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In 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death, two of his fellow actors published 36 of his plays in one large book, now called the First Folio. Eighteen of them, including Macbeth and The Tempest, had never been printed before and might otherwise have been lost.

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The editors, John Heminges and Henry Condell, had acted alongside Shakespeare for years in the King's Men, London's leading theatre company. Plays then belonged to the company, and only about half of Shakespeare's had appeared in cheap, small editions called quartos, some of them garbled. Heminges and Condell gathered the best texts they could find. The book was a folio, the largest format, made by folding each printed sheet only once, and a bound copy cost up to £1, nearly two months' pay for a skilled worker. Among the plays it saved are Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar and Measure for Measure. Of perhaps 750 copies printed, 235 are known to survive; the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., holds 82 of them. The book also gave us Martin Droeshout's engraved portrait, one of only two images of Shakespeare accepted as genuine.

Türkçe oku
Shakespeare'in ölümünden yedi yıl sonra, 1623'te, iki oyuncu arkadaşı onun 36 oyununu büyük boy tek bir kitapta topladı. Bugün İlk Folyo diye bilinen bu kitaptaki 18 oyun, aralarında Macbeth ile Fırtına da var, daha önce hiç basılmamıştı; bu kitap olmasa kaybolup gidebilirlerdi.

Kitabı hazırlayan John Heminges ile Henry Condell, Londra'nın önde gelen tiyatro topluluğu King's Men'de yıllarca Shakespeare'le birlikte oynamıştı. O dönemde oyunlar topluluğa aitti ve Shakespeare'in oyunlarının ancak yarısı kadarı quarto denen ucuz, küçük baskılarla çıkmıştı; bunların bazıları da bozuk metinlerdi. Heminges ile Condell bulabildikleri en iyi metinleri bir araya getirdi. Folyo en büyük kitap boyuydu: Basılı tabaka yalnızca bir kez katlanırdı. Ciltli bir nüsha 1 sterline kadar satılıyordu; bu, usta bir işçinin neredeyse iki aylık kazancıydı. Bu kitap sayesinde kurtulan oyunlar arasında On İkinci Gece, Julius Caesar ve Kısasa Kısas da var. Basılan yaklaşık 750 nüshadan 235'inin bugün hâlâ durduğu biliniyor; bunların 82'si Washington'daki Folger Shakespeare Kütüphanesi'nde. Martin Droeshout'un yaptığı gravür portre de bu kitapla bize ulaştı; Shakespeare'in gerçek olduğu kabul edilen iki görüntüsünden biridir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: First Folio
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