Frampton notes: “Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Florio’s possible involvement with the Folio is that we may never know its true extent.” “Somewhere behind the Folio … lies a conscientious and exacting editor with literary pretensions,” one “more experienced in the transcription of literary than of theatrical works.”įrampton, author of a book on Montaigne (whose Essays Florio translated into English) and an upcoming work on Shakespeare and Florio, finds significant correspondences between words Florio used in his writings of the 1570s-1610s and revisions made to the 1623 Folio versions of Shakespeare’s plays. In an article published in The Guardian, Saul Frampton set out a case that John Florio may have anonymously played a role in producing the first collection of the First Folio, the collection of plays written by Shakespeare. Modern scholars agree that actors John Heminges and Henry Condell, traditionally considered the Folio’s assemblers, were unlikely to have been entrusted with editing the expensive, 900+ page volume. It has been suggested by some Shakespeare’s scholars that The First Folio was a project organised by Ben Jonson and John Florio, alias Shakespeare. He aims to use augmented, virtual and mixed reality in addition to other technologies like photogrammetry (which will be used to digitize the Folio in 3D) to present Shakespeare’s work in a different light.“ We cannot tell for certain whether the words were written by John Florio or by William Shakespeare.“ Patrick Pennefather is using technology to not only make the Folio more accessible, but also to provide perspective on characters that were demonized in Shakespeare’s plays. The copy that UBC has acquired is the second one in Canada, so the university is aiming to extend the Folio’s accessibility beyond UBC to try to make it accessible to as many Canadians as possible. The task of making this text available to a large audience is a big one. Dennis Austin Britton said in the official UBC press release, “students usually buy single edition text or anthologies that are very heavily annotated with lots of lengthy introductions, and that’s not the way in which Shakespeare’s readers - at least the First Folio readers - would have encountered Shakespeare’s plays.” The Folio was compiled by Shakespeare’s friends and fellow actors, John Heminge and Henry Condell, and the decisions they made in regards to the editing and publishing of Shakespeare’s works highly influence our understanding of these texts. While the Folio is impressive because of the number of plays within it, what truly makes the copy exceptional is the history attached to it. It’s probably one of, if not the most influential and important books of literature ever printed in English,” said Mackie in an interview with The Ubyssey. “ important in its influence to the history of literature in the English-speaking world. ![]() Many of Shakespeare’s plays would not have survived without the First Folio, as it contains 36 of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, including some of his best-known works, such as Macbeth and The Tempest. Only 235 copies of the First Folio survive today, making UBC’s acquisition of it extremely fortuitous. Gregory Mackie and Head of Rare Books and Special Collections Katherine Kalsbeek to find a copy of the Folio, not to mention the amount of time spent securing financial donors. It took two years of consistent efforts by Associate Professor and English Honours Coordinator Dr. ![]() ![]() ![]() It is said to be the most expensive work of literature ever auctioned a copy of the Folio was bought by a private collector for nearly 10 million dollars in 2020. The Folio was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death. William Shakespeare’s Comedies Histories and Tragedies - also known as The First Folio - through Christie’s auction house in New York.
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