The late 19th- and early 20th-century millionaire businessman Henry Clay Folger and his wife Emily spent a lifetime tracking down one of literature’s greatest treasures, the first collection of Shakespeare’s plays. Known as the First Folio, it was published seven years after the Bard’s death in 1616 and surviving copies are valued at upwards of $5-6 million today. Folger and his wife founded the Shakespeare Folger Library to house his volumes and other Shakespeare materials, and it now holds 82 of the 233 copies of the Folio known to still exist.

In a discussion of her acclaimed book, Andrea Mays of California State University, Long Beach, unspools the absorbing story of the onetime refinery clerk who transformed himself into a well-to-do capitalist and spent much of his time and money pursuing the great playwright’s works.

Co-presented by the English-Speaking Union, Kansas City Branch.