The Second Folio
Shakespeare's Second Folio (F2) was published in 1632. By the time of its publication, both editors and the publisher of the First Folio had already passed away and the enterprise was taken by a syndicate which had Robert Allot - at The Black Bear, St. Paul's Churchyard - as the main publisher.
The Second Folio is largely a reprint of F1 with the editors attempting to update the language and correct misprints. Unfortunately, in the process, many new typographical errors were also introduced. The most distinguishing feature of F2, however, is the inclusion in the preliminaries of the unsigned poem `An Epitaph on the admirable Dramaticke Poet, W. Shakespeare', which is now known to have been written by John Milton, possibly in 1630.
The ownership history of the Second Folio reinforces the connections between Shakespeare and the British Monarchy. It was on the ascension of James I of England and VI of Scotland that Shakespeare's company ceased to the the Chamberlain's Men and acquired royal patronage, thus becoming the King's Men. James I's son and heir, Charles I, owned a copy of the Second Folio and it is said that he constantly read it while imprisoned at Windsor Castle during the civil wars. Charles I's copy is part of the Royal Collections and is now at the Royal Library at Windson Castle. It contains annotations on the contents page, added page numbers for the plays, and the names of some characters written down by the King himself. The most notable annotation, however, is the one Charles wrote days before his execution in 1649, ‘Dum Spiro Spero’, Latin for ‘while I breathe, I hope’.
In 1800, after being for a period in the hands of various book collectors, the copy was purchased by King George III who also added his own annotations. The history of the relationship between Shakespeare and the Monarchy was reinforced in 2023 when, as part of the celebrations on the 400 years of the publication of the First Folio, King Charles III and Queen Camilla hosted an event at Windsor Castle with copies of the First and Second Folio going on display.