Chapter 4 concentrates on history plays in collection because the act of gathering and publishing texts as a bound group involves an assessment of ‘kinds’ and makes a statement about genre. It proposes that, beyond two-part plays, the first collections of commercial drama to prioritize ‘history’ as part of their design were the so-called Pavier quartos (a planned collection of ten plays published in 1619), and Shakespeare’s First Folio in 1623. The chapter argues that the 1619 collection underscores the fluidity and inclusivity of history as a genre, incorporates monarchical histories alongside citizen and legendary histories, and resembles early modern Sammelbände in its construction. Shakespeare’s Folio, in contrast, singularizes and solidifies its ‘Histories’ by creating a dramatic category that is based exclusively on English monarchical history after the Conquest. This chapter offers a new perspective on these much-discussed publication ventures: it concentrates on the statements they make about history, assesses who was responsible for their design, and shows how their presentation promotes competing notions of ‘history’ and ideas of timeliness and timelessness.