First Folio of Shakespeare

E84697

Shakespearean folio collected edition dramatic works collection early modern printed book

The First Folio of Shakespeare is the 1623 collected edition of William Shakespeare’s plays, regarded as the most authoritative early source for many of his works and a cornerstone of English literary history.

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All labels observed (18)

Label	Occurrences
First Folio	28
First Folio of Shakespeare canonical	10
First Folio (1623)	4
First Folio (as part of Shakespeare’s plays)	1
First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s plays	1
First Folio of 1623	1
First Folio of Othello	1
First Folio of Shakespeare's plays (1623) as part of Macbeth	1
First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays	1
First Folio of William Shakespeare	1
First Folio version of Love's Labour's Lost	1
First folio of William Shakespeare	1
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies	1
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio)	1
Shakespeare First Folio editions	1
Shakespeare first folios	1
Shakespeare folios	1
Shakespeare's First Folio	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T716168 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: First Folio of Shakespeare
Context triple: [Folger Shakespeare Library, hasCollectionItem, First Folio of Shakespeare]

A. Shakespeare quartos
Shakespeare quartos are early, individually printed editions of William Shakespeare’s plays that provide crucial evidence about the texts’ original forms and their publication history.
B. Gutenberg Bible copies
Gutenberg Bible copies are surviving exemplars of the first major book printed in Europe using movable metal type by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century, prized for their historical and bibliographic significance.
C. Thomas More's History of King Richard III
Thomas More's History of King Richard III is a seminal early-16th-century biographical and historical narrative that portrays Richard III as a ruthless usurper and heavily shaped the king’s enduringly negative reputation.
D. Everyman
Everyman is a stock character archetype representing an ordinary, relatable person placed in extraordinary or challenging situations.
E. The Eton Chronicle
The Eton Chronicle is a long-running school magazine produced by students of Eton College, featuring news, commentary, and creative writing from the school community.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: First Folio of Shakespeare
Target entity description: The First Folio of Shakespeare is the 1623 collected edition of William Shakespeare’s plays, regarded as the most authoritative early source for many of his works and a cornerstone of English literary history.

A. Shakespeare quartos
Shakespeare quartos are early, individually printed editions of William Shakespeare’s plays that provide crucial evidence about the texts’ original forms and their publication history.
B. Gutenberg Bible copies
Gutenberg Bible copies are surviving exemplars of the first major book printed in Europe using movable metal type by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century, prized for their historical and bibliographic significance.
C. Thomas More's History of King Richard III
Thomas More's History of King Richard III is a seminal early-16th-century biographical and historical narrative that portrays Richard III as a ruthless usurper and heavily shaped the king’s enduringly negative reputation.
D. Everyman
Everyman is a stock character archetype representing an ordinary, relatable person placed in extraordinary or challenging situations.
E. The Eton Chronicle
The Eton Chronicle is a long-running school magazine produced by students of Eton College, featuring news, commentary, and creative writing from the school community.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (76)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Shakespearean folio ⓘ collected edition ⓘ dramatic works collection ⓘ early modern printed book ⓘ
approximateOriginalPrintRun	about 750 copies ⓘ
collectingStatus	highly valuable rare book ⓘ
compiler	King’s Men colleagues of Shakespeare ⓘ
containsWork	A Midsummer Night’s Dream ⓘ linked to: A Midsummer Night's Dream All’s Well That Ends Well ⓘ Antony and Cleopatra ⓘ As You Like It ⓘ Coriolanus ⓘ Cymbeline ⓘ Hamlet ⓘ Henry IV, Part 1 ⓘ Henry IV, Part 2 ⓘ Henry V ⓘ linked to: Henry V (play) Henry VI, Part 1 ⓘ Henry VI, Part 2 ⓘ Henry VI, Part 3 ⓘ Henry VIII ⓘ linked to: Henry VIII of England Julius Caesar ⓘ King John ⓘ linked to: King John of England King Lear ⓘ Love’s Labour’s Lost ⓘ linked to: Love's Labour's Lost Macbeth ⓘ Measure for Measure ⓘ Much Ado About Nothing ⓘ Othello ⓘ linked to: Othello (play) Richard II ⓘ linked to: King Richard II of England Richard III ⓘ linked to: Richard III of England Romeo and Juliet ⓘ The Comedy of Errors ⓘ The Life of Timon of Athens ⓘ linked to: Timon of Athens The Merchant of Venice ⓘ The Merry Wives of Windsor ⓘ The Taming of the Shrew ⓘ The Tempest ⓘ The Tragedy of Macbeth ⓘ linked to: Macbeth The Two Gentlemen of Verona ⓘ The Winter’s Tale ⓘ linked to: Winter’s Tale (opera) Timon of Athens ⓘ Titus Andronicus ⓘ Troilus and Cressida ⓘ Twelfth Night ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	Kingdom of England ⓘ
culturalSignificance	cornerstone of English literary history ⓘ
editor	Henry Condell ⓘ John Heminges ⓘ
followedBy	Second Folio of Shakespeare ⓘ
format	folio ⓘ
hasFrontispiece	engraved portrait of William Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout ⓘ
hasPhysicalMedium	paper ⓘ
includesDedicationTo	Philip Herbert, Earl of Montgomery ⓘ William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke ⓘ
includesGenre	comedy ⓘ history play ⓘ tragedy ⓘ
includesPrefatoryMaterialBy	Ben Jonson ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
numberOfPlays	36 ⓘ
numberOfSurvivingCopies	around 230 ⓘ
placeOfPublication	London ⓘ linked to: London, England
precededBy	quarto editions of individual plays ⓘ
primaryAuthor	William Shakespeare ⓘ
printer	Isaac Jaggard’s print shop ⓘ
printingTechnology	letterpress ⓘ
publicationCentury	17th century ⓘ
publicationYear	1623 ⓘ
publisher	Edward Blount ⓘ Isaac Jaggard ⓘ William Jaggard ⓘ
shortName	First Folio ⓘ linked to: First Folio of Shakespeare
subjectOf	Shakespearean textual scholarship ⓘ
textualStatus	most authoritative early source for many Shakespeare plays ⓘ
title	Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies ⓘ linked to: First Folio of Shakespeare

How these facts were elicited