Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare

Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare

A celebration of the 400th anniversary of the printing of Shakespeare's First Folio in 1623

The First Folio is one of the great wonders of the literary world.

Published in 1623, seven years after the death of its author, it was the first printed edition of Shakespeare’s collected plays.  Without this achievement, we would have lost half of his dramatic work.

This website is dedicated in gratitude to the 400th birthday of this foundational book on the 8th November 2023.

Printing Shakespeare's First Folio

Publication

Explore the process behind the creation of Shakespeare’s First Folio.

Henry Condell and John Heminge

Cast

Find out about the principal characters involved in the First Folio’s publication.

Macbeth

Contents

The approximate date each play was written, its route to print, a brief synopsis of the plot and spoken words from the First Folio.

Listen and follow

Listen to speeches from all the plays while you read with ease the words as they appear in the First Folio.

Where are they?

How many copies of the First Folio survive and where are they today?

Where are they?

How many copies of the First Folio
survive and where are they today?

Celebration

Plans and Ambitions to celebrate the
First Folio’s 400th Birthday.

Folio-phernalia

Articles written for Folio400 by Shakespeare scholars, experts, writers and performers together with a video of the First Folio in the Globe Theatre.