Experience Shakespearean history with our First Folio notebooks, reproducing a binding found at the esteemed Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC.

This stately gold-tooled design comes from a unique binding attributed to Christian Samuel Kalthoeber, a German bookbinder working in London. He created a beautiful new cover for this copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio around 1800. Originally published in 1623 in London and containing 36 of Shakespeare’s plays, Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories & Tragedies (known as the First Folio) is one of the most influential books ever published. It is the only reliable text for the 18 Shakespeare plays that had previously never been printed, including The Tempest and Twelfth Night.

Today, there are only 235 known surviving copies, from approximately 750 printed, and the Folger Shakespeare Library itself holds 82 of those copies. We are honoured to introduce this beautiful and unique binding as our first reproduction from the Library’s unparalleled collection.