William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1600 [1619] - quarto edition, Oberon and Puck, p.C2v.

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Date:1600

Description:‘I know a bank where the wild thyme blows...’.

The name ‘quarto’ used for the earliest printed texts of some of Shakespeare’s most popular plays refers to the size of the finished pamphlet, for which the printer has folded his sheets of paper twice, making eight pages, whereas for the larger folio the sheet has been folded only once. The publication of ‘quarto’ editions of the plays enabled the audience to read for themselves their favourite scenes and speeches, such as those of Oberon the fairy king, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

See: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2,1, lines 249-252.


Full title: William Shakespeare, A midsommer nights dreame. As it hath beene sundry times publikely acted, Written by William Shakespeare. [London], Printed by James Roberts, 1600. [i.e. William Jaggard for Thomas Pavier, 1619].

The Quaritch copy, bound in red morocco by Bedford.


Timeline

The timeline shows resources around this location over a number of years.

1570s
Henri Estienne, A mervaylous discourse upon... Katherine de Medici…, 1575 - title page
Henri Estienne, A mervaylous discourse upon... Katherine de Medici…, 1575 - title page

Shakespeare may have owned this book. Shakespeare purchased New Place, the largest ...

1590s
William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, 1594, leaf F4v.
William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, 1594, leaf F4v.

Shakespeare’s first published works. The long poem, Venus and Adonis, was ...

1610s
Plutarch, The lives of the noble Grecians and Romaines, 1612 - Antony and Cleopatra, p. 922, detail.
Plutarch, The lives of the noble Grecians and Romaines, 1612 - Antony and Cleopatra, p. 922, detail.

Shakespeare followed this description of Cleopatra. Shakespeare became very ...

1630s
William Shakespeare, Quartos, Love's Labour's Lost, 1631 - title page
William Shakespeare, Quartos, Love's Labour's Lost, 1631 - title page

A play for the Blackfriars Theatre: Shakespeare's Love’s Labour’s Lost. The ...

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Donor ref:SR 35.23 [1,199] (32/10531)

Source: The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - Library

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