Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2020 Issue

Financially Squeezed College Is Selling Its Shakespeare First Folio

A different copy of a Shakespeare First Folio.

The Oakland Raiders aren't the only cherished institution leaving Oakland. A much older one is also on its way out. William Shakespeare, or at least his most important book, is also bidding adieu to Oakland. A copy of the First Folio edition of his Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies is being sold by Mills College. The importance of this book cannot be overstated. Had it not been compiled by friends seven years after his death, many of Shakespeare's plays, including Macbeth, would have been lost forever. Mills is also selling a manuscript, believed to be their handwritten musical score by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This is a sad event, but one we have seen before and will see again. Welcome to the age of stretched college budgets and declining use of school libraries. Welcome to the age of the internet.

 

Mills, a 165-year-old predominantly women's college, has run into financial difficulties over the past few years. In 2017, it declared a “financial emergency.” It was running multi-million dollar annual deficits by that point. Mills had seen a significant reduction in applications, and consequently, admissions, over the preceding few years. Many of their applicants come from low income families as well, meaning some tuition cuts, as opposed to increases, were needed. The emergency declaration enabled them to lay off both staff and professors, including some on tenure. The college also announced a reorganization program called MillsNext to adjust curriculum offerings to those of greater interest to prospective students, rather than just sticking with some unpopular majors and relying on cutting costs to balance the budget.

 

Now, as a part of its MillsNext program, the college has decided to sell “two precious assets,” as President Elizabeth Hillman described them. Reportedly, an internal email by Ms. Hillman explained, “In order to continue to support Mills’ current programs and people while we build a bridge to a sustainable future, the college has decided to sell two precious assets. These gifts have been treasured deeply by the Mills community and will now be sold in compliance with college regulations.”

 

The prize is the Shakespeare First Folio. It was a gift to the college in 1977 by Mary Louise O'Brien and her husband, James, in honor of her father, Elias Olan James. Evidently, there must be no major strings attached to that gift. Elias James taught English literature at Mills. That was quite a gift. First Folios are valued in the millions of dollars, the exact number of millions depending on condition. We have seen prices, at current value, this century range from $1 million for a defective copy to $7 million. It is not clear where this one falls, but something in the $4-$6 million range would not be unreasonable. Reportedly, Christie's will conduct the sale, but they have made no announcements let alone estimates yet. The Mozart manuscript is said be being sold privately, a reasonable estimate at least well into six figures.

 

A total of 235 copies of the First Folio are known to still exist against an estimated print run of 750. The Folger Library in Washington owns 82 of them. You can never have too many First Folios. We don't know whether they will be a bidder when the sale takes place.

 

Naturally, there have been some expressions of disappointment. This sale does not meet official library standards that books should be sold only to expand or preserve collections, not for such things as operating expenses. Nonetheless, Mills finds itself in a financial bind and the long-term viability of the institution demands they find a way out. The college does have an endowment, but still, you cannot go on indefinitely operating at a deficit unless you are the United States Government. Mills needs that “bridge” to take it to financial viability, and hopefully this will enable the college to cross that bridge, while finding good homes for these treasured assets.

Rare Book Monthly

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    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
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    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
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    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
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    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
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    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
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    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
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    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
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