Shakespeare’s Identity: Mystery Lingers

The lodestar of bibliographic evidence for the authorship of William Shakespeare’s literary works is the first collected edition of his plays, published in 1623. The 900-page book is commonly known as the First Folio. It was an expensive project. Scholars estimate that it cost approximately £250 to produce some 750 copies of the book, an astronomical sum in an age in which a schoolmaster might expect to earn £20 a year.

Scholars also estimate that it took the printer more than a year and a half to complete the project. Indeed, the high printing costs and lengthy production cycle contradict the traditional view that the First Folio was a profit-driven scheme organized by a syndicate of wealthy London merchants.

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About the Author

Gary B. Goldstein

Gary B. Goldstein, editor of the peer-reviewed journal The Oxfordian, is the author of Reflections on the True Shakespeare (2016).

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The lodestar of bibliographic evidence for the authorship of William Shakespeare’s literary works is the first collected edition of his plays, published in 1623. The 900-page book is commonly known as the First Folio. It was an expensive project. Scholars estimate that it cost approximately £250 to produce some 750 copies of the book, an astronomical sum in an age in which a schoolmaster might expect to earn £20 a year.

Scholars also estimate that it took the printer more than a year and a half to complete the project. Indeed, the high printing costs and lengthy production cycle contradict the traditional view that the First Folio was a profit-driven scheme organized by a syndicate of wealthy London merchants.