Before I’d ever left for my trip, I was speaking with Bardfilm about what I might hope to see in the vault.  He replied that I might ask to get a look at Folio #1, what Mr. Folger called, “The most beautiful book in the world.”

And there I was, standing in front of a wall of Folios (a post unto itself!) and I went for it.  Garland Scott had told me that I might be able to see it, “if it’s not out.”  I assume that these sorts of items are often lent out to other institutions for study.   “Is Folio #1 in?” I asked.

“I think so,” Georgianna replied, digging for something she wanted us to look at.  “It would be up there if it was.”

That’s how they refer to their Folios, apparently.  I want to curl myself up in the pages and go to sleep.  The folks that see them every day say, “Oh, that one is over there somewhere.”

Why is #1 so special?  It’s got a note (well, mostly a signature) from the original owner, stating that he’d received it as a gift from the printer, William Jaggard.  Though it would be a mistake to assume that this makes it the actual *first* First Folio, it’s certainly evidence for being one of the very earliest.  After all, William Jaggard died in November 1623, shortly before the first actual purchase of a Folio took place. So if this book truly was a gift, it was most definitely a very, very early copy.

I asked again, once we’d seen a few things and I get the feeling our time in this particular room is coming to an end.  “Any chance I can see #1?”

And, just like that, I can.  Georgianna pulls it down from its shelf, opens the gigantic box that contains the book, and lays it out on the table for me.  I am staring at a one of a kind, almost 400-year-old book.

Down, down, down we travel into the deepest floor of the vault, and there we find Alan Katz (hope I spelled his name correctly!) and Garland introduces me.  “I’ve left quite a few comments on your blog,” he tells me.  I wonder if he’s reading now?  Hi, Alan!  Let me know if I’ve spelled your name correctly!

Georgianna and Garland discuss what cool stuff we might see down here, and they confer with Alan.  “Well,” he says, “There’s The Globe.”  Georgianna agrees that this would indeed be cool.  Garland has apparently never seen what we’re about to see, or has forgotten that they had it.

Alan disappears into the stacks and rolls out …

How cool is that!  I actually got a picture of my kids all standing around it, like a doll house.  I currently have a message in to Garland trying to learn more about this item – what time period it’s from, what was its purpose.  But I knew that I had to include it in my photo tour whether I had the research or not.

Update, directly from Alan (who has promised to post more in comments as he finds it):

The Globe was patented by H. Ernest Conklin, of Roslyn, Long Island, born in 1892. He was a scholar at Cornell and Princeton and professor at Rice in the 1920’s. The model was built no later than 1935 and is on a 3/8”:1’ scale.

Funny story – at the end of our tour of the lowest levels, we travelled back up the elevator and Georgianna took a moment to show us just how heavy and secure the vault doors (yes, multiple doors) are.  As she closes and locks the cage I whisper back down the hall, “Good night, Alan!”  Turning to Georgianna I ask, “You do remember to feed him, right?”

Later, while we were at tea (a Folger tradition!) we saw that Alan had escaped.  Garland had to share my joke with him.  “That’s what the book lift is for,” he replied, “So they can send down my food.”

The tour’s stunning and spectacular conclusion is next!

Harry who?

If your kids want to pretend that they’re wizards and witches, let’s show them a real magic book!

More from the Folger page:
One of the treasures in the Folger collection is a handwritten book of magic spells that is over 400 years old. The book is written in English, but also includes magical terms like “abracadabra” and drawings of angels, demons, dragons, and other supernatural creatures.

This book was used by many people over many, many years. Owners added their own notes into the margins, and one person even wrote in page numbers.

Although people in the Middle Ages and even during Shakespeare’s time used magic for lots of different reasons, including healing sick people, helping to find lost objects, or finding the guilty person when a crime was committed, magic was often done in secret.

I wanted to make some sort of King James reference, since he was supposedly more heavily into the whole witchcraft thing?  But this book dates from 1580. I wonder what Shakespeare’s actual experience with this sort of magic might have been?

The trip continues…

I wish I’d gotten more pictures of this book:

This “Historie of Fovre-Footed Beastes” has a publication date of 1607 by William Jaggard, who’ll come back up later in a different Folio story.

The book itself was fascinating.  Note the color?  No, color printing was not available at the time.  This would have been hand colored.

Inside (maybe I’ll see if Folger’s got some more pictures I can use) was a very wide array of animals that my son had a field day identifying.  Lions!  Goats!  Otters!  Otters?  Yes, even though the otter was apparently not known in England at the time, there was a picture of an otter.  Interesting how knowledge travels.

Speaking of beasts, how about this book on hunting?   If this one looks a little funny, that’s because it’s covered in deer fur.

The trip continues …