Compositors
As far as modern scholarship has been able to determine, the First Folio texts were set into type by five compositors, with different spelling habits, peculiarities, and levels of competence. Researchers have labelled them A through E, A being the most accurate, and E an apprentice who had significant difficulties in dealing with manuscript copy. Their shares in typesetting the pages of the Folio break down like this:
| Comedies | Histories | Tragedies | Total pages | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "A" | 74 | 80 | 40 | 194 |
| "B" | 143 | 89 | 213 | 445 |
| "C" | 79 | 22 | 19 | 120 |
| "D" | 35½ | 0 | 0 | 35½ |
| "E" | 0 | 0 | 71½ | 71½ |
Compositor "E" was most likely one John Leason, whose apprenticeship contract dated only from November 4, 1622. One of the other four might have been a John Shakespeare, of Warwickshire, who apprenticed with Jaggard in 1610–17. ("Shakespeare" was a common name in Warwickshire in that era; John was no known relation to the playwright.)
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