Richard II, second edition

Richard II was printed in a second quarto edition in 1598, a year after its first printing. It was again published by the London bookseller Andrew Wise and printed by Valentine Simmes. Wise was an active publisher of Shakespeare’s plays, publishing not only the first three editions of Richard II, but also the earliest quarto editions of Richard III, Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2, and Much Ado About Nothing.

In 1598, four quarto editions of Shakespeare’s plays identified him as the dramatic author on the title page: this second edition of Richard II, the third edition of Richard II, the first edition of Love’s Labor’s Lost, and the second edition of Richard III. Prior to the printing of these specific playbooks, Shakespeare’s printed plays did not bear his name. The printing of his name on subsequent title pages may suggest a shift in his reputation as an author with his name becoming an advantageous form of advertisement.

The second edition of Richard II contains a shorter version of the play; the version we are more familiar with today would not be printed until 1608. The longer version features the on-stage deposition of King Richard, a potentially controversial scene. The absence of the “deposition scene” in the first three quarto editions has led critics to debate the possible censorship and revision of Shakespeare’s plays.

The copy shown above is one of eight listed in the English Short Title Catalogue, and is part of the Folger Shakespeare Library collection. It was once owned by 18^th century arts patron Charles Jennens. It later became a part of the Curzon-Howe family library in Gopsal Hall, Leicestershire, and was sold by Richard George Penn Curzon-Howe, fourth Earl of Howe to Henry Folger in 1907.

To learn more about this play, see the Folger’s Shakespeare's Works, and the British Library’s Shakespeare in Quarto, which also includes information about another copy of this edition.