WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
Mr. William Shakespear's comedies, histories, and tragedies : published according to the true original copies ... : and unto this impression is added seven playes never before printed in folio ...
1664RCIN 1047468
Whereas the acquisition of the First Folio by George IV might be considered trophy collecting, and the Second by George III as the act of a scholar and bibliophile, the purchase of the Third Folio was part of a concentrated campaign by William IV to complete gaps in the Royal Library. The collection had been seriously depleted in its scope and magnificence when George IV gave George III’s King’s Library to the nation.