Shakespeare, William | Three histories from the 1632 Second Folio

Shakespeare, William

The Life and Death of Richard the Second [with:] The First and Second Parts of Henry the Fourth, extracted from The Second Folio. London: Thomas Cotes, 1632

Folio (300 x 210 mm). Together pages 23-100; marginal tears expertly repaired, a few leaves toned, with occasional ink blots and damp staining. Quarter morocco, spine gilt-lettered.

From the Second Folio. Shakespeare's famed four folios comprise the first four editions of his collected plays, all printed in the 17th century. The second folio of 1632, like the first folio of 1623, contains 36 plays. It is estimated that fewer than 1,000 copies of the second folio were printed and fewer than 200 copies are in existence today.

Richard II and Henry IV, parts 1 and 2 form three parts of the so-called Henriad tetralogy, a collection of history plays by Shakespeare about Richard II and his successors. The pagination is continuous; within the Second Folio, the plays are the first three in the Histories section, between the Comedies and the Tragedies.

The Shakespeare Folios have "an aura of book magic about them. For a bibliophile it is a volume devoutly to be wished for and rarely attained; to a library it is a crowning jewel of a collection. Shakespeare, indeed, is a name to conjure with. No lengthy explanations are needed; he is simply the most distinguished author in the English language" (Wolf).

Patterns in damp staining have identified these plays as coming from the same folio as lots 1094 and 1096.

REFERENCES:

STC 22274a; Greg III:1113-1116; Jaggard, 496; Pforzheimer 906