‘The first volume of 'The First Folio Series’ provides much information, but it also whets our appetite for the next volumes. If West means to go on as he has started then these four volumes will become the most comprehensive study of any single edition of a secular author ever produced. Shakespearians and book history scholars should immediately get it on their shelves.‘ -Notes and Queries 'An amazing piece of scholarship… West’s study is the first comprehensive study of the book as book and as cultural object. One wonders why we had to wait nearly four centuries for such a study.’ -Notes and Queries ‘A scholarly achievement.’ -Choice ‘In addition to its economical and readable narrative, First Folio is chockablock with citations, entries, tables, appendices, and colourful anecdotes that fully flesh the market career of the book which is the single most influential document in the history of Western literature. There is also a delightful preface by Professor Stanley Wells, our greatest living Shakespearean scholar… First Folio sets a lofty standard of patient, painstaking scholarship.’ -Social History Society Bulletin ‘Impeccably researched and thoughtfully written… This book is stuffed with charming titbits.’ -Social History Society Bulletin ‘Genuinely monumental… Through a combination of careful archival research and tireless legwork, West has located 228 copies - a remarkable 70 more than were listed in Sidney Lee’s 1902 Census… This is an essential reference work for Shakespeareans, librarians, book-collectors, and antiquarian book dealers… a monumental achievement.’ -Eric Rasmussen, Shakespeare SurveyThis is the story of ‘the greatest book’ written in the English language. The First Folio (1623) was the first collection of Shakespare’s drama, and the only source for half the plays. The present volume traces the Folio’s sales and prices from one pound in the seventeenth century to over half a million pounds today. Counting the extant copies and showing their worldwide distribution, it also indicates their history of ownership - ranging from counry parson to President of Standard Oil.
