Shakespeare's First Folio: Four Centuries of an Iconic Book
by Emma Smith 2021-02-02 08:13:55
image1
This is a biography of a book: the first collected edition of Shakespeare''s plays printed in 1623 and known as the First Folio. It begins with the story of its first purchaser in London in December 1623, and goes on to explore the ways people have i... Read more
This is a biography of a book: the first collected edition of Shakespeare''s plays printed in 1623 and known as the First Folio. It begins with the story of its first purchaser in London in December 1623, and goes on to explore the ways people have interacted with this iconic book over the fourhundred years of its history. Throughout the stress is on what we can learn from individual copies now spread around the world about their eventful lives. From ink blots to pet paws, from annotations to wineglass rings, First Folios teem with evidence of their place in different contexts withdifferent priorities.This study offers new ways to understand Shakespeare''s reception and the history of the book. Unlike previous scholarly investigations of the First Folio, it is not concerned with the discussions of how the book came into being, the provenance of its texts, or the technicalities of its production.Instead, it reanimates, in narrative style, the histories of this book, paying close attention to the details of individual copies now located around the world - their bindings, marginalia, general condition, sales history, and location - to discuss five major themes: owning, reading, decoding,performing, and perfecting. This is a history of the book that consolidated Shakespeare''s posthumous reputation: a reception history and a study of interactions between owners, readers, forgers, collectors, actors, scholars, booksellers, and the book through which we understand and recognizeShakespeare. Less
  • ISBN
  • 9780198819998
Author
Professor Emma Smith is lecturer in English at the University of Oxford, Professor of Shakespeare Studies, and a Fellow of Hertford College....
Compare Prices
Available Discount
No Discount available
Related Books