This book, commonly known as "the third folio," is the third edition, first issue of the collected plays of William Shakespeare. The so-called "first folio" was printed in London and issued in 1623 by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount. It contained 36 plays, 18 of which had never before appeared in print, including Macbeth, The tempest, and Julius Caesar. Before the first folio, a number of Shakespeare's plays had been published in various smaller formats that were often edited poorly, with significant textual divergences between editions

The front matter contains commendatory verses and epistles dedicatory from contemporaries and admirers of Shakespeare, including Ben Jonson, James Mabbe, Leonard Digges, Hugh Holland, and John Milton

Printers' names from ESTC and Greg

For an in-depth examination of bibliographic variants of the third folio, see: McManaway, James G. "New discoveries in the third folio of Shakespeare," in The papers of The Bibliographical Society of America, v. 70, no. 4 (1976), p. 469-480

Signatures: [superscript pi]Áþ b́œ A-2Áœ B́ı C-4D́œ 4Éþ

Numerous errors in pagination

Title page vignette; head- and tailpieces; initials

"The title of this issue is known to exist in two states: in one, the Droeshout portrait (third state) which had been used in the earlier editions is introduced between the fifth lines and the imprint. In the other, that space was left blank."--Pforzheimer

In the copy described herein, the portrait appears on the title page, as described by Pforzheimer, while the verses by Ben Jonson appear opposite, on Áv

Bartlett, H.C. Shakespeare early editions

Boston Public Library. Barton collection catalogue

ESTC

Greg

Pforzheimer

Wing (2nd ed.)

Boston Public Library (Rare Books Department) copy bound in 19th-century red morocco triple-panelled in gilt. The spine is panelled and tooled in gilt with two brown leather labels. All text block edges are gilt. Leaves [superscript pi]A1, [superscript pi]A2, and [superscript pi]A3 are remargined, with losses to text of the latter partially reproduced in facsimile. 4E4 is reattached to a stub. An early ex-libris inscription has been erased from the head of the title page. Another early ex-libris is struck out at the head of p. 1. An early inscription on p. 664 (3K2v) reads: "Soe dire a tragidy was never yet as this of Romeo & Juliet." Marginalia is present, sparsely, throughout, including manuscript corrections to Hamlet (see 3S2r, 3S4v). The armorial bookplate of the Barton Library is present on the front pastedown and a Sotheby's auction description, with the price paid by Barton inscribed in his own hand, is laid onto the verso of the front free endpaper. Thomas Pennant Barton purchased this copy through the Harward sale in December, 1858. It is housed in a green cloth box with a black spine label

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