by Andrea Mays
Nicolson, Adam. God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.
The Penn Library Collection at 250: From Franklin to the Web. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Library, 2000. Includes Chapter 3, “The Furness Memorial Library” by Daniel Traister. http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/at250/furness/dt.pdf.
Perry, Marsden Jasael. Marsden J. Perry Library of Shakespearean Library of Providence, R.I. 1901.
Pollard, Alfred W., G. R. Redgrave, et al. comp. A Short-Title Catalog of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and the English Books Printed Abroad, 1475–1640. London: by arrangement with the Bibliographical Society for B. Quaritch, 1926 (and numerous reprints).
A Preliminary List of Books and Manuscripts Relating to the Life and Writings of William Shakespeare Forming the Collection of Marsden Perry. Providence, Rhode Island, 1891.
The Redwood Library Guide to an Appreciation of Wm. Shakespeare, His Works, His Fame: Being a Few Explanatory Notes on an Exhibition of Books and Manuscripts Selected from the Collection of Mr. Marsden J. Perry. Providence, Rhode Island: Sign of the Standard, to be sold for the benefit of the Redwood Library in Newport, Rhode Island, 1916.
Rider, Sidney S. A Bit of Shakespearean Bibliography: The Library of Marsden J. Perry Shakespearean Library of Providence, R.I. 1901.
Rosenbach, A. S. W. A Book Hunter’s Holiday: Adventures with Books and Manuscripts. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1936.
________. Books and Bidders: The Adventures of a Bibliophile. Boston: Little, Brown, 1927.
________. The Unpublishable Memoirs. New York: Mitchell Kennerly, 1917.
Rosenblum, Joseph. “The Booksellers and the Biographers: A. S. W. Rosenbach and Seymour de Ricci in the Interwar Period.” Book Collector 49, no. 3 (Autumn 2000): 383–396.
Saltzman, Cynthia. Old Masters, New World: America’s Raid on Europe’s Greatest Pictures. New York: Viking, 2008.
Sherman, William H. Used Books: Marking Readers in Renaissance England. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008.
Smith, Robert M. “The Formation of Shakespearean in America.” Shakespeare Association Bulletin 4, no. 3 (July 1929): 65–73.
Sotheran Firm, London Booksellers. Bibliotheca Pretiosa: Being an Unusually Choice Collection of Books and Manuscripts in Exceptional Fine Condition . . . London, 1907.
Sowerby, E. Millicent. Rare People and Rare Books. London: Constable, 1967.
Spurgeon, Selena A. Henry Edward Huntington: His Life and His Collection; A Docent Guide. San Marino, California: Huntington Library, 1992.
Steinberg, S. H. 500 Years of Printing. London, 1955 (numerous revised and updated editions).
Thomas, Alan G. Great Books and Book Collectors. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974.
Thorpe, James Ernest. Gifts of Genius: Treasures of the Huntington Library. San Marino, California: Huntington Library, 1980.
________. Henry Edward Huntington: A Biography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.
Towner, George. The Elogant Auctioneers (completed by Stephen Varble). New York: Hill & Wang, 1970.
Wernick, R., and J. McGrail. “The Bookseller Who Couldn’t Stand to Sell His Books.” Smithsonian 23 (April 1992): 106–113.
Willoughby, E. E. The Classification of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937.
________. “The Folger Shakespeare Library.” Library World 38, no. 442 (1936): 227–29.
Winterich, John T. “Dr. Rosenbach: The Tycoon of Rare Books.” Harper’s Magazine 212, no. 1270 (1956): 80–88.
Wolf, Edwin, II, and John F. Fleming. Rosenbach: A Biography. Cleveland: World Publishing, 1960.
Wright, Louis B. Of Books and Men. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1976.
Ziegler, Georgianna, ed. Shakespeare Study Today: The Horace Howard Furness Memorial Lectures. New York: AMS Press, 1986. Includes her introduction and the article “Horace Howard Furness: Book Collector and Library Builder” by James M. Gibson.
Shakespeare First Folios (Digital Facsimiles Online)
Bodleian edition: http://firstfolio.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/.
Brandeis University Libraries edition: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/facsimile/book/Bran_F1/.
Brotherton edition: http://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-shakespeare.
Folger Shakespeare Library, Copy No. 5: http://hamnet.folger.edu/other/folio/ShaF1B.pdf.
Folger Shakespeare Library, Copy No. 9: http://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Call_Number%3D%22STC+22273+Fo.1+no.09%22+LIMIT%3AFOLGERCM1~6~6&pgs=250&res=2&cic=FOLGERCM1~6~6&sort=Call_Number%2CMPSORTORDER1%2CCD_Title%2CImprint.
