIII

Troilus and Cressida

Coriolanus

Titus Andronicus

Romeo and Juliet

Timon of Athens

Julius Caesar

Macbeth

Hamlet

King Lear

Othello

Antony and Cleopatra

Cymbeline

The Tempest

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Measure for Measure

The Comedy of Errors

Much Ado About Nothing

Love’s Labour’s Lost

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The Merchant of Venice

As You Like It

The Taming of the Shrew

All’s Well That Ends Well

Twelfth Night

The Winter’s Tale

Comedies Histories Tragedies

Plays included in the First Folio

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