To the Memory of My Beloved Author, Mr. William Shakespeare Summary
Ben Jonson

To the Memory of My Beloved Author, Mr. William Shakespeare Overview

These lines serve as the forward to the famous First Folio (more properly titled Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies). The Folio is renowned as the only surviving source for about half of Shakespeare's plays. It is also historically unique, as the first large, expensive print compendium of an English author's plays; the format was usually reserved for elevated genres like poetry. It was published by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount in 1623, after Heminges and Condoyl, two members of Shakespeare's theatre troupe, raised the necessary funds. The Folio begins with this poem, which was composed in Shakespeare's memory by his fellow poet, Ben Jonson.