First Folio
The First Folio is the first published volume of the works of Shakespeare, which occurred in 1623.
It contained 18 plays that had never been published before, including Macbeth, and Julius Caesar.[1]
It also included one of the few portraits of Shakespeare himself.
The First Folio groups his plays into comedies, histories, and tragedies, which are categories still used today for his works.
There are only a few private original copies of this work. In 2020, one sold for $9.9 million.[2] The original print run was probably only Researchers think that there were probably about 750 copies, of which only 235 (many in libraries or museums) are known to survive.[1]
As reported by The Guardian, which asserts that without the First Folio, half of Shakespeare's plays would have been lost:
| “ | About 700 to 750 copies of the First Folio were produced. Some were bound with the skin of calf, sheep or goat, costing a sovereign, but most were left unbound. The target market was “discerning and wealthy theatregoers”, according to Coles. | ” |
