When were Shakespeare’s works collected and printed?

William Shakespeare never authorized the printing of any
of his plays. The plays were actually printed by two of actors who worked with
Shakespeare: Henry Condell and John Hemminge.

Plays, during
Shakespeare's time, where not written as texts like they are today. Shakespeare actually
hired a scribe to create the manuscripts for him. The name of the scribe was Ralph
Crane. The first collection upon which Crane worked on came to be known as the First
Folio given it was the first written collection of Shakespeare's
works.

The First Folio was published seven years after
Shakespeare's death in 1623. Published by William Jaggard and consisted of 36 of
Shakespeare's plays and was reprinted three times.

The
Second Folio was published in 1632. The Third Folio was published in 1663 and the Fourth
Folio was published in 1685.

Both the Third and Fourth
Folios contained 43 plays having 7 added to the folio in the
Third.

Given that when Shakespeare created the plays, they
were not really formalized texts. As stated before, Shakespeare hired a scribe to write
down the dialogue of the plays as they were performed. None of Shakespeare's original
texts of his plays exist. Collection was enacted by fellow actors, publishing houses,
and the acting troupes with which Shakespeare worked.