The making of Shakespeare's First Folio

What readers know today know as Shakespeare's First Folio was first published in 1623 with the title Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. In The Making of Shakespeare's First Folio, Smith (Univ. of Oxford, UK) provides contextual information on that first publication of Shakespeare's complete works. Smith's chapter titles indicate the topics of discussion: "The Plays and Their Presentation," "Shakespeare's Reputation," "Team Shakespeare: The Backers," and "Printing and Publishing." A coda is devoted to "early readers." In addition to explaining the publication history of the First Folio, Smith demonstrates the ways in which the folio can be mined for information about the plays. For example, Smith argues that the introductory materials claiming the preeminence of the folio was less a reliable statement about the authority of these versions of the plays than a marketing ploy to convince buyers to invest in Shakespeare's complete works--even if they already owned several of the plays in a previously published form. In this detailed, informative study, Smith targets those interested in early modern theater and the history of the book as well as in Shakespeare. Numerous illustrations and recommendations for further reading add to the book's appeal. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. --Kathleen Kalpin Smith, University of South Carolina, Aiken

Clearly, the First Folio, as the 1623 text Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies is known today, is fundamentally important, if only for preserving 18 otherwise unpublished works of William Shakespeare, among them Macbeth, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, and Antony and Cleopatra. Smith (English, Hertford Coll., Oxford Univ.; 30 Great Myths About Shakespeare) takes readers on an elegant tour, revealing in fascinating detail how and why the First Folio came into existence. She illuminates the "contexts" out of which it was created, explaining the theatrical practices that influenced the writing and formatting of printed plays; the affects of performance rights on the publishing schedule and physical layout; printing techniques that determined the overall quality; and political conditions, both international and local, that informed the book's reception and Shakespeare's reputation. Expect interest: the Folger Shakespeare Library is in the midst of its project First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare, a traveling exhibition bringing an original edition to each of the 50 U.S. states for a month each to mark the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death. VERDICT With its beautiful illustrations and intriguing background covering aspects of early modern life, this is just the thing for Bard lovers looking to fill in some of the blanks related to the book that gave us -Shakespeare.-Paul A. D'Alessandro, Brunswick, ME © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.