Book Note: The Shakespeare First Folios: A Descriptive Catalogue

Rasmussen, Eric, and Anthony James West, eds. The Shakespeare First Folios: A Descriptive Catalogue. New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2012.

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Among the great works of Shakespearean scholarship must be counted this work. Eric Rasmussen, who, incidentally, wrote The Shakespeare Thefts (for which, q.v.), Anthony James West, and a team of scholars have minutely examined every copy of the First Folio that they could get their hands on.

This volume meticulously reports their findings, including any known details of provenance, any annotations or marginalia, and any damage to the volume. Its detail is astonishing.

The image below (click on it to enlarge it) will give you an idea of the detail. The entry is for Copy 72 in the Folger Shakespeare Library. It's one of the shorter entries, but it will give you a sense of the detail applied to each copy of the First Folio.

And why am I providing information about Folger Copy 72 in particular? For the answer to that, you'll need to be patient.

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