On "The Millionaire and the Bard": A Book Review

Title: The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger’s Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare’s First Folio

Author: Andrea Mays

Genre: Non-Fiction

About the book… 

Andrea Mays gives a through look into Henry Folger’s obsession with Shakespeare folios and how it ultimately led to the creation of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. 

What I think… 

This is an excellent book!

I loved the first portion of the book, which is devoted to giving background about the Renaissance. This includes not only biographical information about Shakespeare and his plays, but the general running of the theatres, who would have attended the plays, and information about some of the actors. It then goes into what is known about the printing history of the first folio (as well as other not so official printings) and into, what I considered, a fascinating account of the process of printing something so large. This, in fact, was probably my favorite part of the book. 

The later portion about the Folgers’ acquisitions, was also quite interesting (although not quite so much as the first part, in my opinion). I really liked how Mayes went into detail about how Folger’s work life affected his collecting and the role his wife took in cataloguing the collection as it continued to grow. Getting bits and pieces on the background of Standard Oil Company, also gave a good understanding about the economics of the time, as well as a look into what Folger was like as a business man. 

There were a few parts that were somewhat tedious to read as they were more listings of the folios and their prices than about the items and what he went through to get them. Overall, though, they were well integrated into the text and very informative. 

To sum it all up… 

A great read for those who are bibliophiles, enjoy Shakespeare, or are interested in either the Renaissance or certain aspects of big business! ♥