Customer Reviews

Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies: A Facsimile of the First Folio, 1623

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Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Edited by Doug Moston

At present this is the only facsimile edition of the Shakespeare folio available. With its relatively affordable price and availability the Routledge facsimile is an attractive edition of Shakespeare for readers, but there are short comings to this facsimile.

This is a reprint of a facsimile, and the one chosen, though interesting in many ways has a distinct disadvantage. The Routledge reprint is made from Halliwell-Phillips's facsimile published in 1887. The Halliwell-Phillips facsimile was a popular edition, not a scholarly one. It is by far the smallest of the facsimile editions of the first folio. The facsimile pages are less than half the size of the original pages. The distortion that previous reviewers have written about is very real. The distortion comes from the process used by Halliwell Phillips, which I believe was photo-lithography and then the reduction of the page size. Here in the Routledge edition those pages are then re-enlarged. This distortion could have been avoided if the full size Staunton facsimile of 1866 or Booth's very accurate print facsimile was the basis of this edition. You should keep this distortion in mind when you read this reprint.

There are unique variants preserved in this facsimile. Of the facsimiles this facsimile is the only one to show a variant from Richard III. There is a line from Richard III (V.3.13) which correctly ends "the adverse faction want." In this facsimile the line ends "the adverse faction went." I also found a variant that I could not find listed any where. On the last page of the Shakespeare folio there is a colophon: "Printed at the charges of W. Jaggard, Ed. Blout, I. Smithweeke, and W. Asply, 1623." This colophon does not appear in this facsimile.

With so many modernized editions of Shakespeare's plays available why would a anyone want to read a facsimile edition? I confess that I have a growing impatience with modern editors and editions of Shakespeare. All too often I am unconvinced by the conclusions modern editors have. All too often when I am suspicious of a line in a play, and when I check the line in a facsimile edition I see that the editor has changed it. I find that I do not have this irritation when I read a facsimile edition rather than a modernized one. If you are looking for an authoritative edition of Shakespeare's plays as they appeared in the first folio this facsimile fills the bill.

Assuming that you can't afford a hundred quid for some more elaborately presented facsimilie of the First Folio, this is the one to get. There is some minimal evidence of touching up, but really it's like the arguments about the proper edition of "Ulysses" - fascinating to scholars but barely of interest to anybody else. The First Folio is the most important Shakespearean document, containing as it does the _only_ text of Macbeth, amongst many other marvels, and if (like me) you work in the theatre it's highly unlikely that you're going to want anything more beautifully put together than this. Highly unlikely, too, that you'll be able to afford anything more elaborate than this. Mr. Moston and his team are to be congratulated. Scholars may quibble but they're only scholars. Get this, and Stephen Greenblatt's Norton Shakespeare, and you'll have all the Will you'll ever need.

It is refreshing to see the original folio, free of interferring editing. It takes some getting used to, but for it's price, it is a worthy addition to any classical actor, director, or scribe's collection. Highly reccommended for those who have another, standard collection, such as Riverside or Norton. Whenever there is a disagreement amongh various texts, it is usually answered by consulting this volume. It also gives one more "feel" for the time period in which the work was produced.

I recently worked on a production of The Taming of the Shrew, and the cast and director used First Folio text. While a few used the Norton Facsimile, most of us were not able to spend $150 for our scripts. The Routledge Folio was the script of choice. It was created with the actor in mind, and this actor found her job eminently easier as a result of the clear introduction, and the new line numbering system which saved time for all of us. I now prepare all my auditions with this Folio. The only problem I have with it is that I'm always asked by friends and colleagues to borrow it, something I'm always hesitant to do. I love this edition because it simply allows me to access and act Shakespeare better. Thank you Routledge for Stanislavsky's books and Shakespeare's First Folio, and thank you Prof. Moston for your illuminating introduction and glossary.

L. Stenner, New York, NY

If you are involved in theatre in any way this is the Shakespeare book to have. Unknown to the common person, the Shakespeare paperback you go and buy at any store, even here, has been edited! This is Shakespeare's complete works as a playwright in the closest form to Mr. Shakespeare's own hand. It was compiled by 2 actors that worked with Shakespeare when he was alive so they knew what they were doing. Because there were no directors in Shakespeare's time, Shakespeare had to direct through the text itself. By editing from this folio, history has erased valuable information Shakespeare wanted his actor's to have. The introduction is amazing! Doug Moston is the only expert on Shakespeare when it comes to acting.

This is a reprint of a facsimile published in the late 19th century. The quality of the photographs is poor (italic passages are especially hard to read). In places it is obvious that the original photographer 'touched up' the prints presumably because the photographs did not come out well; in particular, one page in The Winter's Tale appears to have several lines written by hand. I'm glad that someone has at last made available a paperback facsimile and this book is OK to have if you're just curious, but for any serious work it is not to be recommended.

You will not be able to read this facsimile without a magnifying glass: the printing is illegible in substantial parts. Of course it is good to skip the scholars' conflated versions and read the folio, but this is impossible in this terribly bad reproduction.