Caption: "Shakespeare, The Fourth Folio, 'And art alive still, while thy Booke doth liue' - Ben Jonson, printed by H. Herringman, E. Brewster, and R. Bentley, London, 1685. In terse, restrained language, Sir Sidney Lee, in his life of Shakespeare, gives us a fine example of criticism when he writes, 'In knowledge of human character, in wealth of humor, in depth of passion, in fertility of fancy and in soundness of judgment he has no rival . . . To Shakespeare the intellect of the world, speaking in diverse accents, applies with one accord his own words: 'How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in apprehension how like a god'.' The First Folio, printed in 1623, contained not only all the works previously printed, but also seventeen others, 'all true to original copies,' which no doubt means the manuscript copies in the possession of the company of players to which Shakespeare belonged. These were edited and seen through the press by his fellow actors and friends, John Heminge and Henry Condell, ‘without ambition either of selfe-profit or fame.’ In an epistle To the Great Variety of Readers, regarding Shakespeare manuscripts, these men say, ‘His mind and hand went together; and what he thought, he uttered with that easiness, that we haue scarce receiued from him a blot in his papers.’ The Second Folio appeared in 1632, the Third Folio, many of which were lost in the great London fire, in 1664. The Fourth Folio, the last, was printed in 1685. In each reprinting, more typographical errors or ‘corrections’ crept in, due to careless proofreading or ignorant actors in their attempt to modernize the lines. Herringman’s shop, ‘The sign of the Blue Anchor,’ was one of the chief lounging places for the literary lights of Restoration London. The paper used for the Folio was the best crown paper available, much better than that used for the printing of Bibles in those days.”
Shakespeare folios English literature--Early modern, 1500-1700 Printing--England--History--17th century Early printed books--Specimens Printing--Specimens
Place
London (England)
Source
Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University
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