Stephen H. Grant

Wonderful story of how the husband and wife devoted their lives and fortune to amassing a vast collection of Shakespeareana which became the core collection of the library they built in Washington, D.C.

A Man’s Obsession with First Folios: “Collecting Shakespeare - The Story of Henry and Emily Folger" by Stephen H. Grant Disclaimer: I received a reader's copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.
(The book was published on February 8th, 2014; review written 27/06/2015)
 
Review cross-posted on Edelweiss.
 
Published February 28th 2014.
 
 
Shakespeare has been in the news show more lately. Not only are his plays constantly being performed, read, analyzed, and loved, not only does his language fill our thoughts and his plots and themes our culture, there is something definitely afoot: “The Spanish Tragedy” by Thomas Kyd, a discovery of another First Folio in France, “discovery” of the only portrait made during Shakespeare’s lifetime, the identity of the enigmatic ‘Mr WH’ to whom the sonnets were dedicated, etc. Is the Shakespeare renaissance underway…?
 
This book is the story of one man obsessed with a need to amass Shakespeare’s genius in one place.
 
“The seed of the world-renowned Folger Shakespeare Library was sown when Emily Jordan, ‘fair in knowledge’, and Henry Folger, ‘well read in poetry and other books,’ attended a beach picnic and realized they shared a passion for Shakespeare.”
 
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