Literally...

First blush

A rare First Folio of Shakespeare’s works is about to go to auction; and could set a world record price for any book. The book, published seven years after Shakespeare’s death, is the first volume of his so-called “collected works” (his 36 plays). Only 750 copies of the First Folio were printed, but only a third of those survive – and some of those are in poor condition. Which makes the sale of this particular volume (which lay in a library for 300 years) so significant. Auctioneers Sotheby’s are “quietly confident” of beating the previous record for a First Folio of some $US6 million; and say the sale could beat the all-time record price for a book of over $US8 million.

Betwixt and be-Twain

Given his often sceptical attitude toward organised religions, it’s a little surprising to learn that Mark Twain once helped to build a church. Now that church is at the centre of a political storm in Carson City, Nevada. In 1864, Twain helped raise $200 (a princely sum in those days) for construction of the First Presbyterian Church by staging a “roast” of local politicians. Now plans are a foot to demolish the structure to make way for an updated one. Preservationists say that the structure is only one of 4 remaining in Nevada that arer associated with the writer. Proponents of demolition however point out that Twain’s contribution was relatively small, and there is no evidence he ever set foot in the structure, although his brother was a member of the congregation. Church officials say preserving the church would cost about $US5 million – double the cost of building a new one, but the city council is unconvinced. The demolition plans are now on hold until a final decision is made.

Retail therapy

Book lovers in the UK are perplexed by a ruling from that country’s competition watchdog allowing the takeover of specialist bookseller Ottakar’s. The Waterstone’s chain, owned by multinational HMV, wants to merge Ottakar’s into its operations, and the competition authority has given conditional approval, finding the move would not substantially lessen competition in the books market. But literature fans fear the UK’s high streets will become “clone towns” with no real choice in choosing books.

Code coincidence?

Regular readers will be aware that Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, is being sued in the UK by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who claim he plagiarised their book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail for the bestseller. But while a British judge mulls the case, on the other side of the Atlantic, both Brown and Baigent were releasing books on the same day. March 29 saw the release of Baigent’s new work, The Jesus Papers. The same day, Anchor Books was releasing The Da Vinci Code in paperback. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the story is the fact that in three years, Brown’s book has sold 12 million copies in the US solely in hardback format. At least the new release could provide Brown and his publishers with a few extra shekels to pay out should the case go against them.

Solaris author dies

Stanislaw Lem, the visionary science fiction writer died last month aged 84 in his native Poland. Along with luminaries like Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov, Lem helped to define science fiction as a viable literary genre in the mid-20th Century. He’s probably best known for Solaris, the book having been made into films twice – by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972 and by Steven Soderbergh in 2002. Among his other works are The Invincible (1964); His Master’s Voice (1968); and The Futurological Congress (1971).

David Edwards

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Literally...
April 2006