Big news! One of the most famous books in history is coming to Seattle in 2016. The Folger Shakespeare Library is sending us one of Shakespeare’s First Folios as part of a national tour marking the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Only 233 copies exist of this first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays, and Seattle Shakespeare Company is excited to partner with the Seattle Public Library and other community groups for this once in a lifetime event. More information on when the First Folio will be in Seattle will be announced soon.
Many of Shakespeare’s plays, which were written to be performed, were not published during his lifetime. The First Folio is the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays. It was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death. Two of Shakespeare’s fellow actors compiled 36 of his plays, hoping to preserve them for future generations. Without it, we would not have 18 of Shakespeare’s plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra, The Comedy of Errors, and As You Like It. All 18 appear for the first time in print in the First Folio, and would otherwise have been lost.