Celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Shakespeare First Folio by flipping through the pages of one of the Folger’s 82 copies, the largest collection of First Folios in the world.
About the First Folio
The first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays was printed in 1623, seven years after his death. While the book’s formal title is Mr. VVilliam Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies: published according to the true originall copies, it’s commonly referred to as the First Folio. About half of Shakespeare’s plays had never previously appeared in print, including The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and The Tempest. Without the First Folio, 18 of Shakespeare’s plays might have been lost forever.
Learn more about the First Folio
The Folger collection of First Folios
About this bookreader
Flip through the pages of the First Folio, zoom in on pages to read more closely, and use the table of contents to jump directly to your favorite play.
The particular copy of the First Folio shown in the bookreader above is STC 22273 Fo.1 no.68. Please note that this bookreader is not designed for scholarly use; the page images have been cropped to fit display requirements, and the background image displays a composite of the front and rear interior covers to help contextualize the size of the page images in relation to the book binding. To see the original cover-to-cover images, visit our digital image collection.
About First Folio 68
History and past owners