This 1594 copy of Titus Andronicus is the only known copy of this quarto in existence, and, along with a version of Henry VI, Part 2 from the same year, is the earliest extant printed Shakespeare play. Quartos printed after about 1598 often display the name William Shakespeare; as this is an earlier quarto, the name of the acting company is shown instead. Quarto editions of the plays, which began to appear in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, were inexpensive and were sold unbound, sometimes in small numbers. Some editions were completely lost, as the 1594 quarto of Titus Andronicus was thought to have been, until this copy was discovered in 1904 in the home of a Swedish postal clerk. The book was found wrapped in a pair of 18th-century lottery tickets, which remain with it to this day. It remains the rarest and most valued quarto in the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
This 1594 copy of Titus Andronicus is the only known copy of this quarto in existence, and, along with a version of Henry VI, Part 2 from the same year, is the earliest extant printed Shakespeare play. Quartos printed after about 1598 often display the name William Shakespeare; as this is an earlier quarto, the name of the acting company is shown instead. Quarto editions of the plays, which began to appear in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, were inexpensive and were sold unbound, sometimes in small numbers. Some editions were completely lost, as the 1594 quarto of Titus Andronicus was thought to have been, until this copy was discovered in 1904 in the home of a Swedish postal clerk. The book was found wrapped in a pair of 18th-century lottery tickets, which remain with it to this day. It remains the rarest and most valued quarto in the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library.