Audio only
The Book of William
How Shakespeare's First Folio Conquered the WorldBy Paul CollinsNarrated by Tim GetmanLength6h 42m
About this audiobook
The first popular narrative history of Shakespeare’s First Folio, the world’s most obsessively pursued book
One book above all others has transfixed connoisseurs for four centuries—a book sold for shillings in the streets of London, whisked to Manhattan for millions, and stored deep within the vaults of Tokyo. The book: William Shakespeare’s First Folio of 1623. Paul Collins, lover of odd books and author of the national bestseller Sixpence House, takes up the strange quest for this white whale of precious books.
Broken down into five acts, each tied to a different location and century, The Book of William’s travelogue follows the trail of the Folio’s curious rise: a dizzying Sotheby’s auction on a pristine copy preserved since the seventeenth century, the Fleet Street machinations of the eighteenth century, the nineteenth-century quests for lost Folios, obsessive acquisitions by twentieth-century oilmen, and the high-tech hoards of twenty-first-century Japan. Finally, Collins speculates on Shakespeare’s cross-cultural future as Asian buyers enter their Folios into the electronic ether, and recounts the book’s remarkable journey as it is found in attics, gets lost in oceans and fires, is bought and sold, and ultimately becomes immortal.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.1 (682)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing, Amazon, StoryGraph
GenreLiterary Classics, History
Length6 hrs 42 mins
Narrated byTim Getman
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJun 28, 2022
LanguageEnglish
More from Paul Collins
The Murder of the CenturyPaul Collins9h 42m3.8 (11K)$26
The Trouble with TomPaul Collins9h 8m3.8 (327)$20
Duel with the DevilPaul Collins7h 58m3.8 (3.5K)$26 · $0.00
Not Even WrongPaul Collins6h 51m4.0 (1.3K)$17
Blood & IvyPaul Collins8h 19m3.8 (2.3K)$20 · $0.00
The Birth of the WestPaul Collins21h 30m3.6 (443)$30
Banvard's Folly, Revised EditionPaul Collins9h 51m4.0 (1.3K)$20
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
TWELFTH NIGHTWilliam Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Complete Histories / History Plays of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare29h 42m4.6 (2.3K)$0.99 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 50m4.6 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust16h 8m4.5 (10.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Mis-Education of the NegroCarter Goodwin Woodson4h 32m4.5 (28.4K)$10 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$0.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$0.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
A Brief History of IntelligenceMax S. Bennett12h 18m4.6 (6.6K)$29 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m4.6 (2.6K)$29 · $0.00
Days of Love and Rage: A Story of RevolutionAnand Gopal22h 36m4.7 (584)$34 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h4.6 (5.2K)$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m4.6 (6.5K)$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m4.6 (927)$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m4.6 (3.2K)$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m4.6 (678)$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal: Blood Trail To Hell: A Western Adventure NovelCasey Nash3h 42m4.6 (3.2K)$18 · $0.00
Fall and RiseMitchell Zuckoff17h 23m4.6 (9.8K)$40 · $0.00
The SurvivorJosef Lewkowicz, Michael Calvin9h 22m4.6 (2.5K)$29 · $0.00
Always FaithfulThomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki12h 12m4.6 (977)$29 · $0.00
The State of Society in France Before the Revolution of 1789 (Annotated)Alexis de Tocqueville17h 25m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
You may also like
Seeing Around CornersRita McGrath7h 46m4.1 (886)$26 · $0.00
The Principle of RelativityAlbert Einstein7h 12m4.4 (1.2K)$2.30
H. G. Wells' Short History of The WorldH. G. Wells13h 45m4.0 (20.3K)$2.99 · $0.00
The Experience Economy, Updated EditionB. Joseph Pine II, James H. Gilmore12h 13m3.9 (3.4K)$20
Escape VelocityGeoffrey A. Moore6h 6m4.1 (857)$24 · $0.00
Don’t Die BrokeMargaret A. Malaspina6h 32m3.3 (50)$14 · $0.00
The Productive Founder's WeekTheo Brennan8h 12m$11.50 · $0.00
Travel words and phrases in FrenchJM Gardner1h 11m$7 · $0.00
How to Make Money Flipping Used Restaurant Equipment - How to Assess Equipment, Transport and Repair Costs, and Resell to Local BusinessesJACK FLIPWELL1h 57m$7.80 · $0.00
Florida Motorcycle Permit & License Test Prep 2026/2027Tobias Vantreese10h 58m$15
How to Make Money Flipping Power Tools - How to Find Undervalued Tools, Test Batteries and Motors, and Increase Margins with Complete KitsJACK FLIPWELL8h 47m$7.90 · $0.00
The Cost of Doing NothingInvestor Ventures3h 29m5.0 (3)$19.99
Business Plan Handbook for Start-upsArthur Lämmle39m4.8 (12)$11 · $0.00
WISCONSIN MOTORCYCLE PERMIT EXAM PREP 2026–2027Tyler Knox8h 46m$10
Langenscheidt Audio-Sprachführer EnglischLangenscheidt-Redaktion58m$10 · $0.00
Human-Centric Mechanical DesignDana Whitcombe11h 42m$66
Managing Commercial Construction ProjectsAdaeze Nwachukwu14h 51m$55
C++ for Absolute BeginnersFelix Halloran7h 7m$5 · $0.00
Technology ManagamentRobson Paniago Et Al13h$6 · $0.00
C# for Absolute BeginnersVincent Whitlock7h 51m$5 · $0.00