Surviving copies of Shakespeare’s First Folio to go on show

Events planned across UK and Ireland, including a British Library exhibition, will mark 400 years since original complete works was first published

Four hundred years ago, a small band of William Shakespeare’s loyal friends and fellow thespians embarked on the complicated challenge of bringing his complete works together in one bound volume. Whether it was an act of love and respect or a money-making venture is unknown.

But without the First Folio, published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s death, half his plays would be lost. Now in this quarter-centenary year, institutional and private owners of First Folios will make their copies available to be viewed by the public across the UK and Ireland.