Shakespeare Quartos at the Folger

The Folger holds around 160 quartos of Shakespeare's works that are considered canonical, and another 23 quartos of works that are related to the canonical works. Traditionally, "Shakespeare quartos" refers only to editions published before 1641. View images of quartos and learn more at the Shakespeare Quartos Archive.

The charts below are based on information gathered by Dr. Moira Goff of the British Library in October 2007, with updates to counts made by Folger staff in 2016.

NOTE: not all the quarto copies recorded are complete and perfect, some are fragments only

Key to abbreviations

  • STC = Pollard, A.W. Short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English books printed abroad, 1475-1640 (2nd ed.)
  • Folger = Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC
  • BL = British Library, London, England
  • Hunt = Huntington Library, San Marino, California
  • Bodley = Bodleian Library, Oxford University, Oxford, England
  • Oxford Colls = other libraries at the colleges of Oxford University
  • NLS = National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • EUL = Edinburgh University Library, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Camb Trin = Trinity College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England
  • Other (UK) = other libraries in the UK
  • Other (US) = other libraries in the US

Canonical Works

Hamlet

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
1 1603 22275 1 1 2
2 1604 22276 1 1 1 3
3 1605 22276a 1 1 1 3†
4 1611 22277 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 4 16
5 [1625] 22278 3 2 1 1 1 2 5 15
6 1637 22279 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 17

† plus one copy in a European library = 4

Henry IV, Part 1

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
7 [1598] 22279a 1 1
8 1598 22280 1 1 1 3
9 1599 22281 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 10
10 1604 22282 1 1 1 1 1 5
11 1608 22283 2 1 1 1 1 1 7
12 1613 22284 2 2 2 1 1 3 11
13 1622 22285 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 12
14 1632 22286 4 1 1 1 1 2 3 13
15 1639 22287 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 18

Henry IV, Part 2

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
16 1600 22288 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 9
17 1600 22288a 2 2 3 1 1 3 12

Henry V

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
18 1600 22289 1 1 1 1 1 1 6
19 1602 22290 1 1 1 3
20 1608 [1619] 22291 7 2 1 1 1 1 1 3 8 25

King Lear

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
21 1608 22292 2 2 1 1 1 4 11
22 1608 [1619] 22293 6 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 6 22

Love's Labor's Lost

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
23 1598 22294 3 1 2 1 1 1 3 12
24 1631 22295 6 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 18

Merchant of Venice

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
25 1600 22296 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 5 17
26 1600 [1619] 22297 4 2 1 1 1 1 4 5 19
27 1637 22298 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 18

Merry Wives of Windsor

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
28 1602 22299 1 1 1 1 1 5
29 1619 22300 8 2 1 1 1 1 1 4 8 27
30 1630 22301 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 10

Midsummer Night's Dream

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
31 1600 22302 1 1 1 1 1 3 8
32 1600 [1619] 22303 7 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 5 21

Much Ado About Nothing

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
33 1600 22304 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 13

Othello

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
34 1622 22305 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 4 14
35 1630 22306 4 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 5 19

Richard II

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
36 1597 22307 1 1 1 1 4
37 1598 22308 2 1 2 1 1 1 8
38 1598 22309 1 1 1 3
39 1608 22310 1 1 1 3 6
40 1608 22311 1 1 2
41 1615 22312 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 13
42 1634 22313 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 5 16^

^this total is correct despite what the ESTC record looks like: it's counting two at the Bodleian, but one of those records is for EEBO. As far as can be discerned from catalog records, there is only one physical copy at the Bodleian.

Richard III

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
43 1597 22314 1 1 1 1 1 5
44 1598 22315 2 3 1 1 7
45 1602 22316 1 1 1 1 4
46 1605 22317 2 2 1 1 1 7
47 1612 22318 2 1 (tp) 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 12
48 1622 22319 1 3 1 1 1 7
49 1629 22320 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 15
50 1634 22321 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 4 15

Romeo and Juliet

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
51 1597 22322 1 1 1 1 1 5
52 1599 22323 4 1 1 1 1 4 12
53 1609 22324 1 1 2 1 1 6
54 [1622] 22325 1 1 1 3
55 [1622] 22325a 1 1 1 1 1 3 8†
56 1637 22326 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 6 21

†plus one copy at the Bibliothèque Nationale = 9

Taming of the Shrew

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
57 1631 22327 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 5 16

Titus Andronicus

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
58 1594 22328 1 1
59 1600 22329 1 1 2
60 1611 22330 2 2 1 1 1 1 4 12

Troilus and Cressida

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
61 1609 22331 1 1 1 3
62 1609 22332 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 10

Pericles

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
63 1609 22334 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 9^
64 1609 22335 2 1 1 1 5†
65 1611 22336 1 1 2 4
66 1619 26101 16 2 2 1 2 1 1 3 11 39††
67 1630 22337 1 1 1 1 3 7
68 1630 22338 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 4 11
69 1635 22339 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 17

^despite the ESTC record, it appears that both the Bodleian and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust only have one copy each

†plus one copy in a European library = 6

††plus one copy in a New Zealand library = 40

Canonical Totals

Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
Totals 168 87 73 54 8 31 30 51 51 187 744

Related Works

Henry VI, Part 2

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
70 1594 26099 1 1 1 3
71 1600 26100 2 1 1 4

Henry VI, Parts 2 & 3

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
72 [1619] 26101 16 2 2 1 2 1 1 3 11 39†

†plus one in a New Zealand library = 40

Henry VI, Part 3

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
73 1595 21006 1 1
74 1600 21006a 2 1 2 1 3 9

Two Nobel Kinsmen

Date STC No. Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
75 1634 11075 7 1 1 4 1 2 9 10 35

Related Works Totals

Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
Totals 26 4 7 9 1 2 1 4 13 24 92

Total Number

Folger BL Hunt Bodley Oxford Colls NLS EUL Camb Trin Other (UK) Other (US) Total
Totals^ 178 89 78 62 9 31 30 54 61 200 796

^STC26101 appears in both the canonical works (for Pericles) and in the related works (for Henry VI, Pts 2&3), so duplicate counts of this work have been removed from the final total.