Early Texts of Henry IV, Part 2

Henry IV, Part 2 was entered in the Stationers' Register, along with Much Ado About Nothing, on August 23, 1600:

Aug. 23, 1600.
And. Wise, and Wm. Aspley.] Muche Adoe about Nothinge...
Second Part of the History of King Henry the Fourth, with the Humors of Sir John Fallstaff, written by Mr. SHAKESPERE

It was printed in the same year (quarto a) with the following title page:

The second part of Henrie the fourth, continuing to his death, and coronation of Henrie the fift. With the humours of Sir Iohn Falstaffe, and swaggering Pistoll. As it hath been sundrie times publikely acted by the Right Honourable, the Lord Chamberlaine his seruants. Written by William Shakespeare.
London: printed by V. S. [Valentine Simmes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, 1600.

It was reprinted in the same year (quarto b) with act III scene i added, which had been omitted from the first printing.  It was not printed again until the First Folio, which must have been type set from an original manuscript since the Folio version contains passages not contained in either early quarto.  It is speculated that the passages removed from the early printings were politically sensitive, in view of the strained relationships between the court and the Essex factions in 1600, and that they were removed at the behest of the censor.  Indeed, the Essex revolt occurred early the next year, in which Shakespeare's company played their small, though thankfully forgivable, part.  The Folio text also was edited to cut the oaths, in observance of the act of parliament of 1606 forbidding the use of the names of the deity, an act which also required heavy cutting of Henry IV, Part 1.  Between the quarto and folio texts a full text is available which must reflect Shakespeare's manuscript, or at least the company's prompt version.  Henry IV, Part 2 obviously feeds on the popularity of Part 1, but it is not known whether it was written before or after The Merry Wives of Windsor.  If before, it was probably written in late 1596; if after, in mid- to late 1597.

The illustration above is from the Chalmers edition, 1805, an engraving by James Neagle on a design by Henry Fuseli.  Below are links to the early texts available on the Internet.

• The 1600 (a) quarto of Henry IV, Pt. 2, from the British Library.
• The 1600 (b) quarto of Henry IV, Pt. 2, from the British Library originally possessed by Garrick, and another originally possessed by George III.
• Another copy of the 1600 quarto of Henry IV, Part 2 from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the British Library; and yet another.
• The quarto of 1600 of The Second parte of Henrie the fourth continuing to his death, and coronation of Henrie the fift, from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
• The 1600 quarto of Henry IV, Part 2 from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
• The 1600 quarto of The Second parte of Henrie the fourth continuing to his death, and coronation of Henrie the fift, from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by the National Library of Scotland.
• The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing His Death : and the Coronation of King 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 Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing His Death : and the Coronation of King 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 Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing His Death : and the Coronation of King 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 Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing His Death : and the Coronation of King 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 Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing His Death : and the Coronation of King 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 Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing His Death : and the Coronation of King 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 Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing His Death : and the Coronation of King Henry the Fift, 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 Second Part of Henry IV, Containing His Death : and Coronation of 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.