Much Ado About Nothing was first published in 1600 and was likely written in 1598. The 1600 printing was the only copy published during Shakespeare's lifetime, and bears the title inscription describing that the play "hath been sundrie times publickly acted by the right honourable, the Lord Chamberlaine his seruants". The play is also listed in the Stationers' Register as of August 4, 1600, along with As You Like It and Henry V and all are marked "to be staied", i.e. not published until further permission is given by the company. Scholars tend to believe that the Lord Chamberlain's men were fighting to ensure they would receive payment for the publication of the manuscript, a dispute that was obviously resolved given the subsequent publication later that year.
Scholars tend to agree that the 1600 Quarto originated from Shakespeare's own manuscript. Several stage directions and the inclusion of characters subsequently abandoned from the play lend credence to this belief. The First Folio of 1623 relied on the 1600 publication of the play