The Millionaire and the Bard
Henry Folger's Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare's First Folio
Book - 2015
"Today it is the most valuable book in the world. Recently one sold for over five million dollars. It is the book that rescued the name of William Shakespeare and half of his plays from oblivion. The Millionaire and the Bard tells the miraculous and romantic story of the making of the First Folio, and of the American industrialist whose thrilling pursuit of the book became a lifelong obsession." --
Publisher:
New York : Simon & Schuster, 2015.
Edition:
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
ISBN:
9781439118252
1439118256
9781439118238
143911823X
9781439141243
1439118256
9781439118238
143911823X
9781439141243
Branch Call Number:
822.33 G MAYS
Characteristics:
xvi, 350 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm
Alternative Title:
Henry Folger's obsessive hunt for Shakespeare's first folio



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sarahbear8301
May 25, 2016
Interesting look at an obsession with Shakespeare and how the Folger library came to exist. it's a shame Folger passed before the place could be completed. Sometimes a dry read, but really picked up once the library itself was being discussed. I wish I could collect Folios like he did - though there are not many left in private collections anymore!

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Add a CommentI would like to have learned more about the value of having many versions of the text to look at.
A bit dry especially through the middle but still a worthwhile read
The author, Andrea Mays, will be presenting at the Tucson Festival of Books!
If you have visited Washington D.C., you may have noticed the beautifully designed Folger's Shakespeare Library near the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. I found the story of Henry Clay Folger an interesting one - and even liked the author's lengthy asides on how the First Folio came to be published and the methods used by printers of the time which guaranteed that no two copies are the same. Maybe it helps to be a bibliomaniac, but I really enjoyed reading this book.