The second folio 1632
The first folio sold well enough to require a reprint as the second folio
in 1632, which is what Charlecote has. There are 1700 minor changes from
the first folio mainly updating the language. It does not have the cache
of a first folio and is only worth a few tens of thousands of pounds in
spite of the two editions being virtually identical. The only major difference
is that it prints a 1630 poem on Shakespeare by John Milton
The Charlecote copy was printed by Thomas Cotes for the publisher Robert
Allot.
I had rather over-estimated its value at half a million pounds. A copy was
put up for auction at that price but did not sell.
The Charlecote second folio was owned by George Hammond Lucy whose bookplate
this is. He did not buy it, it was a gift.
There were also
The third folio 1663 This had an additional 7 plays although only Pericles
is now accepted as being by Shakespeare. Copies of the third folio are
rare because much of the stock was destroyed in the Great Fire of London
(1666)
The fourth folio 1685
This contains the same 43 plays as the Third folio. It was used as the
source for subsequent 18th century editions of Shakespeare.
………………………………………………………………………
Publishers 1st folio: A trio of stationers (booksellers and publishers):
William Jaggard, his son Isaac Jaggard, and Edward Blount. (William Aspley
and John Smethwick participated in the endeavour as subsidiary partners.)
2nd folio: Isaac Jaggard had died in 1627, and Edward Blount had transferred
his rights to stationer Robert Allot in 1630. The Second Folio was published
by Allot, William Aspley, Richard Hawkins, Richard Meighen, and John Smethwick,
and printed by Thomas Cotes. A different title page was printed for each.
The Charlecote copy is a Robert Allot (the commonest of the surviving
copies)
3rd folio: Philip Chetwinde; Chetwinde had married Robert Allot's widow
and so obtained the rights to the book.
4th folio: R. Bentley, E. Brewster, R. Chiswell, and H. Herringman.
References
Laura Massey, The birth, death and rebirth of an English genius: Shakespeare’s
first and second folios http://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/the-birth-death-and-rebirth-of-an-english-genius-shakespeares-first-second-folios/
Seumas Stewart, Book Collecting – a beginners guide (New York, Dutton
,1979), Chapter 1.
Wikipedia: Early texts of Shakespeare’s works [Accessed October 2015]
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