The small number of questions.

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# The Small Number of Questions ## Overview This section, titled "The small number of questions," is part of a larger collection titled "[Venus and Adonis, Lucrece, Sonnets, and Pericles (Facsimile Editions)](arke:01KG6S3KNZT62WVVW4VT384KPF)". It was extracted from the file "[pdf-01KG6Q7Q25RHMFT3SJXPV18VFF.txt](arke:01KG6S2X2EBB305ENM00G16GWA)" and belongs to the collection "[PDF Workflow Main Test 2026-01-30T00:26:53](arke:01KG6NWQ2H2K4PGG7H4ZHYCZ3Y)". The section discusses the distribution and historical sale prices of surviving copies of early editions of Shakespeare's *Venus and Adonis*. ## Context The text details the current locations of twenty-one known surviving copies of early editions of *Venus and Adonis*. It highlights that eighteen copies are in Great Britain and three are in America. The Bodleian Library at Oxford holds nine copies, while the British Museum possesses five. Trinity College, Cambridge, has one copy. The remaining six copies are privately owned, with three in England and three in America. The section also touches upon the relatively low prices fetched for these copies in historical auctions, contrasting them with their potential current market value. ## Contents This section specifically focuses on the bibliographical distribution of *Venus and Adonis*. It lists the number of copies held by major institutions such as the Bodleian Library and the British Museum, and notes private collectors in England and America. It also provides historical context for the value of these rare books, citing examples of past auction prices and the significant increase in their estimated worth over time. The text serves as an introduction to a more detailed census of these surviving copies.

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The Small Number of Questions

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The small number of questions. The strangest fact to be noticed in regard to the ~~bibliography~~ *Venus and Adonis* is that shown. ### Distribution of surviving copies. The present distribution of the twenty-one copies of the early editions which are known to survive is interesting. Eighteen are now in Great Britain and three are in America. The Bodleian Library at Oxford has the high distinction of <!-- [Page 64](arke:01KG6QAN1GN2KZ8R1Y7TQ1JGFR) --> VENUS AND ADONIS 55 owning as many as nine; of these one came from the library of Robert Burton, the author of the *Anatomy of Melancholy* (No. X); a second came from the library of Anthony à Wood (No. XVI); three were presented by the great Shakespearean scholar, Edmund Malone (Nos. I, VI, and VIII); two were bequeathed by Thomas Caldecott (Nos. III and XII); and two (Nos. XVII and XXI) have been purchased. The British Museum owns five copies. Trinity College, Cambridge, owns one. The remaining six, which are alone in private hands, are evenly divided between England and America. The three private owners in England are Mr. A. H. Huth, Mrs. Christie Miller, and the Earl of Macclesfield. The three private owners in America are Mr. Robert Hoe and Mr. H. C. Folger, jr. (both of New York); and Mr. Marsden J. Perry, of Providence, Rhode Island. Few of the copies have run the gauntlet of public auction. None of the more interesting exemplars have changed hands of recent years, and the recorded prices are very small compared with those which would be realized in the present state of the book market. Malone deemed the £25 which he paid in 1805 for the unique copy of the first edition ‘an enormous price’. That copy is now safely housed in the Bodleian Library, but had it a present selling value its price would exceed £2,000. The highest sum which any copy of an early edition has fetched in the sale-room is £336, which was paid by the British Museum for George Daniel’s copy of the 1596 edition in 1864. Forty-four years earlier this volume had realized at a sale £91. A century before, an exemplar of the same edition in inferior condition, now in the Bodleian Library, was bought bound up with other poetical tracts for 6d. The following is a detailed account of each of the Census of copies. <!-- [Page 65](arke:01KG6QAN1CCCYMP4B0EBAH6VEW) --> 56 VENUS AND ADONIS surviving twenty-one copies of the early editions.¹ For purposes of reference they are numbered consecutively.

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The small number of questions.