Who published the First Folio?
The Printer and Publisher of the First Folio was William Jaggard and his son Isaac with Ed. Blount. Printing the collection of the First Folio must have been a massive task as it consisted of 36 plays and over 900 pages. The manuscripts needed to have been written in such a way that the content of each play, and each page of the play, were kept in a strict order during the printing process. During this era there were no copyright laws but printers could ensure that others could not print books that they had rights to by entering them in the Stationers’ Register. The content of the First Folio was registered on 8th November 1623. Registration also provided an opportunity to invoke a form of censorship and the means to suppress too much freedom of thought and criticism of the crown and public affairs. Approximately 500 copies of the ‘ First Folio ‘ were printed at the price of 1 for each copy. Approximately 238 known copies exist today of which a third are in the Shakespeare Folger Libra
