West, Anthony James; (1998) A world census of the Shakespeare First Folio with a history of its sales and prices and a bibliographical model for describing copies. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

I. Sales and Prices of First Folios: A History from 1623 to the Present As a point of departure, Part I summarises the latest work on the costs of producing and distributing the First Folio. It then presents, century by century, a history of Folio sales and prices (with extensive data in appendixes). The history is placed in the context both of Shakespearean studies and events, and of the contemporary world of antiquarian book-sales, including the sales of the other three seventeenth-century Shakespeare Folios. The twentieth-century section includes Henry Folger's purchases of over one-third of the extant copies, with the prices he paid. The last section shows long-term sales and price trends, compares the price trends to a variety of indexes, and considers the effect of inflation. II. A Bibliographical Model for Describing First Folios, with Descriptions of Selected Copies This presents the model. It then illustrates the model's application by providing bibliographical descriptions of selected copies of the Folio in the UK and all copies in Japan. The primary purpose is to establish a model for eventual use in describing all extant copies. III. A World Census of First Folios Chapter 4 describes earlier attempts to list copies of the Folio, both before and after Sidney Lee's Census (1902); it then presents the methods and story of my five-year search for copies, and deals with doubtful identifications. Chapter 5 addresses what to count as a copy and, for illustration, examines three uncatalogued copies at the Folger Library. Chapter 6 determines the number and distribution of known copies in 1902 and 1998, showing the geographical migration and the shift from private to public ownership in this century. The final chapter contains the new Census. For each of two hundred and fifteen located copies it gives the confirmed owner/keeper, and for twenty missing copies it gives detailed information to help find them. It records over seventy more copies than in Lee's Census. The appendix is a survey of facsimiles of the First Folio-fifteen full editions since 1807 and a variety of parts.

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