12 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About William Shakespeare

2. Shakespeare Compiled A Collection Of His Own Works... But It Was Actually First Done By Two Acting Friends

Playwrights during the 16th and 17th Centuries were keen to protect the integrity of their own works by trying to limit the number of copies of their plays that were written and printed, due to the fact an alternative acting troupe could merely act it out without permission. Therefore, Shakespeare did not commission the entirety of his works to be put into print - and they would certainly not have been as readily available in a physical form in the early-1600s as they are now. Not until actors John Heminges and Henry Condells - two of the Bard's friends and thespians who appeared in "The King's Men" - published the "First Folio" in 1623 was a collection of Shakespeare's works put into print. This book contained 36 of Shakespeare's texts, including 18 that were printed for the first time - and there is no evidence to suggest that the Bard approved these editions. Plays such as "Hamlet", "King Lear", "Othello" and "Troilus and Cressida" were then available for buy in print - and they sold like hotcakes, as they still do today.