Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Published according to the True Originall Copies

Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, commonly referred to as the First Folio, is the first collected printing of Shakespeare’s plays and arguably the most important book in all of English literature. Of the 36 plays contained in the volume, 18 appeared in print for the first time in this edition—including such works as The Tempest, Macbeth, and Henry VIII. Without this printing, these Shakespearean classics may not have been preserved for posterity. The now iconic frontispiece portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout the Younger (1601–ca. 1650) is considered the most authentic likeness of the playwright, though it was made several years after his death and it is unlikely that Droeshout was personally familiar with Shakespeare. The portrait’s artistic quality has been the subject of criticism, and the commendatory poem by Ben Jonson that appears opposite the title page encouraged readers to “looke / Not on his Picture, but his Booke.”