The earliest printed editions of William Shakespeare do not form a simple or unified sequence. His plays first appeared individually in quartos, followed by the great folios of the seventeenth century, and only later through the edited and standardised editions of the eighteenth century.
The Earliest Editions of William Shakespeare
A Collector’s Guide to the Folios, Quartos & Editions to 1800
The earliest printed editions of William Shakespeare do not form a simple or unified sequence. His plays first appeared individually in quarto, followed by the great folios of the seventeenth century, and only later through the edited and standardised editions of the eighteenth century.
While the folios and early quartos are foundational, they are also exceptionally rare and largely confined to institutions and advanced collections. For most collectors, it is the later editorial tradition, beginning with figures such as Alexander Pope, Lewis Theobald, and Samuel Johnson, that provides both the most accessible and the most meaningful entry into Shakespeare in print.
This guide therefore approaches Shakespeare bibliographically and chronologically, with only brief treatment of the folios and quartos as points of origin, and a primary focus upon the editions that shaped how Shakespeare was subsequently read, edited, and collected.
It is not intended as an exhaustive bibliography, but as a practical tool: identifying the principal editions, explaining their significance, and clarifying how they relate to one another within the broader history of Shakespeare’s text.
The Early Quartos & Poems, 1593–1609
The earliest quartos and poetic works are all exceptionally rare and valuable, and are now almost unknown in commerce.
A number of quarto editions were reprinted later in the seventeenth century, although they are not treated comprehensively here. Among the most famous are the so-called Pavier Quartos, dated “1619,” of which only two complete sets are known to survive.
| Date Printed | Title | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1593 | Venus and Adonis | Quarto | Only one copy survives. |
| 1594 | The Rape of Lucrece | Quarto | |
| 1594 | Titus Andronicus | Quarto | Only one copy survives. |
| 1594 | Henry VI, Part Two | Quarto | An early form of the play issued under a different title. |
| 1597 | Richard III | Quarto | |
| 1597 | Romeo and Juliet | Quarto | An early, shorter version of the play. |
| 1597 | Richard II | Quarto | |
| 1598 | Love’s Labour’s Lost | Quarto | |
| 1598 | Henry IV, Part One | Quarto | |
| 1599 | The Passionate Pilgrim | Quarto | |
| 1600 | Henry IV, Part Two | Quarto | |
| 1600 | Henry V | Quarto | |
| 1600 | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Quarto | |
| 1600 | The Merchant of Venice | Quarto | |
| 1600 | Much Ado About Nothing | Quarto | |
| 1602 | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Quarto | |
| 1603 | Hamlet | Quarto | The first, shorter quarto version. |
| 1604 | Hamlet | Quarto | A substantially longer version. |
| 1608 | King Lear | Quarto | |
| 1609 | The Sonnets | Quarto | |
| 1609 | Pericles | Quarto | Not included in the First Folio. |
| 1609 | Troilus and Cressida | Quarto |
The Folio Editions
The Shakespeare folios are the foundational collected editions of the plays. All are scarce in commerce, although the later folios appear on the market with greater frequency than the First.
| Date Printed | Title | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1623 | The First Folio | Folio | Approximately 235 copies survive. |
| 1632 | The Second Folio | Folio | |
| 1663 | The Third Folio | Folio | |
| 1664 | The Third Folio, Reprinted | Folio | Adds seven additional plays. |
| 1685 | The Fourth Folio | Folio | |
| 1700 | The Fifth Folio | Folio | Exceptionally rare; only seven copies are known. |
Shakespeare Editions, 1640–1800
The following bibliography covers the printings of Shakespeare’s works from 1640 to 1800, the period likely to be of greatest practical interest to most collectors.
It allows an edition to be situated in relation to the earliest Shakespearean imprints, beginning with the first collected edition after the folios: Nicholas Rowe’s edition of 1709.
With the exception of Pope’s quarto edition of 1725 and Hanmer’s quarto edition of 1743–1744, the principal eighteenth-century editions were predominantly issued in octavo. This reflected a movement away from the monumental display format of the folios towards usability, wider readership, and eventually the great tradition of Shakespearean scholarship culminating in Edmond Malone’s edition of 1790.
