William Shakespeare as a sign that his acting career was nearing its end. The First Folio of 1623, however, lists Shakespeare as one of "the Principal Actors in all these Plays", some of which were first staged after "Volpone", although we cannot know for certain which roles he played. In 1610, John Davies of Hereford wrote that "good Will" played "kingly" roles. In 1709, Rowe passed down a tradition that Shakespeare played the ghost of Hamlet's father. Later traditions maintain that he also played Adam in "As You Like It", and the Chorus in "Henry V", though scholars doubt the sources of
The Plays of William Shakespeare by the Shakespeare scholar William Warburton. On 1 June 1756, Johnson reprinted his "Miscellaneous Observations" but attached his "Proposal" or "Proposals for Printing, by Subscription, the Dramatick Works of William Shakespeare, Corrected and Illustrated". On 2 June 1756, he signed a contract to edit an eight-volume set of Shakespeare's writings including a preface, and on 8 June 1756 Johnson printed his "Proposal", now called "Proposals for an Edition of Shakespeare". The "Proposal" sold subscriptions for Johnson's future edition at the cost of two guineas, the first paid before and the second upon printing. When Johnson achieved scholarly renown for his