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 August 1765. However, he was unable to work on the "Preface" until August and it was not printed until 29 September. George Steevens volunteered to help Johnson work on the "Preface" during this time. Johnson's edition of "Shakespeare's plays" was finally published on 10 October 1765 as "The Plays of William Shakespeare, in Eight Volumes ... To which are added Notes by Sam. Johnson" in a printing of 1,000 copies. The edition sold quickly and a second edition was soon printed, with an expanded edition to follow in 1773 and a further revised edition in 1778. There are four components