- Original Art: Shakespeare’s First Folio book binding
- Era: circa 1800 binding, 1623 publication
- Region: London, England
Experience an important piece of Shakespearean history with our Shakespeare’s Library series.
This stately gold-tooled design comes from a binding attributed to Christian Samuel Kalthoeber, a German bookbinder working in London. He created the beautiful new cover for this copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio around 1800.
Originally published in 1623 in London, Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies, known as the First Folio, is a frozen-in-time account of his plays, including typesetting errors and spelling mistakes. A massive publishing undertaking, it was proofread and corrected while being printed, so different versions of the book contain different errors and corrections. Prepared by his colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell seven years after his death, it contains 36 of Shakespeare’s plays printed in folio format.
Today, the First Folio is considered one of the most influential books published. It is acknowledged as being the only reliable text for the 18 Shakespeare plays that had never been previously printed, including Macbeth, The Tempest and Twelfth Night. From an original print run of approximately 750, only 235 copies are known to have survived. Due to its influence and scarcity, the First Folio is one of the most valuable printed books in the world, with one being sold at auction in 2020 for nearly $10 million.
The Folger Shakespeare Library itself holds 82 copies of the First Folio in their collection, more than one-third of all remaining volumes. To commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016, they toured selected copies through all 50 American states as part of their ongoing focus to help people “experience Shakespeare and his world in startling new ways.” Located just outside Washington, DC, the Folger is an international centre for Shakespeare scholarship and regularly hosts workshops, theatrical performances and family programs. We are honoured to introduce this beautiful and unique First Folio binding as our first reproduction from this unparalleled Shakespearean collection.
