Last week’s news of the recovery of the Durham copy of the First Folio, with the assistance of the Folger Shakespeare Library, has helped raise awareness of the importance of the folio to our understanding of Shakespeare. The Folger owns 79 copies of the First Folio, more than any other institution in the world. But the library might have owned 80 if not for one Col. Charles Clifton, an industrialist from Buffalo, New York.
Tom Buckham, a reporter for The Buffalo News, has written an article about the Buffalo Folio, which is now owned by the city’s public library. According to librarian Elaine A. Barone, the folio once belonged to Henry Clay Folger, founder of the Folger Library, but ended up in Buffalo through an unusual barter.
Buckham explains, “Clifton had narrowly beaten Henry Clay Folger, a wealthy oilman and Shakespeare collector, to the dealer’s doorstep. Folger coveted Clifton’s copy, although it was in less-than- perfect condition, because one of the first leaves bore the hand-printed name of Samuel Gilburn, a member of Shakespeare’s original acting company. The other actors, who had joined Gilburn in publishing the folio as a tribute to the playwright, were listed in type. ..There followed a prolonged negotiation in which Folger repeatedly offered money for the Gilburn folio, but Clifton insisted on trading for Folger’s copy, which was in much better shape. Folger finally gave in.”
Read the complete Buffalo News article here
The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is displaying its copy of the First Folio at Central Library, One Lafayette Square through the end of August.
