The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-02

Az l oclocn to-day there will be
opened to the public at the New York
Public Library. Fifth avenue and Forty
second street, the most complete and
most valuable collection of Shake.
sp~eariana ever assembled anywhere in
the world. The exhibition Is remarkable
IN other respects.
II Is made possible by the generosity
OF American collectors and would not he
possible outside this country. And il is
entirely anonymous.
or course the ownership of some OF the
priceless treasures shown is we'll known
to booklovers and Shakespeare students,
out no Tar as the library is concerned
nothing Is said about the lenders. and the
ma Jority Of those who see the hooks will
certainly not know them az the prop.
erty of this OF that collector.
n exhibition IL the work OF Miss
Henrietta c. Bartlett. an authority %;
Sha~kespearfana, to whose intercess,ou
with the principal private collectors the
presence OF many OF the most valuabI.
items is due. With one exception every
object asked for the exhibition wa
cheerfully lent. The exception was the
Titus Andronicus' auarfo OF 1894.
which is in the private collection Of
Henry C1ay Folger. .Ir.. president OF the
Standard Oil Company.
NruuseU 10 Lend 0uArtO.
II was said at Mr.. Folgor's Office YES
terday hat his reasons for not lending
the Titus Andronicus' were, to his own
mind. Just and sufficient. and that he
had communicated them to the officers
OF the library. but was unlikely Ia make
any public statement of them. The IL
brary officials had nothing 10 say OF the
missing quarto beyond the Mention. In
Miss Bartlett's handbook describing the
exhibit. that the volume was mot in
exhibition" and the statement that 1.-THE
owner OF It has declined tn allow It to
be exhibited"
IL could not be asccrtaincd whether
or not Mr.. F'olGor had lent any other
items to the exhibition. He possesses
what has long been %accounted the finest
Shakespeare library in America, II is
also the finest private collection in the
world, unless the recent accumulations
OF Henry T.. Huntington may he con-
sldered to excel II.
Mr.. Huntington has been generous
10 the exhibition. sending many of his
choicest possessions, including the un-
rivalled Hamlet quarto which he
bought from the Duke Of Devonshire
alm0et two years ago,
The library's display is divided into
four parts. The first comprises poems
anu hths " Ff'
fore 1909. The second part consists Of
spurious works and adaptations. The
third division shows books from which
Shakespeare drew mat.,rdl Tor his plays,
and books that h" mentions and may
have read, The fourth part of the eX-
hibition shows nearly all the illusions
TO Shakespeare before tho publication
OF the First Folio. and some afterward.
What is a S~hakespearian quarto and
IT.. 49, .t- tl1.Ast ri. az .nl,
who goes to the library to look AT this
exhibition may not know the difference.
what FOlios and QuartOs Are.
The folios are the collected editions
OF his works. The quartos are single
plays printed separately. The First
Folio was issued In 1923 and contained
thirty-six plays. or these only sixteen
were printed separately In the authors
lifetime. These sixteen singly issued
plays are what are known AS the
shakespeare Quartos" They begin with.
the Titus A~ndronicus" OF 1894. the
first play OF Shakespeare's ever printed.
and the one which Is not in the exhibit
tion. and end with >"Pericies'' and
''Troilus and Cressida," which came out
in 1909.
There were some later quartos. These
were "Othello' G622). flaming Of the
Shrew" li631), "Macbeth' 1879 and
Julius Cesar C16S4) which are nat
uraIly of less interest. The remaining
plays of Shakespeare were not pub
Iished separately until very much later,
Now when account Is taken OF every
difference in date. "A leaf added here. a
word changed there. II has been ound
that there were just ninety editions and
issues OF the twenty quarto plays up
to 1909. Eighty-fve OF these ninety
editions and issues are in the library
exhibition. or the remaining five. four
are not In this country and the fifth
is the Titus Andronicus."
TIN, ''T!tus'' ~ the only first edition
not shown. Mr.. FOlger has the only
known copy OF the first printing. Only
comics OF the second edition are
known. They are in England. SO the
library shows a copy OF the third
edition.
The auarto which will attract the
most attention among visitors tn the
library, and Justly. is the Hamlet OF
1909 which belongs to Mr.. Huntington.
There are only two copies of this first
known to exist. The other one
il In the British Museum. but the Ameri-
can copy IL tho more valuable because
II has the title page 1t lacks the last
leaf.
The British Museum copy has the last
leaf. but who wouldn't prefer TO sacrifice
that to The title page?