The Quartos of William Shakespeare - shakespeare's quartos

Shakespeare’s plays began to be printed in 1594, probably with his tragedy Titus Andronicus.

This appeared as a small, cheap pamphlet called a quarto because of the way it was printed.

Eighteen of Shakespeare’s plays had appeared in quarto editions by the time of his death

in 1616. Another three plays were printed in quarto before 1642. In 1623

an expensive folio volume of 36 plays by Shakespeare was printed, which included

most of those printed in quarto.


Why are the quartos important ?

None of Shakespeare’s manuscripts survives, so the printed texts of his plays are our

only source for what he originally wrote. The quarto editions are the texts closest to

Shakespeare’s time. Some are thought to preserve either his working drafts

(his foul papers) or his fair copies. Others are thought to record versions remembered

by actors who performed the plays, providing information about staging practices

in Shakespeare’s day.