Early Texts of King Lear

King Lear was entered in the Stationers' Register November 26, 1607:

Nov. 26, 1607.
Nath. Butter and John Busby.] Mr. Willm.
Shakespeare, his Hystorye of Kinge Lear, as yt was played before the King's Majestic at Whitehall, upon St. Stephen's night at Christmas last, by his Majesties servants playing usually at the Globe on the Bank-side

The first quarto, known as the "Pide Bull" quarto, was printed in 1608 with the following title page:

M. William Shak-speare: his true chronicle historie of the life and death of King Lear and his three daughters. With the vnfortunate life of Edgar, sonne and heire to the Earle of Gloster, and his sullen and assumed humor of Tom of Bedlam: as it was played before the Kings Maiestie at Whitehall vpon S. Stephans night in Christmas hollidayes. By his Maiesties seruants playing vsually at the Gloabe on the Bancke-side.
London: printed [by Nicholas Okes] for Nathaniel Butter, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Pide Bull neere St. Austins Gate, 1608.

The text of Q1 is corrupt in places, and it is often argued that it is a "bad" quarto, based on memorial reconstruction, though apparently it was an authorized printing.

The second quarto was an unauthorized re-print of Q1 by Isaac Jaggard in 1619 and fraudulently dated 1608.  It has the following title page:

M. William Shake-speare, his true chronicle history of the life and death of King Lear, and his three daughters. With the vnfortunate life of Edgar, sonne and heire to the Earle of Glocester, and his sullen and assumed humour of Tom of Bedlam. As it was plaied before the Kings Maiesty at White-hall, vppon S. Stephens night, in Christmas hollidaies. By his Maiesties seruants, playing vsually at the Globe on the Banck-side.
[London]: Printed [by William Jaggard] for Nathaniel Butter, 1608

The Folio text differs from the Q1 text, and it is speculated that it was printed from the text of Q1 corrected from the prompt-copy of the King's Men.  The text offers very complex textual problems, akin to the textual problems of Pericles.  The Folio has 100 lines not present in Q1, and Q1 has some 300 lines not present in the Folio.  Neither is regarded as authoritative.

King Lear was probably written in late 1605 or early 1606.  Gloucester's reference to "These late eclipses of the sun and moon" (1.2.112) is by some authorities taken to refer to the eclipses of September and October 1605.

The illustration above is from the Staunton edition of 1860, vol. III, p. 87.  The links below are to the editions of the early texts available on the Internet.

• Two examples of the 1608 1st quarto of King Lear from the British Library, both originally possessed by Halliwell-Phillipps: 1  2.  Both are examples of the "Pide Bull" edition, named for the imprint on the title page "Printed for Nathaniel Butter, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Pide Bull neare St. Austins Gate. 1608."
• Another 1608 1st quarto of King Lear from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, this one being an example of the "Pied Bull" printing.
• The 1608 1st quarto of King Lear from a copy held by the British Library with an appendix by Charles Praetorius, 1885, from Google Book Search.
• Three examples of the 1619 (dated 1608) 2nd quarto of King Lear from the British Library, the first originally possessed by Garrick, the second by George III and the third of unknown provenance: 1  2  3.  Q2 is Pavier's reprint, in 1619, of Q1, fraudulently dated 1608.
• The 1619 2nd quarto (dated 1608) of King Lear from the Rare Book Room (Octavo) from a volume held by The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, and another copy from a volume held by the National Library of Scotland.
• The 1619 2nd quarto (dated 1608) of  M. VVilliam [Shake]-speare : his true chronicle history of the life and death of King Lear and his three daughters, with the unfortunate life of Edgar, sonne and heire to the Earle of Glocester, and his sullen and assumed humour of Tom of Bedlam, in Horace Howard Furness Memorial (Shakespeare) Library from the Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text & Image (SCETI), University of Pennsylvania.
• The Tragedie of King Lear, 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 King Lear, 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 King Lear, 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 King Lear, 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 King Lear, 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 King Lear, 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 Tragedy of King Lear, 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 King Lear, 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.