| Date Printed | Title | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1640 | Poems | Quarto | |
| 1709 | The Works | Octavo | First Nicholas Rowe edition; the first modern edited edition of Shakespeare. |
| 1709–1710 | The Works | Octavo | Nicholas Rowe’s second edition. |
| 1710 | Supplement to The Works | Octavo | Nicholas Rowe supplement containing the poems and sonnets. |
| 1711 | Poems | Octavo | Bernard Lintott edition, substantially reproducing the 1609 poems. |
| 1714 | The Works | Octavo | Nicholas Rowe’s third edition, expanded from the first two. |
| 1725 | The Works | Quarto | Alexander Pope’s first edition. |
| 1728 | The Works | Octavo | Alexander Pope’s second edition. |
| 1733 | The Works | Octavo | Lewis Theobald’s first edition; the first scholarly edition and a foundational work of Shakespearean textual criticism. |
| 1734–1735 | The Collected Works | Duodecimo | A lower-priced edition issued by Robert Walker. |
| 1734–1735 | The Works | Duodecimo | A competing lower-priced edition issued by Tonson. |
| 1740 | The Works | Octavo | Lewis Theobald’s second edition, substantially a reissue of the 1733 first edition. |
| 1743–1744 | The Works | Quarto | Thomas Hanmer’s first edition; among the most visually impressive eighteenth-century Shakespeare editions. |
| 1745 | The Works | Quarto | Thomas Hanmer’s second edition. |
| 1747 | The Works | Octavo | William Warburton’s first edition, based upon Pope’s edition of 1725. |
| 1765 | The Works | Octavo | Samuel Johnson’s first edition, first issue. |
| 1765 | The Works | Octavo | Samuel Johnson’s first edition, second issue, published in the same year. |
| 1766 | Twenty Plays | Octavo | George Steevens’s first edition; includes the 1609 sonnets and was the first edition substantially based upon the quarto texts. |
| 1768 | The Works | Quarto | Edward Capell’s first edition; an important work of Shakespearean scholarship. |
| 1773 | The Works | Octavo | The first true Johnson–Steevens variorum edition. |
| 1778 | The Works | Octavo | The expanded Johnson–Steevens–Reed variorum edition. |
| 1785 | The Works | Octavo | A revised Johnson–Steevens–Reed variorum edition. |
| 1787–1794 | The Works | Octavo | The Joseph Rann edition. |
| 1790 | The Works | Octavo | Edmond Malone’s first edition, frequently regarded as the greatest eighteenth-century edition. |
| 1793 | The Works | Octavo | An expanded Steevens variorum edition. |
Collecting Shakespeare: A Quick Guide
The history of Shakespeare in print is vast, but only a relatively small number of editions form the practical foundation of most collections.
The Folios
The folios remain scarce in commerce and are largely confined to institutions and major private collections. They do appear on the market, but infrequently and usually at very high prices.
The Second, Third, and Fourth Folios can, with patience, be acquired at comparatively more accessible levels. The so-called Fifth Folio, however, is effectively unobtainable.
The Early Quartos
The early quartos represent the true origins of Shakespeare in print, but in almost every case they lie beyond the reach of ordinary collectors. Many survive in only single-figure quantities, and several are known from unique copies.
As a point of reference, a third quarto of King Lear, printed in 1655, sold at auction in 2022 for $57,500. The earliest quartos would likely realise seven-figure sums, and in some instances considerably more.
The Eighteenth-Century Editions
For most collectors, the eighteenth century is where Shakespeare collecting properly begins.
The octavo editions, particularly the later variorums associated with Johnson, Steevens, Reed, Rann, and others, remain comparatively obtainable and appear regularly on the market.
Individually issued plays in duodecimo and octavo format are also common, frequently found bound together, and provide an accessible entry point into the period.
Key Editions for the Serious Collector
At a more advanced level, several eighteenth-century editions form the foundation of a coherent Shakespeare collection.
Alexander Pope, 1725
Pope’s 1725 edition, although frequently criticised for its editorial decisions, remains highly desirable as a large-format prestige production. It is one of the major monumental Shakespeare editions issued after the folios.
Lewis Theobald, 1733
Theobald’s edition is of considerably greater scholarly importance. It represents the first sustained attempt at critical editing, textual correction, and the systematic comparison of earlier witnesses.
Nicholas Rowe, 1709
Rowe’s edition is foundational. It is the first modern edited edition of Shakespeare and, aside from the folios, the earliest collected edition that may be regarded as realistically obtainable.
Copies accompanied by the supplementary volume containing the poems and sonnets are especially desirable, although the supplement itself is scarce.
Thomas Hanmer, 1743–1744
Hanmer’s edition stands apart as one of the most beautiful Shakespeare editions ever produced. It is valued as much for its imposing physical qualities and illustrations as for its textual content.
Edmond Malone, 1790
Malone’s 1790 edition represents the high point of eighteenth-century Shakespearean scholarship. It remains one of the most important editions produced before the modern bibliographical era.
Building a Wider Shakespeare Collection
For the advanced collector, Shakespeare should not be considered in isolation.
Contemporary and adjacent authors, including Ben Jonson, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, and later John Milton, form part of the same literary and intellectual world.
Shakespeare’s Second Folio, for example, contains the first appearance of Milton in print. This serves as a reminder that such books are not isolated monuments, but components of a wider cultural, textual, and historical network.
The most rewarding Shakespeare collection does not merely gather editions. It reconstructs the literary world in which those editions were produced, read, criticised, and transformed.