This is a biography of a book: the first collected edition of
Shakespeare's plays printed in 1623 and known as the First Folio. It
begins with the story of its first purchaser in London in December 1623,
and goes on to explore the ways people have interacted with this iconic
book over the four hundred years of its history. Throughout the stress
is on what we can learn from individual copies now spread around the
world about their eventful lives. From ink blots to pet paws, from
annotations to wineglass rings, First Folios teem with evidence of their
place in different contexts with different priorities. This study offers
new ways to understand Shakespeare's reception and the history of the
book. Unlike previous scholarly investigations of the First Folio, it is
not concerned with the discussions of how the book came into being, the
provenance of its texts, or the technicalities of its production.
Instead, it reanimates, in narrative style, the histories of this book,
paying close
attention to the details of individual copies now located around the
world - their bindings, marginalia, general condition, sales history,
and location - to discuss five major themes: owning, reading, decoding,
performing, and perfecting. This is a history of the book that
consolidated Shakespeare's posthumous reputation: a reception history
and a study of interactions between owners, readers, forgers,
collectors, actors, scholars, booksellers, and the book through which we
understand and recognize Shakespeare.
