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  4. 1.3 The First Folio in context: The 'Principall Actors in all these Playes'

1.3 The First Folio in context: The 'Principall Actors in all these Playes'

Shakespeare's First Folio
Preliminary page 17

Shakespeare's First Folio

Use this resource to explore the University of Leeds Brotherton Collection digital First Folio, to find out more about the significance of the book, and the history of this particular copy.
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Macbeth. I. i. 1 - I. ii. 62

1.1 The significance of the First Folio: the plays

The significance of the plays in Shakespeare's first folio. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Preliminary page 3

1.2 The significance of the First Folio: Shakespeare as literary figure

The significance of Shakespeare as a literary figure. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Preliminary page 15

1.3 The First Folio in context: The 'Principall Actors in all these Playes'

The context of the first folio of Shakespeare's plays - the principal actors. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Portrait of Shakespeare (first folio)

1.4 The First Folio in context: the portrait

The context of the first folio of Shakespeare's plays - Shakespeare's portrait. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Preliminary page 7

1.5 The First Folio in Context: 'To the great Variety of readers'

The context of the first folio of Shakespeare's plays - the readers. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Preliminary page 2

2.1. The condition of the Brotherton First Folio

The condition of the Library's copy of Shakespeare's first folio. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Outside front cover

2.2 The Brotherton First Folio: the binding

The condition of the binding of the Library's copy of Shakespeare's first folio. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Brotherton First Folio Box

2.3 The Brotherton First Folio: the box

The condition of the containing box of the Library's copy of Shakespeare's first folio. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Shakespeare First Folio inside front cover showing bookplate

3. Provenance of the Brotherton First Folio

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Photograph of Lord Brotherton, 1926

3.1 Lord Brotherton

Read about Lord Brotherton of Wakefield, who purchased Shakespeare's First Folio and donated it to the University of Leeds. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Theodore Newton Vail, 1845-1920, bust portrait, facing left]

3.2 Theodore Vail

Read about Theodore Vail, a previous owner of Shakespeare's First Folio now owned by the University of Leeds. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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4. Digitising the First Folio

Read about the digitisation of Shakespeare's first folio undertaken by the University of Leeds Library. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Preliminary page 17

5. Shakespeare's First Folio

View a high-resolution digitised version of Shakespeare's First Folio. Part of an online resource for exploring the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, held in the Brotherton Collection in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.
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Image credit Leeds University Library

The plays of the First Folio are not only transferred from stage to page but also almost entirely separated from their contexts of production and performance:

Nowhere in the volume are we given specific information about individual plays, such as when, where, and by which particular actors they were first performed.

The fact that we get one list of the "Principall Actors in all these Playes", like the fact that the plays are ordered generically and lack individual title-pages, presents the texts as one coherent corpus rather than a series of texts written and performed at different times.

Dr Jane Rickard

With kind permission of Manchester University Press

References

Meek, Richard, et al. 2008. Shakespeare's book: essays in reading, writing and reception.

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