{"id":100,"date":"2026-01-24T20:25:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T20:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fox.withemes.com\/commentary\/an-quas-disputationi-mea-legere-libris-scripta\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T00:33:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T00:33:28","slug":"an-quas-disputationi-mea-legere-libris-scripta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/?p=100","title":{"rendered":"All things bookish."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\u201cThere is nothing that begins so easily and takes us so far as the collecting of books.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always felt there was something irresistible about a good origin story.  While the title of this blog is an obvious nod to one of the most famous books of all time \u2013 William Shakespeare\u2019s First Folio<\/em> \u2013 it\u2019s also a quiet tribute to the first book that inspired in each of us a love of reading.  For me it began in the fourth grade with Bilbo\u2019s first step outside the Shire in the company of a motley band of dwarves and a wiley old wizard.  Tolkien\u2019s beautifully expressive language ignited a love of literature that wound its way from Middle Earth to the forum of ancient Rome and far beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Folio<\/strong> is where that spark ended up: at the intersection of literature, history, and the physical book. Here you\u2019ll find everything from Renaissance book-hunters to beautiful bindings and unique personal libraries built over the course of a lifetime\u2014bookish origin stories hiding inside other origin stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever your own literary beginning\u2014whether you started with hobbits, Hardy, or Hogwarts\u2014I hope you find here a bit of adventure, a moment of solace, and the occasional spark of curiosity that sends you down a new rabbit hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Joshua Rankin,\u00a0The First Folio<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere is nothing that begins so easily and takes us so far as the collecting of books.\u201d I\u2019ve always felt there was something irresistible about a good origin story.  While the title of this blog is an obvious nod to one of the most famous books of all time \u2013 William Shakespeare\u2019s First Folio \u2013 it\u2019s also a quiet tribute to the first book that inspired in each of us a love of reading.  For me it began in the fourth grade with Bilbo\u2019s first step outside the Shire in the company of a motley band of dwarves and a wiley old<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[32,31,33],"class_list":["post-100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-bookish","tag-intro","tag-origin-story"],"yoast_head":"\nAll things bookish. - The First Folio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I\u2019ve always felt there was something irresistible about a good origin story. \u00a0While the title of this blog is an obvious nod to one of the most famous books of all time \u2013 William Shakespeare\u2019s\u00a0First Folio\u00a0\u2013 it\u2019s also a quiet tribute to the first book that inspired in each of us a love of reading. \u00a0For me it began in the fourth grade with Bilbo\u2019s first step outside the Shire in the company of a motley band of dwarves and a wiley old wizard. \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"All things bookish. - The First Folio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ve always felt there was something irresistible about a good origin story. \u00a0While the title of this blog is an obvious nod to one of the most famous books of all time \u2013 William Shakespeare\u2019s\u00a0First Folio\u00a0\u2013 it\u2019s also a quiet tribute to the first book that inspired in each of us a love of reading. \u00a0For me it began in the fourth grade with Bilbo\u2019s first step outside the Shire in the company of a motley band of dwarves and a wiley old wizard. \u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/?p=100\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The First Folio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-24T20:25:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T00:33:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Boticelli-Madonna-of-the-Book.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"504\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1032\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Josh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/?p=100#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/?p=100\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Josh\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b88f0f9419245faa9778d616a05927de\"},\"headline\":\"All things bookish.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-24T20:25:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-13T00:33:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/?p=100\"},\"wordCount\":234,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/?p=100#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Boticelli-Madonna-of-the-Book.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"bookish\",\"intro\",\"origin story\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/?p=100#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/?p=100\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thefirstfolio.com\/?p=100\",\"name\":\"All things bookish. - 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