The Book of William
How Shakespeare's First Folio Conquered the World
Collins, Paul
Hardcover
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BOOK SYNOPSIS
The first popular narrative history of Shakespeares First Folio, the worlds most obsessively pursued book. One book above all others has transfixed connoisseurs for four centuriesa book sold for shillings in the streets of London, whisked to Manhattan for millions, and stored deep within the vaults of Tokyo. The book: William Shakespeares First Folio of 1623. Paul Collins, lover of odd books and author of the national bestseller Sixpence House, takes up the strange quest for this white whale of precious books. Broken down into five acts, each tied to a different location and century, The Book of Williams travelogue follows the trail of the Folios curious rise: a dizzying S othebys auction on a pristine copy preserved since the seventeenth century, the Fleet Street machinations of the eighteenth century, the nineteenth century quests for lost Folios, obsessive acquisitions by twentieth century oilmen, and the high-tech hoards of twenty-first century Japan. Finally, Collins speculates on Shakespeares cross-cultural future as Asian buyers enter their Folios into the electronic ether, and recounts the books remarkable journey as it is found in attics, gets lost in oceans and fires, is bought and sold, and ultimately becomes immortal.
AUTHOR BIO
Paul Collins is an assistant professor of English at Portland State University and the author of Sixpence House, The Trouble with Tom, Not Even Wrong, and Banvards Folly. His work has appeared in Smithsonian, the New York Times, and Slate. He edits the Collins Library imprint of McSweeneys Books and appears regularly on NPRs Weekend Edition as the shows resident literary detective.
BOOK REVIEWS
Exemplary scholar-adventurer writing. Kirkus (starred)"Collins has done it again. This historyspanning the globe and 400 years in the life and fortunes of one of the most famous books in the English languageis not the dry province of historians, bibliophiles, and antiquarians...Witty, detailed, and highly entertaining, it will be appreciated by fans of Shakespeare, history, or human folly." Library Journal
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MORE BOOK INFO
ISBN: 1596911956
ISBN(13-digit): 9781596911956
Dewey Decimal: 016.8223/3
Library of Congress: 2009006722
Book Publisher: St Martins Pr
Language: ENG
No. of Pages: 246
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