Early Texts of Henry V

Henry V is one of the few plays by Shakespeare that can be reliably dated.  The prologue to act V (ll30-34) reads:

Were now the general of our gracious empress,
As in good time he may, from Ireland coming,
Bringing rebellion broached on his sword,
How many would the peaceful city quit,
To welcome him!

The general is, of course Essex, who left London on March 27, 1599 on his Irish campaign.  After his disastrous management of the campaign, he returned to England precipitously, and ill advisedly, on September 28, 1599.  The play must have been finished during this period.  It is also worth noting that the play is not mentioned in Francis Meres' list of Shakespeare's plays in Palladis Tamia, published autumn 1598.  It is often thought that "this wooden O" in the opening prologue refers to the newly erected Globe on the Bankside.  If one accepts Sohmer's arguments for opening day of the Globe being 12 June, 1599, it may well be that Henry V was one of the first plays presented there.  Early Spring-Summer, 1599, then, is a fairly certain date for this plays composition.

The play was first entered in the Stationers' Register by the printer James Roberts along with Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Every Man In His Humour on August 4, 1600, with a notation that it is "to be staid."  It is believed that this was a measure taken to attempt to block the printing of the plays without permission.  Nevertheless, the play was printed in an unauthorized quarto in 1600.

The cronicle history of Henry the fift, with his battell fought at Agin Court in France. Togither with Auntient Pistoll. As it hath bene sundry times playd by the Right Honorable the Lord Chamberlaine his seruants.
London: printed by Thomas Creede, for Tho. Millington, and Iohn Busby. And are to be sold at his house in Carter Lane, next the Powle head, 1600.

The first quarto is a corrupt version of the text of the First Folio, and it is believed it is a memorial reconstruction of a shortened acting version of the play.  This text was reissued in 1602 as the second quarto, and again in 1619 by Pavier and Jaggard, falsely dated 1608, as the third quarto.  The First Folio text, therefore, which must be based on Shakespeare's manuscript, is the authoritative text for the play.

Below are links to the early versions of the play.  I could not locate a version of the second quarto on the Internet.

• The 1600 1st quarto of Henry V from the British Library. Another copy of the 1600 1st quarto from the Rare Book Room of the copy held by the British Library.
• The 1600 1st quarto of Henry V from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
• An electronic facsimile edition of the 1619 (dated 1608) 3rd Quarto edition of Henry V from the Furness Shakespeare Library.
• The 1619 3rd quarto (dated 1608) of Henry V from the British Library originally possessed by Garrick, and another originally possessed by George III.  Copies of these quartos are also available from the Rare Book Room (Octavo): Garrick   George III.
• The 1619 3rd quarto (dated 1608) of The Chronicle History of Henry the Fift, with his battell fought at Agin Court in France.  Together with Ancient Pistoll, from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by National Library of Scotland.  Owned initially by the great Shakespeare editor George Stevens (1736–1800); then Richard Forster; then John Stuart, first Marquiss of Bute.  The Bute collection was eventually (1956) purchased by the National Library of Scotland.
• The 1619 3rd quarto (dated 1608) of Henry V from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the University of Edinburgh Library.  The volume had been owned by Edward Capell, then by J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, who gave it to the University Library.
• The 1619 3rd quarto (dated 1608) of Henry V from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
• The 1619 3rd quarto (dated 1608) of The chronicle history of Henry the fift : with his battell fought at Agin Court in France : together with ancient pistoll : as it hath bene sundry times played by ... the Lord Chamberlaine his seruants from a volume held by the Horace Howard Furness Memorial (Shakespeare) Library from the Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & Image (SCETI), University of Pennsylvania.
• The Life of Henry the Fift, in the First Folio of 1623 (Jaggard and Blount), from The Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the Folger Shakespeare Library.
• The Life of Henry the Fift, in the First Folio of 1623 (Jaggard and Blount), from a volume held by the Horace Howard Furness Memorial (Shakespeare) Library from the Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & Image (SCETI), University of Pennsylvania.
• The Life of Henry the Fift, in the First Folio of 1623 (Jaggard and Blount), from the Perseus Garner, part of the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, from a volume held by Brandeis University Library.
• The Life of Henry the Fift, in the First Folio of 1623 (Jaggard and Blount), from Internet Shakespeare Editions (University of Victoria) from a volume held by Brandeis University Library.
• The Life of Henry the Fift, in the First Folio of 1623 (Jaggard and Blount), from Internet Shakespeare Editions (University of Victoria) from a volume held by the State Library of New South Wales.
• The Life of Henry the Fift, in the Second Folio of 1632 (Cotes and Allot) from Internet Shakespeare Editions (University of Victoria) from a volume held by the State Library of New South Wales.
• The Life of King Henry the Fifth, in the Third Folio of 1663-1664 (Chetwinde) from Internet Shakespeare Editions (University of Victoria) from a volume held by the State Library of New South Wales.
• The Life of King Henry V, in the Fourth Folio of 1685 (Herringman) from Internet Shakespeare Editions (University of Victoria) from a volume held by the State Library of New South Wales.