Thomas Pavier - False Folio

False Folio

Most controversially, Pavier was somehow involved with William Jaggard in the cryptic False Folio affair of 1619, which involved the publication of ten Shakespearean and pseudo-Shakespearean plays in quarto editions, some with falsified title pages. The early versions of 2 and 3 Henry VI were printed in one volume, titled The Whole Contention Between the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster. This volume and four others — Henry V, Sir John Oldcastle, A Yorkshire Tragedy, and Pericles, Prince of Tyre — were issued with the initials "T. P." on their title pages.

Among the many points about the False Folio that are uncertain and obscure is Pavier's precise role in the matter. Pavier was a business associate of Jaggard; but the real nature of his connection is debated by scholars. Some modern commentators argue that Pavier's role in the matter may have been more substantive than Jaggard's, and call the disputed texts the "Pavier quartos."