Bill stewart wvu biography of william shakespeare

A folio is a book of large paper folded in half, which was usually reserved for royal proclamations and other significant documents of the time. Only copies of the First Folio were printed. Today, nearly four centuries later, roughly remain. The folios represent different print editions released throughout the s. Each folio contained the same plays and poems, although the Third and Fourth Folios included seven additional literary pieces.

Hoffman on the First Folio : Since he left behind no manuscripts or official publications of his own, we have others to thank for the preservation of his work: actors and audience members, patrons and poets, publishers and printers. Plein on the Second Folio : The English language is in transition at this time and the Second Folio displays changes in spelling, punctuation and lettering that is readily apparent, especially when compared with the First Folio.

Bill Stewart, who earned a

Of note is the first appearance of a poem, An Epitaph on the Admirable Dramaticke, written by John Milton in while he was still a student at Cambridge. This is perhaps the rarest folio, as a result of the Great Fire of London in , which consumed the entire city, including the area where booksellers and printers were located. The prefatory poems by Ben Jonson and others are much reduced in size.

Shakespeare himself looms larger on the page while other figures diminish. Read more about the folios in this blog post by WVU Libraries. Stories WVU Magazine.