Was it traditional to omit the prologue from Shakespeare's plays in the First Folio?

Question

In an older question about the purpose of the prologue in Romeo and Juliet, Cory Howell asked in a now deleted answer:

For what it's worth, the Prologue is not included in the First Folio version of Romeo and Juliet. So one must wonder, was it traditional to omit the Prologue by the time the First Folio was printed in 1623?

Shakespeare's First Folio contained 36 plays, 18 of which had been published before in quarto format. There are differences between the quarto and folio versions of the reprinted plays and sometimes these are considerable. If the quarto version contained a prologue, was it traditional to omit it in the First Folio edition?

Answer 1

Of the Shakespeare plays that were published in quarto before 1623, the following contained a prologue:

• Romeo and Juliet, first quarto, 1597,
• Pericles, which was, however, not included in the First Folio,
• The Second part of King Henry the Fourth, first quarto, 1600 ("prologue" spoken by Rumour).

When looking at the First Folio versions of these plays, we see the following:

• Romeo and Juliet omits the prologue;
• Henry IV, Part 2 still has the "induction" spoken by Rumour.

When looking at Henry V, we observe the following:

• Henry V, first quarto, 1600 has no prologue;
• Henry V in the First Folio has a prologue where the first quarto didn't have one.

Troilus and Cressida is another special case:

• Troilus and Cressida, first quarto 1609 begins with an "epistle" to the reader (i.e. not a speech to the theatre audience),
• Troilus and Cressida in the First Folio omits the epistle and adds a prologue.

Based on this, it is not possible to make the general claim that prologues were omitted when plays be Shakespeare were republished in the First Folio. In fact, the quarto editions of Henry V and Troilus and Cressida had no prologue, whereas the First Folio versions of these plays did.

(The Life of King Henry the Eighth also has a prologue but was not published before the First Folio.)