Early Texts of Romeo and Juliet

The first quarto of Romeo and Juliet, commonly thought to be a "bad," pirated version, was printed in 1597 with the following title page: 

An excellent conceited tragedie of Romeo and Iuliet. As it hath been often (with great applause) plaid publiquely, by the Right Honourable the L. of Hunsdon his seruants.
London: printed by Iohn Danter [and Edward Allde], 1597.

Q1 is unique in having been printed during the brief period when Shakespeare's company was known as Lord Hunsdon's Men, and not the Lord Chamberlain's Men.  The reference to "Hunsdon's men" on the title page of the first quarto--named the Lord Chamberlain's Men" on the title page of Q2--need only refer to the company as it was known at the time of printing, not initial composition.  Shakespeare's company was known as Lord Hunsdon's Men only from July 1596, at the death of Henry Carey, First Baron Hunsdon and March 17, 1597 when his son George, who had lent his name to the company during the brief Chamberlaincy of William Brooke, Lord Cobham, a man not well disposed toward the actors, became Lord Chamberlain.

The second quarto appeared in 1599, with the following title page:

The most excellent and lamentable tragedie, of Romeo and Iuliet. Newly corrected, augmented, and amended: as it hath bene sundry times publiquely acted, by the Right Honourable the Lord Chamberlaine his seruants.
London: printed by Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, and are to be sold at his shop neare the Exchange, 1599.

Note the "Newly corrected, augmented and amended," which appears as a palliative to a previously surreptitiously printed version.  Q2 contains 700 more lines than does Q1.  Q2 must have been based on Shakespeare's "foul papers," but collates passages from Q1.  Prompt text appears in the stage direction at 4.5.102 "Enter Will Kemp." rather than Q1's "Enter Peter" showing the influence of a copy belonging to Shakespeare's company, if not his own copy.

The play was popular, and a third quarto was printed in 1609:

The most excellent and lamentable tragedie, of Romeo and Iuliet. As it hath beene sundrie times publiquely acted, by the Kings Maiesties seruants at the Globe. Newly corrected, augmented, and amended:
London: printed [by Iohn Windet] for Iohn Smethwick, and are to be sold at his shop in Saint Dunstanes Church-yard, in Fleetestreete vnder the Dyall, 1609.

This is the copy used for the First Folio text. 

A fourth appeared in 1622 and a fifth appeared in 1637.  Date of composition is not certain, but was probably 1595.

Here are the links to facsimile copies of the early texts:

• The 1597 1st quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the British Library.
• The 1597 1st quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the British Library.  The volume had previously belonged to Garrick.
• The 1597 1st quarto of Romeo and Juliet from Internet Shakespeare Editions from the Garrick volume held by the British Library.
• The 1597 1st quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. 'This rare first quarto of Romeo and Juliet was donated to the Bodleian Library in 1821. It was previously owned by Edmund Malone..." (Octavo statement of provenance.  The link is incorrectly dated at the Octavo Rare Book Room, which gives 1596 rather than the correct 1597).
• The 1599 2nd quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the British Library.
• The 1599 2nd quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the British Library.  The volume had previously belonged to George III.
• The 1599 2nd quarto of Romeo and Juliet from Internet Shakespeare Editions from the volume held by the British Library.
• The 1599 2nd quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the University of Edinburgh Library.
• The 1599 2nd quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the University of Edinburgh Library.  "This quarto was given to the University of Edinburgh in 1627 by James Drummond (1585–1649) of Hawthornden, a former student at the university, as well as a poet and man of letters." (Octavo statement of provenance).
• The 1599 2nd quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.  "This second quarto of Romeo and Juliet , now at the Bodleian Library, is the third of six other Shakespeare quartos inlaid in Edmund Malone’s Volume VI, which is bound in nineteenthcentury tree calf with gold-stamped ornamental borders and “EM” in the center of both covers..."  (Octavo statement of provenance).
• The 1609 3rd quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the British Library.
• The 1609 3rd quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the British Library.  The volume had previously belonged to J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps.
• The 1609 3rd quarto from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.  "This quarto, before its acquisition by the Bodleian Library was in the library of Richard Heber, who purchased it in April 1804 at Lord Thorlo’s sale at Christies. Richard Heber (1773–1833), British bibliophile, started amassing a classical collection as an undergraduate at Oxford, but broadened his collection to include rare editions of early English drama and literature. He purchased both single volumes and entire libraries and did not limit himself to a single copy of any particular book. As a result, he owned at least 150,000 volumes, and his collection filled eight houses. He was member of Parliament for Oxford University (1821–26) and a founder of the Athenaeum Club in London." (Octavo statement of provenance).
• The 1622 4th quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the British Library.
• The 1622 4th quarto of Romeo and Juliet (incorrectly dated as "1752" at the Rare Book Room--which is simply Richard Warners mark of ownership rather than date of publication) from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the British Library.  The volume had previously belonged to Garrick.
• The 1622 4th quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the University of Edinburgh Library.  The volume was given to the library by J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps.
• The 1622 4th quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.  "Purchased by the Bodleian Library in 1836, this quarto of Romeo and Juliet was previously owned by Alexander Dyce (1798-1869). Dyce was born in Edinburgh and studied at Oxford, where he was the editor of a dictionary on the language of Shakespeare. In 1825 began his lifelong pursuit of literary scholarship. Dyce was a distinguished editor of Jacobean and Elizabethan dramatists and poets including Christopher Marlowe, Beaumont and Fletcher, and Alexander Pope. He edited a nine-volume work of Shakespeare (rev. ed. 1864–69). He bequeathed his extensive library to the South Kensington Museums, and it is now in the Victoria and Albert." (Octavo statement of provenance).
• The 1637 5th quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the British Library.
• The 1637 5th quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the British Library.  The volume had previously belonged to David Garrick.
• The 1637 5th quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the National Library of Scotland.  The volume had previously belonged to the great editor George Steevens.
• The 1637 5th quarto of Romeo and Juliet from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the University of Edinburgh Library.  The volume was given to the library by J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps.
• The 1637 5th quarto of The most excellent and lamentable tragedie of Romeo and Juliet : as it hath been sundry times publikely acted by the Kings Majesties servants at the Globe; 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 Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet, 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 Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet, 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 Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet, 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 Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet, 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 Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet, 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 Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet, 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 Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet, 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 Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, 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.