Applause First Folio of Shakespeare in Modern Type: Comedies, Histories & Tragedies (Applause First Folio Editions) [Hardcover]

William Shakespeare (Author), Neil Freeman (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1557833338 | ISBN-13: 978-1557833334 | Publication Date: October 1, 2000 | Edition: annotated edition

This landmark publication is printed in clear, legible type. Each play has its own comprehensive introduction as well as extensive, expert annotations. Highlighted areas show where lines have been altered over time and also shows where verse has been changed to prose in the past (but not here!) The original compositions are marked and folio clues are highlighted.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Given the many modern editions of Shakespeare's plays, it is easy to forget that the text is not fixed and that an examination of the original folio still reveals many features of importance and profit both to the scholar and the actor. Several facsimiles are available, including those of Charlton Hinman and Doug Moston. But because of the difficulties of photographic reproduction, coupled with the idiosyncrasies of the 1623 typeface, these tend to be more curiosities than interpretative tools to all but the most diligent. To rectify this situation, Freeman, a trained actor, director, and professor of acting, directing, and writing (Univ. of British Columbia), has produced a modern type version of the original, which makes the textual features of the First Folio easily accessible. The volume presents all 36 plays, to which Freeman adds introductions and endnotes as well as a valuable introduction to the history of the First Folio and textual notes. Recommended for academic libraries. T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong Atlantic State Univ., Savannah, GA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1200 pages
• Publisher: Applause Books; annotated edition edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557833338
• ISBN-13: 978-1557833334
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Crazy Scheme?, December 26, 2001

By 

Michael J. Connor (Waltham, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Applause First Folio of Shakespeare in Modern Type: Comedies, Histories & Tragedies (Applause First Folio Editions) (Hardcover)

A Crazy Scheme?

The Applause First Folio of Shakespeare should not be confused with a facsimile of the 1623 folio published by Applause in the 1990's. In the earlier facsmile, Applause used the images from
the Norton Facsimile without permission. W. W. Norton sued, and Applause withdrew the facsimile. In 2001 Applause published another edition of the first folio, this one being in modern
type. It's not specifically a facsimile edition, but it does present the Shakespeare's plays in the order they were presented in the 1623 folio. Though this edition is in modern type the spelling and punctuation of the first folio have been for the most part retained.

In his acknowlegements Freeman thanks his publisher for persisting with such a crazy scheme. Crazy? Perhaps. Audacious? Certainly. You see, Freeman is an actor, not a textual scholar and he rejects the work of textual scholars. For example, he proposes that the punctuation marks of the folio are rhetorical signals. They are the cues for the actors. This controversial proposition has been roundly criticized by many scholars, but Freeman is undaunted. I applaud his audacity. The great value of this edition is that it retains so much of the spelling and punctuation of the 1623 folio. Finally we have an original spelling edition of most of Shakespeare's plays in print.

It is important to note that this is not a complete edition of Shakespeare's writings. The narrative poems, the sonnets, the occasional poems, "Pericles," and "Two Noble Kinsmen" are not included.

It should be stated that this edition does not in every instance reproduce the spelling of the 1623 folio. Freeman's treatment of abbrivations is unsatisfactory. For example it was common practice in the 17th century to represent certain words by a special kind of abbrivation. On page lviii Freeman explains that "y" with an umlaut was usually short hand for "you," "thee," "thou," "thy," "thine," or "yours." The 1623 folio usually spells these abbrivations differently from the way Freeman describes it. The word "thou" could be represented by the letter "y" with the superscript "u" directly on top of it. The word "that" could be written with the letter "y" with the superscript "t" directly over it. The word "the" could be written with the letter "y" with the superscript "e" directly over it and so on. In Freeman's edition all the superscript letters are replaced by umlauts, so there is no way of telling what the superscript letter was, and hence no way of knowing what the word is. So when you come across the line "Thou do'st then wrong me, as (y/with umlaut) slaughterer doth" (page 441, col. 2, line 1) are you supposed to read:

"Thou do'st then wrong me, as thou slaughterer doth," or
"Thou do'st then wrong me, as thee slaughterer doth," or
"Thou do'st then wrong me, as that slaughterer doth"?

You'll have to go to a facsimile edition to find out that that the third line is the correct reading. It is also interesting to note that the word "that" doesn't appear in Freeman's list of what "y with umlaut" could stand for.

The edition should be used with caution.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the only way to read Shakespeare, April 9, 2002

By 

Charles Schwager (Sudbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Applause First Folio of Shakespeare in Modern Type: Comedies, Histories & Tragedies (Applause First Folio Editions) (Hardcover)

If you are interested in a simple read of the Bard, any edition will do. But if you want to know what Shakespeare wanted from his actors - how he imagined (I imagine) his lines being spoken - this is the edition for you. The line endings in this edition are different from those in most editions and clearly change the meaning of the text. Captializations and punctuations are clear guides to speech. While this edition is not for everyone, anyone interested in acting Shakespeare, whether on stage or in the privacy of home, must have this edition.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Folio accessible at last., December 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Applause First Folio of Shakespeare in Modern Type: Comedies, Histories & Tragedies (Applause First Folio Editions) (Hardcover)

What a breakthrough!
The First Folio punctuation, spelling and capitalization offers many hints for the actor, but in trying to work with photographic facsimiles one has to decipher the typography and not confuse f with s. This elegantly laid out volume presents the folio texts clearly and Neil Freeman's excellent notes and introductions show how the folio clues can lead to a greater understanding of Shakespeare's plays. Few are aware of how much Shakespeare has been tinkered with by editors over the centuries and it is wonderful to at last have a readable version of the First Folio. An essential tool for the thinking actor.
A New York Actor