Mini: Henry and Emily Folger and the Search for Shakespeare's First Folio

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Have you ever wondered where those colorful Folger paperback editions of Shakespeare plays got their name? Or how the Folger Shakespeare Library came to have the largest collection of First Folios in the world? Or if there was any relation to the coffee brand? 

In today’s episode, we are going to be exploring the life of Henry Folger, his wife Emily Jordan Folger, their quest for copies of the First Folio, and how their collection forever changed our modern understanding of Shakespeare and the early modern period. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

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Works referenced:

Grant, Stephen H. Collecting Shakespeare: The Story of Henry and Emily Folger. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014

Mays, Andrea E. The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger’s Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare’s First Folio. Simon & Schuster, 2016. 

"Purchasing Power Today of a US Dollar Transaction in the Past," MeasuringWorth, 2025.

Staff, Folger Shakesepeare Library. “Andrea Mays on the Millionaire and the Bard.” Folger Shakespeare Library, 18 Nov. 2015, www.folger.edu/podcasts/shakespeare-unlimited/shakespeare-unlimited-episode-36/.

Staff, NPR. “A Fortune in Folios: One Man’s Hunt for Shakespeare’s First Editions.” NPR, NPR, 14 May 2015, www.npr.org/2015/05/14/406470976/a-fortune-in-folios-one-man-s-hunt-for-shakespeare-s-first-editions.

Witmore, Michael. "Henry Clay Folger." Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Jun. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/money/Henry-Clay-Folger. Accessed 5 March 2025.