1. Do you hold one or two copies of Shakespeare's First Folio (1623) which Sir Edward Dering once owned? (Not the Dering prompt scripts) 2. If
1. Do you hold one or two copies of Shakespeare's First Folio (1623) which Sir Edward Dering once owned? (Not the Dering prompt scripts)
2. If you do, is *Troilus and Cressida* included in the copy/copies?
3. Could you kindly list up every First Folio copy at the Folger Library which doesn't have *Troilus and Cressida*?
I have these questions since Sir Edward bought two First Folio on 5 December 1623, presumably before *Troilus and Cresside* was printed, I suspect, early 1624.
Thank you. Akihiro Yamada, Professor Emeritus of Shinshu University
Answer
Dear Professor Yamada,
My apologies for my late reply to your message. The Folger Library does not own Dering's First Folio. I include below Anthony West's description of the First Folio copy in Padua, which might have belonged to Dering.
"Provenance (I) The possibility that this is the copy purchased by Sir Edward
Dering (1598-1644), 1st Baronet, of Surrenden Hall, Kent, for £1, on 5 December
1623,11 with the further possibility that it was used for performances at
Surrenden, is briefly treated in West SFF I, p. 8 and p. 8 n. 25. Dering was known
among other things for his antiquarian research and his collection of manuscripts.
Blakemore Evans says the case for the Dering association 'hangs essentially
on one name and two initials and cannot be considered conclusive, [butl
at least persuasive' (Evans, I, p. 10). Additional evidence in a later article adds
more doubt to the associationP The new evidence shows undoubtedly the same
prompter-reviser at work on another play definitely in 1640 or later. This 'comparatively
late date makes association with a group of amateur actors performing
in the ea ely 16205 difficult to accept. If we add to this discrepancy the professiona:i
appearance of both the Padua and the [later] promp t-books . . . it would seem that
some other more likely [provenance] should be sought'
21 Dering's Account Book, Kent Archives Office, Maidstone. The entry is reproduced in Blayney,
P·25· , Macbeth,
2L 'New Evidence on the Provenence of the Padua Prompt-Books of Shakespeare s
Measure for Measure, and Winter's Tale', SB 20 (1 967), 239-42 .
199
Kobe I 263
Evans seeks one in the article, but does not find it. Thus the Dering association is
'still not impossible' (p. 239). My own conclusion (I have to admit a reluctant
one, for Surrenden is a close neighbour) from reading Evans's two contributions
is that the Dering association is not likely. From my inspection of the volume I can
add nothing to this conclusion. (2) The volume surfaced at the Padua Library in
1895, the Librarian finding it in a box of uncatalogued booksP In September
1895 Quaritch wrote to Padua trying, unsuccessfully, to buy it; the Librarian
replied, 'Je n'ai pas de tout l'intention de vendre l'exemplaire de "Shakespeare fa
1623" qui on trouve dans cette bibliotheque dont il est une des plus precieuses
. , '24 rantes."
Please see below descriptions of our copies in which the text of Troilus and Cressida was added:
https://catalog.folger.edu/record/244852?ln=en
https://catalog.folger.edu/record/79124?ln=en
https://catalog.folger.edu/record/79357?ln=en
https://catalog.folger.edu/record/78751?ln=en
https://catalog.folger.edu/record/50354?ln=en
Blayney writes "During the nineteenth century, many defective Folios were broken up by booksellers in need of odd leaves or quires with which to repair other, less seriously defective copies. The fact that a rebound copy now contains Troilus is no guarantee that it always did. Any copy containing only 35 plays would have been considered defective, and a bookseller who acquired one would have been likely either to make it up or break it up. The three copies from which Troilus and Cressida is missing probably never contained the play at all, because they were sold before it had been printed."
Unfortunately, I do not know off hand which are the 3 copies Blayney is referring to. Please do let me know if you would like me to find out this for you.
Sincerely,
Caroline Duroselle-Melish
Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Early Modern Books and Prints and
Associate Librarian for Collection Care and Development
Folger Shakespeare Library | cdmelish@folger.edu
201 East Capitol St. SE Washington, D.C. 20003