This blog post was written by Lauren Wong, with invaluable help and advice from Chelsea Shriver, Rare Books and Special Collections Librarian of UBC Library.
In 2023, the Digitization Centre completed the digitization of Shakespeare’s First Folio, making it more accessible to people worldwide. We previously wrote a blog post about this achievement, which you can read here. This year, as we mark the 460th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, we are focusing on another significant item in our collection: Shakespeare’s Second Folio. We are excited to share with you some of our experiences with the conservation process and the challenges we encountered along the way!
Title page of the Second Folio
What is a folio?
A folio is a large book made from sheets of paper folded once before being gathered into groups called quires, which are then stacked and sewn together. Designed to be impressive, folios gave printed works a higher status. Shakespeare’s folios were among the first collections of drama to be recognized as serious literature, which was a shift from viewing plays as mere popular entertainment. This also explained the significance of the First Folio because it was one of the first books that compiled the work of a dramatic author in a single volume, which was a very socially radical act for playwrights in the Renaissance era.
How the Second Folio made its way to the UBC Library
The Second Folio has a couple of ownership marks, which provide information about the book’s provenance. An ownership mark in a 17th or 18th century hand penned in the top margin of page 142 of Love’s Labour’s Lost reads “Mrs. Mary Loud in Hatton Garden, London.” The book was also once owned by John Burns, a prominent British trade unionist, politician and a major book collector. Following Burns’ death, the book was auctioned by Sotheby’s in 1944, and eventually found its home with us through the donation from Walter Koerner in 1960.
Pages 3 and 4 of the Catalogue of John Burns which document his ownership of the Second, Third, and Fourth folios of Shakespeare, featuring Burns’ signature (Image provided by Rare Books and Special Collections, UBC Library)
The challenges of frequent use
The Second Folio has been extensively used in both undergraduate and graduate classes and has been showcased in multiple exhibitions. This frequent use resulted in significant wear and damage over the years. For instance, the book’s back board became detached, compromising the integrity of the text block.
There was also noticeable damage to the book’s corners, which showed clear signs of wear.
(Images provided by Rare Books and Special Collections, UBC Library)
Seeking expert help
Recognizing the urgency of addressing these issues, the Rare Books and Special Collection team explored various options for conservation. Initially, they considered hiring an independent conservator or binder for the necessary repairs. However, due to the book’s high value and the potential risks involved, they decided to proceed with extra caution. In late 2019, they submitted an application to the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) hoping for their expertise in addressing the binding issues.
The original application, made in late 2019, requested that CCI reattach the detached back board and repair the book’s missing headcap and tailcap. Although the project was approved in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the conservation work. Despite these challenges, RBSC was thrilled to see the restoration project finally completed. The restored Second Folio was returned to UBC Library in April 2024, following a comprehensive rebinding, and was then handed over to the Digitization Centre where the digitization process began!
The Second Folio was digitized using the ATIZ workstation (Images provided by Lisa Wilson, Digitization and Web Archiving Assistant at the UBC Library Digitization Centre)
Interesting facts about the Second Folio
The Second Folio receives its name as it is the second folio edition of the Shakespeare’s complete works. According to Doreen Simonsen, the Humanities & Fine Arts Librarian at the Willamette University Libraries, some language in the First Folio, published in 1623, had already become outdated by 1632 when the Second Folio was published. As a result, the editors of the Second Folio updated the language, making numerous changes to grammar, meaning, meter, and style. They also added references to mythology and classical literature that were missing from the First Folio.
One noticeable feature of the Second Folio is the inclusion of poems written in honour of the author William Shakespeare, attesting the value of what is inside the Folio. For instance, “An Epitaph on the Admirable Dramaticke Poet”, which was written by John Milton, the famous English poet, appears in the Second Folio.
“An Epitaph on the Admirable Dramaticke Poet”
Some believe that the addition of a poem by John Milton in the Second Folio was influenced by the fact that Milton was the son of a successful London scrivener whose shop was located very close to the printing house of publisher Thomas Cotes.
As Dr. Ari Friedlander, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Mississippi, explains, Milton’s poem shows his respect to Shakespeare, asking rhetorically why Shakespeare would require a physical monument like “stones” and a “pyramid”. He even calls these as “weak witness” of Shakespeare’s name.
“What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones / The labour of an Age in pilèd stones / Or that his hallowed relics should be hid / Under a star-ypointing pyramid?” (Source: An Open Companion to Early British Literature)
Milton then proceeds with his argument, asserting that Shakespeare’s work has a lasting effect on readers that no physical monuments could ever do.
“For whilst to th’ shame of slow-endeavouring art / Thy easy numbers flow, and that each part / Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued Book.” (Source: An Open Companion to Early British Literature)
In other words, this poem affirms the enduring value of Shakespeare’s amazing work and contributions, which remains evident even thousands of years later.
We hope you enjoyed exploring the conservation process of the Second Folio with us.
Thank you for reading!
References
John Burns. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Burns#:~:text=John%20Elliot%20Burns%20(20%20October,alcohol%20and%20a%20keen%20sportsman.
Meisei University. (n.d.). What is the Second Folio of William Shakespeare? Meisei University Shakespeare Collection Database. http://shakes.meisei-u.ac.jp/e-second.html.
Raptis Rare Book. (n.d.). William Shakespeare: The Second Folio. https://www.raptisrarebooks.com/william-shakespeare-the-second-folio/
University of Dayton. (2015). Shakespeare: Second Folio [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Ep_SjErDE.
University of Victoria Libraries Vault. (n.d.). Shakespeare’s Second Folio. https://vault.library.uvic.ca/concern/generic_works/c1e462c1-6d9a-46b6-9c53-6d81ee6d6bd1?locale=en.
Wadham College, Oxford. (n.d.). Mr. William Shakespeare Comedies, Histories & Tragedies : The Second Folio (1632). https://library.wadham.ox.ac.uk/exhibition/shakespeare%20second%20folio.html.
Willamette University Libraries (2020, December 4). Library News – Shakespeare’s Second Folio. Library News. http://blog.library.willamette.edu/2020/12/04/shakespeares-second-folio/.