Folger Shakespeare Library, Copy No. 68: http://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/view/search?sort=Call_Number%2CMPSORTORDER1%2CCD_Title%2CImprint&q=Call_Number%3D%22STC+22273+Fo.1+no.68%22+LIMIT%3AFOLGERCM1~6~6&pgs=250&res=2.
Furness Collection (University of Pennsylvania Library): http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/sceti/printedbooksNew/index.cfm?TextID=firstfolio&PagePosition=1.
Meisei University copy (one of 12, this one with unique annotations): http://shakes.meisei-u.ac.jp/e-index.html.
State Library at New South Wales edition: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/facsimile/overview/book/F1.html.
Stuttgart edition: http://digital.wlb-stuttgart.de/digitale-sammlungen/seitenansicht/?no_cache=1&tx_dlf%5Bid%5D=2103&tx_dlf%5Bpage%5D=1.
Walter Havinghurst Special Collections (Miami University of Ohio Libraries): http://doyle.lib.muohio.edu/cdm4/shakespeare/.
Useful Internet Sites
2016 ALA First Folio Tour: http://www.ala.org/programming/firstfolio.
British Shakespeare Association: http://www.britishshakespeare.ws/.
Folger Shakespeare Library: http://www.folger.edu/, specifically the First Folio landing page: http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=930.
Global Electronic Shakespeare Conference: http://shaksper.net/scholarly-resources/shakespeare-on-the-internet.
Internet Shakespeare Editions: http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/.
Shakespeare Association of America: http://www.shakespeareassociation.org/.
The Shakespeare Authorship Page (“Dedicated to the Proposition that Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare”): http://shakespeareauthorship.com/.
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust: http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/home.html.
The Shakespeare Blog: http://theshakespeareblog.com/.
Shakespeare Online: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/.
The Shakespeare Society of Japan (English version): http://www.s-sj.org/?lang=en
Touchstone; Cooperation and Partnership among UK Shakespeare Collections: http://www.touchstone.bham.ac.uk/welcome.html.
World Shakespeare Bibliography Online: http://www.worldshakesbib.org/.
Appendix
Chronological Order of Henry C. Folger’s Purchases of the First Folio
Purchase Date
Simple Comparison Description1
West
No.
Folger
No.
Price Paid2
Bet. 1891 and 1893
very inferior copy
113
55
unknown
1896
Pope-Hoe—red morocco, binding by Francis Bedford
72
14
$4,500
1897
Warwick Castle collection (in group)—bound by Bedford
64
6
est. $2,500
to $4,000
1898
Hayes—inferior copy
102
44
$561
1900
Kalbfleisch—100% genuine with replacement pages from other First Folios
66
8
$9,000
1901
Frederickson-McKee—flawed and inferior
94
36
$892.50
1903
Vincent/Sibthorp—manuscript inscription
59
1
$48,732.50
1903
Jonas—proof sheet from Othello
105
47
$1,250
1903
Hilhouse—with composite title page
75
17
$2,250
1903
Sotheran—multiple leaves from different copies
114
56
$1,750
1903
Roberts—portrait inlay (copy used to make Chatto & Windus facsimile)
91
33
$825
1903
Spencer—very inferior copy
106
48
$400
1903
Dutton—very inferior copy
122
64
$220
1903
Tregaskis—leaves from First and Second Folio
103
45
$850
1904
Pickering—Bedford bookbinder, pages trimmed, morocco binding
92
34
$1,100
1904
Lilly-Thorpe—some preliminaries in facsimile
93
35
$950
1904
Brodie—numerous imperfections
78
20
$2,625
1904
Duff—poor copy, mutilated
88
30
$2,205
1904
Sotheran—hundreds of replacement leaves
115
57
$1,254
1904
Richmond—outlines of eyeglasses
104
46
$1,850
1905
John Scott—all preliminaries in facsimile
89
31
$1,350
1905
Tweedmouth—facsimile first leaf
77
19
$7,300
1906
Denny—composite from other editions
101
43
$6,500
1906
Admiral Harvey—soiled and worn
86
28
$1,300
1907
Fitzgerald—unremarkable copy, some pages cut to border
90
32
$750
1907
Sotheby’s—very incomplete copy
124
66
$245
1909
Ferrers—many leaves from other copies and trimmed
85
27
$3,500
