First Folio

The first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623. It was edited by his friends, the actors Henry Condell and John Hemings, and appeared seven years after Shakespeare's death. It contains 36 plays. The only Shakespeare play not in the First Folio is Pericles, which was first published in 1664. One of the 36 plays is Henry VIII, which was probably written in collaboration with John Fletcher.

The second reprinting in 1632 is known as the Second Folio, the third in 1664 as the Third Folio, and the fourth in 1685 as the Fourth Folio. A second issue of the Third Folio contained seven additional plays, only one of which, Pericles, is accepted as being by Shakespeare.

The First Folio also contains a preface by the editors, the Droeshout portrait (an engraved portrait of Shakespeare that is one of the best-known images of him), and verses on Shakespeare by Ben Jonson.