The Folios

The Oxford English Dictionary defines 'folio' as 'a sheet of paper when folded once'. The definition is based on a 1616 record by J. Bullokar, English Expositor, defining 'folio' as 'a sheete or large leafe of paper.'

In the Early Modern period, paper was an expensive commodity and therefore only books considered valuable in terms of content would be published in folio format. These were usually religious texts, such as Gutenberg's 42-line Bible and John Foxe's Acts and Monuments (1563). The folio format was also used for topographic material, such as ’s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern geographical atlas, compiled, edited and published by Abraham Ortelius in 1570.  Historical chronicles would also qualify for the prestigious folio format, such as Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1577). The folio was also the paper size chosen by William Caxton for Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, the first book printed in English.

The folio format thus was not only used to print prestigious texts, but it also conferred to the material object a higher status. It is therefore remarkable that a collection of scripts created for the stage would be printed as such an expensive and imposing book which few could afford to acquire. This is evidence of the high standing Shakespeare already had as a playwright at the time of the publication of F1.