Thomas Dabbs speaks with Emma Smith of Hertford College, Oxford, about Shakespeare’s First Folio. This year, 2023, is the 400th anniversary year of this monumental edition. This conversation covers the re-release of two of Emma’s books, one on the making of the First Folio and one on the history of its reception over the following centuries.

SEGMENTS
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:05 - Shakespeare’s First Folio (the 400th Anniversary)
00:03:30 - The permissive moment that is the First Folio
00:06:03 - Sir Edward Dering, the First Folio and shopping
00:09:30 - Gauging book popularity and value in early modern London
00:15:40 - The First Folio as a “made” book, paratextual interpretation
00:19:39 - Where would Shakespeare without the First Folio?
00:24:22 - Which version is better, editorial intervention, censorship, sensitivity
00:34:40 - The biography of First Folio, Shakespeare as future stock
00:38:40 - Shakespeare’s female roles when played by women
00:41:05 - The First Folio as a “used” book
00:45:10 - The recent discovery of a First Folio, differences in First Folios
00:50:50 - The value of First Folios, uses and abuses
01:00:46 - Closing remarks