Shakespeare's Folios
The First Folio
The First Folio gathered Shakespeare's plays together for the first time and remains the only known source for over half of Shakespeare's plays. It was compiled by two actors of the King's Company of Players, who had to sift through the numerous unauthorised versions circulating at the time to produce the work. The First Folio was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death.
This Folio was donated to the State Library of New South Wales by the English philanthropist Sir Richard Tangye in 1885, together with a beautifully carved casket to hold the volume. It is the only First Folio in Australia.
The Second Folio
The Second Folio was published in 1632. It originally belonged to the actress Essie Jenyns, who was a popular Australian actress in the 1880s. Miss Jenyns was presented with the volume by four admirers while performing in Hobart in 1887. Three of the four signatures recorded in the front of the volume are all but illegible. The fourth was that of Robert Wood whom Essie Jenyns married when she retired from the stage the following year.
The Third Folio
The Third Folio was published in 1664 by Philip Chetwynde. Few copies of The Third Folio survive as many were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
The Fourth Folio
The Fourth Folio was purchased by the Library's great benefactor David Scott Mitchell, and was bequeathed to the Library with the rest of his collection.
Top image: Mr William Shakespeare's comedies, histories & tragedies: published according to the true original copies.Printed by Isaac Iaggard and Ed Blount, London, 1623.Location: SAFE/RB/Y1/1 First folio edition, first issue.
