As usual, I have relied on the Cambridge edition to prepare these notes. The new Cambridge edition has an especially good introduction for Richard II.
Richard II was written in 1595. The Chamberlain’s Men had been formed in 1594, and Shakespeare would have been contracted to write one tragedy and one comedy a year. He followed it with the two parts of Henry IV and Henry V, as well as Julius Caesar, in the following years.
In December 1595, a letter to Sir Robert Cecil asked if he will want to watch a play about “K. Richard”. This is thought to refer to Richard II, which was a popular play.
In 1597, the first Quarto was published. Two more Quartos were published in 1598. This was the first play popular enough to have three printings in two years. There were five Quartos before the Folio in 1623.
The second Quarto (i.e. the first one printed in 1598) was the first time Shakespeare’s name appeared on a printing of one of his plays.
In 1600, six passages were anthologised in England’s Parnassus.
Read more about Shakespeare and anthologies here
According to an account of Elizabeth I speaking to the Keeper of the Tower of London, Good Queen Bess called herself Richard II, in reference to this play, which she said had been performed “40tie times in open streets and houses.”
The Earl of Essex commissioned a performance of Richard II shortly before his failed rebellion attempt in 1601.
Before 1594, there was much uncertainty in the market. Plague kept theatres closed. Now Shakespeare seems to be starting on a sequence of plays, something to bring reliable audiences. The poems he printed during the plague closures foretell the highly lyrical style of Richard II, and other plays written at this time.
Read more about this phase of Shakespeare’s career
