FirstFolio3

Answer Prepared by: Giulia R **
 * WHAT IS THE FIRST FOLIO AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? WHAT STILL EXISTS OF THE FIRST FOLIO? WHERE IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST COLLECTION OF EXISTING FIRST FOLIOS TODAY? HOW WAS THIS COLLECTION AMASSED? WHERE ARE OTHER COPIES NOT IN THIS COLLECTION TODAY?

The First Folio was very important in advocating and preserving the works of William Shakespeare. It was the first collected edition of all of his plays. The First Folio was called __Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories and Tragedies__. It included 36 of his plays; only two were kept out. Without the First Folio, eighteen plays would have been lost including //Macbeth// and //As You Like It//. On the Folger Shakespeare Library website, Peter Blayney, author of __The First Folio of Shakespeare__, states that, “It is hardly surprising that the First Folio has been called ‘incomparably the most important work in the English language.’” Today, the largest collection of existing First Folios is in the Folger Shakespeare Library. The Library currently holds 79 copies of the First Folio, about one third of the existing copies. One of these copies is on permanent display. It is a very rare copy since it still has the original verse and title pages from 1623.

The Folger acquired that particular folio in 1897 from the Warwick Castle Library. The earl of Warwick, and J.O Halliwell-Phillips, an important Shakespeare scholar, had assembled this library. It became a prime for other items, such as quartos, which are books or pamphlets made up of one or more full sheets of paper on which 8 pages of text were printed, and then folded two times to produce four leaves. The Folio was the first acquisition of an extensive collection.

The most recent records show that there are 228 First Folios still in existence today. Copies are scattered all over the world in various libraries and universities. The British Library holds five copies; the Meisei University in Tokyo has twelve copies. Other copies remain in various other colleges and universities.

Click on this link to watch a video on the First Folio

The First Folio has been essential in our understanding of Shakespeare. Without it plays would have been lost. We might have never known Shakespeare to the extent we do now. Today, it has become one of the most acclaimed collections of works of all time.

"Printed Books: The Shakespeare Collection." //Folger Shakespeare Library//. Folger Shakespeare Library, n.d. Web. 4 Apr 2010. .
 * Works Cited"The First-Folio."//Folger Shakespeare Library.//Folger Shakespeare Library, n.d. Web. 4 Apr 2010. .

"Shakespeare's First Folio." //British Library//. British Library, n.d. Web. 29 Mar 2010. . **