In short
In 1623, seven years after William Shakespeare's death, a group of his former colleagues published the First Folio—a collected edition of 36 of his plays bound in a single volume. Without this painstaking effort by actors John Heminges and Henry Condell, half of Shakespeare's known works, including Macbeth and The Tempest, would likely have vanished entirely. The First Folio became the foundation for all subsequent Shakespeare scholarship and established the template for how classical dramatic works could be preserved and transmitted.
How it unfolded.
The five-minute version
What actually happened.
The Printing Historical Society is a learned society devoted to the study of the history of printing, in all its forms.
Year by year.
Across 47 years, 7 pivotal moments.
Timeline
How it actually unfolded.
Shakespeare's death
William Shakespeare dies in Stratford-upon-Avon at age 52. Many of his plays exist only in manuscript or scattered quarto editions; others are known only through performance records.
Heminges and Condell begin compilation
Shakespeare's former colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell undertake the task of gathering, authenticating, and preparing texts for publication. The work spans approximately two years.
Copyright registration
The First Folio is registered with the Stationers' Company, establishing legal claim to the publication. Edward Blount and William Jaggard secure the rights to publish.
Printing begins
William Jaggard's printing shop begins production of the First Folio. The printing process takes several months, with sheets printed sequentially and distributed to binders.
First Folio publication
The First Folio is completed and released for sale at 15 shillings. It contains the commendatory verses by Ben Jonson and other literary figures, including Jonson's famous declaration that Shakespeare was 'not of an age, but for all time.'
Second Folio printed
A second folio edition is published, incorporating revisions and corrections to the 1623 text. Demand has justified a new printing, indicating the First Folio's commercial and literary success.
Third Folio printed
The third folio is published, further standardizing the Shakespeare canon and expanding the number of plays included from 36 to 37.
The numbers.
3 numbers that anchor the scale.
By the numbers
The countable parts.
Plays included
0 (approximately 50% of Shakespeare's known dramatic works)
Plays first printed here
0 (including Macbeth, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night)
Price at publication
0 shillings (roughly £1)
The chain begins -
The chain of consequence.
Impact
What followed.
The First Folio rescued half of Shakespeare's dramatic output from oblivion and created a durable model for canonizing literary works. Its survival—fewer than 250 copies of the original 1,000 printed remain—transformed it into one of the most valuable books in existence. The editorial decisions made by Heminges and Condell determined which texts scholars would study for the next 400 years.
Sources & citations.
Sources
Where this came from.
Every claim on this page traces to a public, license-clean source. We don't asterisk well.
Wikipedia
1 source- 1.Printing Historical Society
en.wikipedia.org