London: H. Gosson, 1609
[S.L.] I [Shakespeare - 1609] (S)
The publishing history of Pericles is unusual. First published as a quarto in 1609 with Shakespeare’s name on the title page and reprinted that year with minor typographical changes and casual corrections, it did not appear in a folio until the Third Folio of 1664. One theory for this is that John Heminges and Henry Condell, who edited the First Folio, excluded Pericles in the knowledge that Shakespeare was not the sole author, but that the Restoration period’s desire was for completeness, and that, moreover, the popularity of Pericles on stage rendered it an attractive selling point for inclusion. Pericles is the only so-called “bad quarto” that does not also exist in an improved quarto version. The multiple errors include dialogue that makes little or no sense, gaps in the motivation of actions and events, verse printed as prose and vice versa, and lines of verse incorrectly divided.
This copy is of the second printing, readily identifiable by the instruction in the prologue “Eneer Gower” for “Enter Gower”.