| 400 Years of Shakespeare's Folio During Shakespeare's lifetime, 17 of his plays were printed as quartos with varying degrees of textual quality, one play at a time. After his death in 1616, the printers John Heminges and Henry Condell started gathering together as many plays as they could, both printed and, presumably, handwritten texts. They were also actors and shareholders in Shakespeare's old acting company, and they were his friends (he left them money for memorial rings in his will). The collected works was published by a syndicate of printers, publishers, actors, and company shareholders in order to pool expertise and spread costs: together they produced a monumental volume in Folio format, that is, a lush high-quality book made of sheets folded only once (rather than twice for the quarto). Check out these titles |
