This gold-tooled design comes from a unique binding attrib uted to Christian Samuel Kalthoeber, a German bookbinder working in London. He created the beautiful new cover for this copy of Shakespeare's First Folio around 1800. Originally pub lished in 1623, Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (or, First Folio) is recognized as the only reliable text for nearly 20 of Shakespeare's plays.