William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies (Second Folio)
Artist: Martin Droeshout (British, 1564-1616)
Printer: Thomas Cotes (for Robert Allot), London
Author: William Shakespeare (British, 1564-1616)
Date: 1632
Dimensions:
Overall: 142 1/2 x 83 3/4 in. (362 x 212.7 cm)
Medium: printed book; engraved portrait on title page
Place of Origin: London, England
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Museum Purchase
Object number: 1923.3113
Label Text:In the first quarter of the seventeenth century, the two most often printed books in the English language appeared: The King James Version of the Bible, and the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays.
Elizabethan England achieved Olympian heights in poetry and drama, yet the printed arts remained somewhat provincial. Prior to William Shakespeare's death in1616, only eight of his plays had been printed. Were it not for the printing of the First Folio in 1623 and the Second Folio in 1632, the complete works of Shakespeare’s would have been lost to posterity. The Folio's are, therefore, among the world's great literary treasures.
This copy is embellished by the engraved portrait by the Dutch born Martin Droeshout, who made what is now regarded as the most authentic and familiar likeness of Shakespeare. On the opposite page is a verse about the portrait by Ben Jonson.
Elizabethan England achieved Olympian heights in poetry and drama, yet the printed arts remained somewhat provincial. Prior to William Shakespeare's death in1616, only eight of his plays had been printed. Were it not for the printing of the First Folio in 1623 and the Second Folio in 1632, the complete works of Shakespeare’s would have been lost to posterity. The Folio's are, therefore, among the world's great literary treasures.
This copy is embellished by the engraved portrait by the Dutch born Martin Droeshout, who made what is now regarded as the most authentic and familiar likeness of Shakespeare. On the opposite page is a verse about the portrait by Ben Jonson.
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