A New First Folio Discovery

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.8 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2015

⏱️ 21 minutes

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Summary

"As truth's authentic author to be cited, 'As true as Troilus' shall crown up the verse" —TROILUS AND CRESSIDA (3.2.182–183) Not long ago, the world learned of a remarkable discovery: An old book in a French library, acquired in the 1790s, was identified as an unknown copy of the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare—the first collection of Shakespeare's plays. Before this find, there were 232 known First Folios in the entire world. Now, there are 233. Rebecca Sheir, host of the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series, talks with Eric Rasmussen, who authenticated the French discovery. An expert on the First Folio, Rasmussen gets the call when someone, anywhere in the world, thinks they may have found another copy. Along the way, he's amassed some fascinating stories and observations about one of the world's most iconic rare books. Join us for a conversation about the French First Folio, other distinctive copies, and the modern collectors, scholars, thieves, and Folio hunters who fall under the First Folio's spell. Eric Rasmussen is chair of the English department at the University of Nevada, Reno, and author of "The Shakespeare First Folios: A Descriptive Catalogue." ------------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. We also had help from A.J. Kenneson at radio station KUNR in Reno, Nevada.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:08.0	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folgers director.
0:11.0	This podcast is called Truth's Authentic Author.
0:15.0	It's a conversation with a man who has an unusual responsibility.
0:19.0	Eric Rasmussen, chair of the English department
0:22.7	at the University of Nevada, Reno, is the person who's called whenever someone anywhere in the
0:28.6	world thinks that he or she may have found a previously unknown first folio, the first printed
0:34.7	edition of the complete works of Shakespeare. The Folger, as you know, is home to the largest collection of first folios,
0:43.5	and we always take an interest in Eric's investigations, the latest of which hit the news in November 2014,
0:50.3	when Eric was called to a public library in the town of San Omer in France.
0:56.0	The library had a book that had been sitting on a shelf, most likely unnoticed,
1:00.0	since it came there from a defunct Jesuit college in the 1790s.
1:05.0	Eric was able to authenticate it as a first folio, the 233rd ever found. As you will hear, this is not the first time Eric has been
1:15.9	asked to do this sort of work. Over the past years, he's been called on dozens of times and has
1:21.9	amassed a fascinating set of stories, some of which you will hear now. Eric Rasmussen is interviewed by Rebecca Shear.
1:30.4	So, Eric, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today.
1:33.2	Delighted to be here.
1:34.1	The first thing we have to do, even though this is a Folger podcast, believe it or not, we have
1:37.7	to go through the basics.
1:38.8	So just really quickly, can you tell us what is the first folio?
1:42.5	Of course. About half of Shakespeare's plays were published during his lifetime in Cordow paperbacks
1:49.5	about the size and shape of modern comic books.
	...

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