The Shakespeare Thefts by Eric Rasmussen Read Free Book Online Page B

had belonged to the famed sculptress Anne Damer. On October 1, 1830, Baker was explaining the workings of a windmill to his children but, apparently being very shortsighted, got too close to one ofthe blades and was struck on the back of the head and killed. (This amazes me: How many people are
killed
by a
windmill?
)
    In 1853, twenty-five-year-old William George Sutton inherited a First Folio from his father and then died himself in the following year.
    On July 26, 1887, the London book dealer Henry Sotheran purchased a First Folio at Sotheby’s and subsequently sold it to George P. Byrne. Byrne, however, was dead within months, and his library sold at auction on December 17, 1887.
    The list continues. Dean Sage, one of Mark Twain’s close friends, purchased a First Folio on April 9, 1902. Two months later, Sage died of a heart attack, at age sixty-one.
    Harry Widener purchased a First Folio in 1910. In April 1912, returning from a book-buying trip in London, Widener and his parents boarded the ill-fated
Titanic
. Harry apparently lost his chance at a seat in a lifeboat when he returned to his cabin to retrieve his copy of Francis Bacon’s 1598
Essays
. He is said to have called to his mother, “I have placed the volume in my pocket—the little
Bacon
goes with me! 4 Eleanor Elkins Widener ultimately was rescued by the
Carpathia;
the bodies of the male Wideners were never recovered. In memory of her son, Eleanor underwrote construction of the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at HarvardUniversity to which she donated his rare book collection, including the First Folio and the Gutenberg Bible that his grandfather had purchased to surprise the young man when he returned from the transatlantic crossing.
    Upon the death of Sir Thomas Edward Watson in 1921, his First Folio passed to his forty-six-year-old son, Sir Wilfrid Hood Watson, who died in the following year.
    Arthur Spencer Dayton purchased a First Folio at auction on November 26, 1946, but was dead by 1948, also at age sixty-one, like poor Dean Sage.
    And that’s not all. In late November 1949, William Pyle Philips purchased all four Shakespeare folios, which he got to enjoy for just over a year before he died in December 1950, at age sixty-eight.
    Of course, if Mr. Kamijo had followed this pattern, he would have died in the early 1970s, shortly after acquiring the First Folio. But he did not pass away for another decade. However, even in death, Mr. Kamijo has succeeded in jealously guarding his potentially bloodstained folio from researchers.
    One of the most frustrating things about researching rare books is being stonewalled, but it happens. You hear of a book that is sold at auction, and you contact the venue making the sale to ask about getting in touch with the new owner. The admirable thing about Sotheby’s and Christie’s is that they keep their secrets. If thenew owner does not wish to be identified, you are not going to get that person’s name.
    And while this can drive me crazy in my professional life, I appreciate it to the fullest in my personal life. I work with some of the premier book dealers in the world—these are people who, when you dine at their home, will casually say, “I just happened upon the only extant pre-1700 manuscript of Sir Thomas More’s
Richard III
.” And I’ll reply, “That’s impossible, you don’t just
happen upon
such things!” (And then, in an impulse, I will buy it.) One of my friends, Arthur Freeman, has personally handled the transactions of at least half a dozen First Folios. He once bought a copy at a New York auction for a private client. At the conclusion of the auction, he collected the volume and decided to walk the short distance from Christie’s to his hotel. (Having once left a copy of
Don Quixote
worth $250,000 in a Manhattan taxi, he understandably shied away from taking a cab.) Arthur is perhaps one of the very few people on earth who would feel comfortable strolling along Park Avenue with a