Rare Book Monthly

Articles - January - 2020 Issue

Financially Squeezed College Is Selling Its Shakespeare First Folio

A different copy of a Shakespeare First Folio.

A different copy of a Shakespeare First Folio.

The Oakland Raiders aren't the only cherished institution leaving Oakland. A much older one is also on its way out. William Shakespeare, or at least his most important book, is also bidding adieu to Oakland. A copy of the First Folio edition of his Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies is being sold by Mills College. The importance of this book cannot be overstated. Had it not been compiled by friends seven years after his death, many of Shakespeare's plays, including Macbeth, would have been lost forever. Mills is also selling a manuscript, believed to be their handwritten musical score by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This is a sad event, but one we have seen before and will see again. Welcome to the age of stretched college budgets and declining use of school libraries. Welcome to the age of the internet.

 

Mills, a 165-year-old predominantly women's college, has run into financial difficulties over the past few years. In 2017, it declared a “financial emergency.” It was running multi-million dollar annual deficits by that point. Mills had seen a significant reduction in applications, and consequently, admissions, over the preceding few years. Many of their applicants come from low income families as well, meaning some tuition cuts, as opposed to increases, were needed. The emergency declaration enabled them to lay off both staff and professors, including some on tenure. The college also announced a reorganization program called MillsNext to adjust curriculum offerings to those of greater interest to prospective students, rather than just sticking with some unpopular majors and relying on cutting costs to balance the budget.

 

Now, as a part of its MillsNext program, the college has decided to sell “two precious assets,” as President Elizabeth Hillman described them. Reportedly, an internal email by Ms. Hillman explained, “In order to continue to support Mills’ current programs and people while we build a bridge to a sustainable future, the college has decided to sell two precious assets. These gifts have been treasured deeply by the Mills community and will now be sold in compliance with college regulations.”

 

The prize is the Shakespeare First Folio. It was a gift to the college in 1977 by Mary Louise O'Brien and her husband, James, in honor of her father, Elias Olan James. Evidently, there must be no major strings attached to that gift. Elias James taught English literature at Mills. That was quite a gift. First Folios are valued in the millions of dollars, the exact number of millions depending on condition. We have seen prices, at current value, this century range from $1 million for a defective copy to $7 million. It is not clear where this one falls, but something in the $4-$6 million range would not be unreasonable. Reportedly, Christie's will conduct the sale, but they have made no announcements let alone estimates yet. The Mozart manuscript is said be being sold privately, a reasonable estimate at least well into six figures.

 

A total of 235 copies of the First Folio are known to still exist against an estimated print run of 750. The Folger Library in Washington owns 82 of them. You can never have too many First Folios. We don't know whether they will be a bidder when the sale takes place.

 

Naturally, there have been some expressions of disappointment. This sale does not meet official library standards that books should be sold only to expand or preserve collections, not for such things as operating expenses. Nonetheless, Mills finds itself in a financial bind and the long-term viability of the institution demands they find a way out. The college does have an endowment, but still, you cannot go on indefinitely operating at a deficit unless you are the United States Government. Mills needs that “bridge” to take it to financial viability, and hopefully this will enable the college to cross that bridge, while finding good homes for these treasured assets.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Th. McKenney & J. Hall, History of the Indian tribes of North America, 1836-1844. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Biblia latina vulgata, manuscript on thin parchment, around 1250. Est: €70,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. Beckmann, Fanferlieschen Schönefüßchen, 1924. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: A. Ortelius, Theatrum orbis terrarum, 1574. Est: €50,000
    Ketterer, May 26: M. S. Merian, Eurcarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis, 1717-18. Est: €6,000
    Ketterer, May 26: PAN, 9 volumes, 1895-1900. Est: €12,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Breviarium Romanum, Latin manuscript, 1474. Est: €15,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Quran manuscript from the Saadian period, Maghreb, 16th century. Est: €10,000
    Ketterer, May 26: E. Hemingway, The old man and the sea, 1952. First edition in first issue jacket. Presentation copy. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer Rare Books
    Auction May 26th
    Ketterer, May 26: Flavius Vegetius Renatus, De re militari libri quatuor, 1553. Est: €3,000
    Ketterer, May 26: K. Marx, Das Kapital, 1867. Est: €30,000
    Ketterer, May 26: Brassaï, Transmutations, 1967. Est: €6,000
  • Leland Little, May 21: Signed Artist Proof of the Monumental G.O.A.T.: A Tribute to Muhammad Ali.
    Leland Little, May 21: Assorted Rare Publications Related to H.P. Lovecraft, Including The Recluse Signed by Vincent Starrett.
    Leland Little, May 21: Two Issues of The Vagrant, Including the First Appearance of H.P. Lovecraft's "Dagon" in Number Eleven.
    Leland Little, May 21: Rare First Printing of Anne of Green Gables, With ALS from the Author.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, In First Issue Jacket.
    Leland Little, May 21: The Limited Paumanok Edition of The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman.
    Leland Little, May 21: Beautifully Bound Limited Flaubert Edition of The Works of Guy de Maupassant.
    Leland Little, May 21: First Edition of Bonaparte's Celebrated American Ornithology, With Spectacular Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Rare Complete Set of Jardine's The Naturalist's Library, With Hand-Colored Plates.
    Leland Little, May 21: Invitation to the Lincoln-Johnson National Inaugural Ball, March 4th, 1865.
    Leland Little, May 21: A Scarce Inscribed First Edition of James Baldwin's Nobody Knows My Name.
    Leland Little, May 21: Picasso's Le Goût du Bonheur, Limited Edition.
  • Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Peter Max, Portrait of Mary Tyler Moore (Versions 1,2, 5, 6), 2001. Estimate $10,000-15,000
    DOYLE: The iconic screen-used wall-mounted "M" from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Estimate $5,000-8,000
    DOYLE: The Mary Tyler Moore Show by Al Hirschfeld. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Annie Leibovitz presents Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke for Vanity Fair. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    DOYLE: Al Hirschfeld presents Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke in the CBS Wednesday Night Lineup. Estimate $4,000-6,000
    DOYLE: Richard McKenzie, Portrait of Mary Tyler Moore. Estimate $1,000-2,000
    Doyle
    The Collection of Mary Tyler Moore
    June 4, 2025
    DOYLE: Three Original Bill Hargate Costume Designs for The Mary Tyler Moore Hour. Estimate $600-800
    DOYLE: The famous Bonnie and Clyde "Wanted" broadside. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE: Ticket to the Final Episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show Estimate $400-600
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR

Article Search

Archived Articles

Ask Questions