Shakespeare's editors

Shakespeare's editors were important in the making of producing printed books and the evolution of textual criticism.
Before the editors.
The 17th-century folio collections of the plays of William Shakespeare did not have editors. At the time, it was agreed that the plays included in the First Folio (1623) were to be gathered together or "compiled" by John Heminges and Henry Condell. They were two long-time coworkers of Shakespeare in the King's Men. The play manuscripts may have been proofread and prepared for printing by Edward Knight. He is the "book-keeper" or prompter of the company. The task of proofreading and correcting the actual printed pages of the Folio was left to the compositors and printers in the print-shop.
Not a lot is known about the making of the Second (1632), Third (1663–64), and Fourth Folios (1685).
The 18th century.
In the 18th century, some people made the first coordinated efforts to fix the problems that the Folios presented.
The 19th century.
The early 19th century saw the first Variorum editions of Shakespeare's works. These are editions that organized and combine the efforts of all the editors from the 18th century. The first edition edited by Isaac Reed released in 1803. The second edition released in 1813 changed a few things from the first. The third edition edited by James Boswell released in 1821.
These editions set the standards for professionally fixing works such as Shakespeare's works. The text was permanently set in the Cambridge edition. It was also set by the Globe edition (1864). It continued on by the New Cambridge edition in 1921. Now, all editions come mostly from this edition.
The Cambridge Shakespeare (1863–66), moved away from a single editor following his own instincts and judgments. The first volume of the Cambridge Shakespeare was edited by William George Clark and John Glover. And the later eight volumes by Clark and William Aldis Wright. Clark and Wright also created the single-volume Globe Shakespeare (1864) using their Cambridge texts. Together, these editions became the standard for a while.
The 20th century.
The most wonderful edition in the twentieth century was the Oxford Shakespeare. It was edited by Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor. It looks to show the scripts as they were originally written.