"My Diary - Please respect it": So wrote the photographer Margaret Bourke-White at the beginning of her hand-written diary. And respect it we do! We cover a lot of ground in this episode exploring diaries, notes, and documents written without an eye to a future audience. Through the diary of a Revolutionary War soldier to the journals of an Apple Executive, we explore the strange accidental nature of these witnesses to history. And of course we have to discuss the diaries of Samuel Pepys - but more for their strong influence on Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and modernism.

Special guest: Rick Stattler, of Swann Galleries.

As always, feel free to reach out to us with any questions or comments at: hello@rarebookchat.com

Enjoy the show!

Join us as we talk with special guest Adam Douglas of Peter Harrington Rare Books about collecting Shakespeare and specifically about that Holy Grail of collecting, the 1623 Shakespeare First Folio. It is a rare event when one becomes available and Peter Harrington is currently offering a copy. We pick Adam's brain about the specifics of their copy, the history of the creation of the Folio, why Shakespeare and his fellow actors didn't want to publish their texts, why copies are so rare, why each copy is different, and so much more...

Enjoy the episode! And, as always, please don't hesitate to send questions or comments our way at: hello@rarebookchat.com

In 1940, the year of Fitzgerald’s death, there were only 7 copies of The Great Gatsby sold. Fitzgerald complained to both Zelda and Max Perkins that he was a forgotten man and that clearly there was no demand for his book. He was crushed, and died thinking Gatsby was a failure. Then, a year later 155,000 copies were printed…. What happened?

We dive in into the strange afterlife of The Great Gatsby, trace Fitzgerald’s feelings about his masterpiece through inscribed copies, and compare it to the fates of other books – Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Fortnight in September – published around the same time.

Is a classic destined to be a classic or does it need a healthy dose of luck? As always, email us and let us know what you think at hello@rarebookchat.com

Enjoy the episode!