Facsimiles

For the ultimate in “unedited” texts, nothing beats a digital facsimile—high-resolution images of the pages of an early printed book. The Folger Shakespeare Library has an extensive collection of English drama from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Many of these plays have been carefully imaged by the Folger’s Department of Photography and Digital Imaging.

The Folger collection includes copies of 334 of the plays encompassed by A Digital Anthology of Early Modern English Drama (EMED). Indeed, some of those plays exist in multiple copies, for a total of more than 475 early print witnesses. You can see full image sets of a selection of these playbooks in the list below. This list also includes a few examples of additional later editions or manuscript copies held at the Folger, for comparison to the earliest printed playbook.

Digital facsimiles of playbooks held at the Folger Shakespeare Library

Bussy D’Ambois (BDA)
EMED play entry: 1607, STC 4966
Images: 1607, Folger STC 4966
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Thomas Middleton, The Changeling. London: Printed by Thomas Newcombe for Humphrey Moseley, 1653. Folger M1980, A1v||B1r.
The Changeling (Change)
EMED play entry: 1653, Wing M1980
Images: 1653, Folger Wing M1980
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Eastward Ho (EastHo)
EMED play entry: 1605, STC 4971
Images: 1605, Folger STC 4971
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The Reign of King Edward the Third (RKE3)
EMED play entry: 1596, STC 7501
Images: 1596, Folger STC 7501
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Epicene, or The Silent Woman (Epicene)
EMED play entry: 1616, STC 14752
Images: 1616, Folger STC 14751 copy 2
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The Fair Maid of the Exchange (FME)
EMED play entry: 1607, STC 13317
Images: 1607, Folger STC 13317 copy 1
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The Fair Maid of the West, or A Girl Worth Gold, 1 (1FMW)
EMED play entry: 1631, STC 13320
Images: 1631, Folger STC 13320 vol. 1
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The Fair Maid of the West, or A Girl Worth Gold, 2 (2FMW)
EMED play entry: 1631, STC 13320
Images: 1631, Folger STC 13320 vol. 2
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A Game at Chess (GaC)
EMED play entry: 1625, STC 17882
Images: 1625?, Folger STC 17884 copy 1
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Images: 1625?, Folger STC 17884 copy 2
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Images: 1624, Folger MSS v.a.231 [manuscript]
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George a Greene, the Pinner of Wakefield (GaG)
EMED play entry: 1599, STC 12212
Images: 1599, Folger STC 12212
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Holland’s Leaguer (HL)
EMED play entry: 1632, STC 17443.5
Images: 1632, Folger STC 17443.5
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Hyde Park (HP)
EMED play entry: 1637, STC 22446
Images: 1637, Folger STC 22446
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Christopher Marlowe, The Jew of Malta. London: Printed by John Beale for Nicholas Vavasour, 1633. Folger STC 17412 copy 1, A4v||B1r.
The Jew of Malta (JoM)
EMED play entry: 1633, STC 17412
Images: 1633, Folger STC 17412 copy 1
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Locrine (Locrine)
EMED play entry: 1595, STC 21528
Images: 1595, Folger STC 21528 copy 1
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The London Prodigal (LonPro)
EMED play entry: 1605, STC 22333
Images: 1605, Folger STC 22333 copy 1
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Images: 1605, Folger STC 22333 copy 2
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Images: 1605, Folger STC 22333 copy 3
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Images: 1605, Folger STC 22333 copy 4
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The Malcontent (Malc)
EMED play entry: 1604, STC 17479
Images: 1604, Folger STC 17479 copy 1
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Images: 1604, Folger STC 17481 copy 2 [another edition]
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The Merry Devil of Edmonton (MDE)
EMED play entry: 1608, STC 7493
Images: 1608, Folger STC 7493
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The Picture (Pic)
EMED play entry: 1630, STC 17640
Images: 1630, Folger STC 17640.5 copy 4
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Philip Massinger, The Renegado. London: Printed by A. M. for Iohn Waterson, 1630. Folger STC 17641 copy 1, title page.
The Renegado (Ren)
EMED play entry: 1630, STC 17641
Images: 1630, Folger STC 17641 copy 1
Images: 1630, Folger STC 17641 copy 3
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The Revenger’s Tragedy (RT)
EMED play entry: 1607, STC 24149
Images: 1607, Folger STC 24149
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The Roman Actor (RA)
EMED play entry: 1629, STC 17642
Images: 1629, Folger STC 17642 copy 1
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The Royal King and the Loyal Subject (RKLS)
EMED play entry: 1637, STC 13364
Images: 1637, STC 13364 copy 2
    This copy contains manuscript corrections and emendations.
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Sir John Oldcastle, 1 (1SJO)
EMED play entry: 1600, STC 18795
Images: 1600, Folger STC 18795
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Thomas Lord Cromwell (TLC)
EMED play entry: 1602, STC 21532
Images: 1602, Folger STC 21532
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’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (TPSW)
EMED play entry: 1633, STC 11165
Images: 1633, Folger STC 11165
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The Troublesome Reign of King John, 1 (1TRKJ)
EMED play entry: 1591, STC 14644
Images: 1591, Folger STC 14644
The Troublesome Reign of King John, 2 (2TRKJ)
EMED play entry: 1591, STC 15644
Images: 1591, Folger STC 14644
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The True Chronicle of King Leir (TCKL)
EMED play entry: 1605, STC 15343
Images: 1605, Folger STC 15343
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The White Devil (Vittoria Corombona) (WD)
EMED play entry: 1612, STC 25178
Images: 1612, Folger STC 25178
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The Yorkshire Tragedy (Yorkshire)
EMED play entry: 1608, STC 22340
Images: 1608, Folger STC 22340
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