1909
Lord Amherst—some leaves in facsimile and from Second Folio
83
25
$2,200
1909
Lord Amherst—imperfections in several leaves
84
26
$2,200
1910
Hawkins-Garnett—disbound in case
107
49
$450
1910
Sotheby’s—mirror image of scissors
116
58
$3,060
1910
Bishop of Truro’s (Gott)—bound in red goatskin
67
9
$9,260
1910
Buckley-Hargreaves—red morocco, gilded edges
71
13
$10,200
1910
Maggs—facsimile leaves and imperfections
87
29
$3,400
1910
Gaisford—misprint in Hamlet
73
15
$6,250
1910
Holham-Hilton—some imperfections
82
24
$2,100
1911
Crockett—many preliminaries in facsimile
95
37
$525
1911
Hoe—tall copy
65
7
$14,300
1911
Butler—crushed brown morocco binding
96
38
$660
1911
Mary Lewis—some preliminaries mutilated and in facsimile
109
51
$2,500
1911
Hanmer—stage directions in Merry Wives
74
16
$6,650
1912
Elizabethan Club—proof page from Henry IV
108
50
$7,500
1912
Sabin—Droeshout portrait first state, last page of Romeo and Juliet crossed out
60
2
$13,750
1913
Brockett—shabby unrepaired copy
81
23
$4,870
1913
Vaughan—provenance to 17th century
110
52
$4,970
1913
Hutchinson—Histories annotated
112
54
$3,950
1913
Plymouth Library—lacking one play
117
59
$255
1914
A. B. Stewart library auction—red morocco binding by Francis Bedford
118
60
$1,263
1914
Beaufoy—Roger Paine binder
69
11
$15,500
1916
Leaves from various sources
98
40
$870
1916
Bulley—title page in facsimile
119
61
$6,000
1916
some imperfections
120
62
$3,000
1916
Smith—compilations, leaves of various sizes
121
63
$3,500
1916
Stevens—title page poorly reconstructed
100
42
$6,050
1916
Wilbraham—missing some preliminary leaves
97
39
$3,000
1918
Fitzwilliam—imperfections and mutilated
99
41
$2,500
1918
Vernon—imperfect title in facsimile
80
22
$11,000
1918
Leighton—bunch of loose leaves
123
65
$75
1920
Gilbourne—restored copy
70
12
$6,600
1921
Elliot-Baker-Wilbraham—facsimile and inlay, first leaf
76
18
$13,000
1922
Sabin-Wells—fine copy
129
71
$22,750
1922
Vernay—weak copy
62
4
$3,450
1922
Foster—genuine portrait, imperfect inlay title page
79
21
$9,130
1922
Daniel (Burnett-Coutts)—very fine copy
63
5
$52,070
1922
Sheldon (Burnett-Coutts second c
opy)—cancellation of Romeo and Juliet on last leaf
68
10
$26,730
1923
Wyndham—short, narrow, cropped copy
111
53
$1,275
1924
Fitzherbert—unexceptional copy
125
67
$7,400
1924
Earl of Kimberly—fine copy
126
68
$37,000
1925
Perkins—some imperfections
127
69
$32,000
1925
Landaff—manuscript additions
128
70
$19,500
1926
Stevens—original leaves and all preliminaries present
61
3
$6,050
1926
Hellman—fine copy
130
72
$41,000
1926
Killigrew—some leaves missing and mutilated
131
73
$9,900
1927
Missing two plays
132
74
$1,739
1928
Wantage—manuscript additions
133
75
$47,500
1928
Ingleby—many leaves missing from Cymbeline
135
77
$13,200
1928
Hacket—juvenile drawings, replacement pages, title page from Second Folio
136
78
$22,500
1928
Toft Hall—brittle pages, no preliminaries
137
79
$5,375
1928
Bishop Perry, Earl of Caledon—some imperfections
134
76
$68,750
Folios 80, 81, 823
* * *
1Shakespearian scholars have devoted hundreds of pages to describing fully the variations, marginalia, defects, facsimile, and replacement pages for the First Folios. This chart provides the reader with somewhat basic and very simplistic guidance to why Henry Folger paid exorbitant prices for some First Folios, and very little for others. For a complete catalogue and description of all First Folios, see Eric Rasmussen, Anthony James West, and Donald L. Bailey, et al., The Shakespeare First Folios: A Descriptive Catalog (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); and Anthony James West, The Shakespeare First Folio: The History of the Book, Volume I; An Account of the First Folio Based on Its Sales and Prices, 1623–2000 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) and The Shakespeare First Folio: The History of the Book, Volume II; A New World Census of First Folios (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).