by Paul Collins

It´s not much of an exaggeration at all for me to say that if Paul Collins happened to write a book about - say - the history of Seattle as recounted through its Yellow Pages, I´d immediately request it from my neighborhood library and probably spend the next few days doing nothing but reading it. That is a somewhat roundabout way of saying that since I´ve thoroughly enjoyed everything that Collins has ever written, I´d follow him - literarily - everywhere. I am happy to report that his newest offering is another must read: perfect for history buffs, Shakespeare fans, and anyone who enjoys learning - painlessly - about a slightly abstruse topic.

The Book of William: How Shakespeare´s First Folio Conquered the World (Bloomsbury, 2009) explores the fate of the collection of the Bard of Avon´s plays that was assembled and edited after his death by his fellow actors and friends John Heminge and Henry Condell. In describing the peregrinations of this collection of plays over the next 400 years, Collins introduces us to a wide assemblage of folks whose lives and interests, as readers, writers, or publishers, had an impact on the world of Shakespeareana. He describes the role of various editors and Shakespeare scholars in the history of the folio, including Samuel Johnson (who worked on an edition of the plays and evidently read even while he was eating), poet Alexander Pope, and Henry Clay Folger, the one-time president of Standard Oil of New York and great amasser of everything Shakespeare (and who, along with his wife, founded the Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. that bears his name). With wit and good will (ha!), not to mention an unabashed enthusiasm for his topic, Collins helps us understand the importance to the world of the First Folio, how publishing has changed (and not) since the 16^th century, and what´s known about the fate of the approximately 1,000 copies that were originally printed of Heminge and Condell´s manuscript. Collins writes history the way you wish every historian did: accessible, interesting, and meaningful. I interviewed Collins on my television show and was totally charmed.

If I were in charge of a publishing house, these are the books I´d reprint in a Seattle second. I once hoped that someone would be interested in reprinting them all in a "Book Lust Reissues" series; but, I suppose, since the prospects for selling thousands of these are minimal, even though they’re all terrific reads, well-written (whatever that means), not particularly dated, and would add so much to the enjoyment of many readers, that’ll never happen - Sigh. In any case, I´d buy them up by the caseload and give them to all my friends:

Lee Colgate´s Oh, Be Careful

Merle Miller´s A Gay and Melancholy Sound (and his other novels)

All of Gladys Taber´s books

All of Elizabeth Cadell´s novels

All of D.E. Stevenson´s novels

All the thrillers Howard Fast wrote as E.V. Cunningham with girls´ names as titles, especially Phyllis - a great cold war thriller

All of Betty Cavanna´s novels

All of Peggy Goodin´s novels

All of Ruth Doan McDougall´s novels, especially One Minus One and The Cost of Living (Only The Cheerleader and Snowy are in print. The Cheerleader, especially, is fabulous; but I’d love to see her other books available, too.)

Kit Reed’s At War as Children

 Kaye Starbird’s The Lion in the Lei Shop

 All of Mary Stolz’s teen novels (I can provide a list if requested.)

 Nora Johnson’s A Step Beyond Innocence

 Diane Johnson’s Loving Hands at Home