Drew Snow
banner
shakesbrain.bsky.social
Drew Snow
@shakesbrain.bsky.social
US Fulbright scholar (Alum): Distinguished Teacher Researcher | H.S. English Teacher & Dept. Chair | Collector of Rare Books | In the middle of Chicago.
Views are my own.
Pinned
It was an honor to be asked to preview and blurb the newly reimagined Folger Guides to Teaching Shakespeare.

The original Folger Guides showed me that Shakespeare had much to say to students. The "new" guides have shown me that students have much to say to back. #Folger #Shakespeare #EnglishEd
Acquired the deluxe 1928 Laterza Orlando Furioso, bound in bespoke full gold tooled morocco. Part of the critical Scrittori d’Italia series — a national project to publish Italy’s literary masterpieces in enduring scholarly editions. #booksky
September 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
My most beautiful Toni Morrison book: limited signed edition of Morrison's Nobel Prize for Literature speech.

Printed on handmade paper and housed in a striking binding/slipcase made with batik fabric by Global Mamas. A testament to artistry and an incredible moment in literary history.
#booksky
August 16, 2025 at 2:39 AM
It took collecting this 1829 Large Paper Limited (50 copies) Edition of Sir Philip Sidney's Works to realize that this poet needs to be read more!

Research led me to resurrect this tweet as I searched for the esteemed William Ringler, who owned and annotated my copy. #poetry #books
August 5, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Who knew that reading too much would be an official cause for a divorce filing?

Considering Bette Davis' sardonic nature, you would think her husband meant "reads too much" in the other context of reading someone. #booksky
July 23, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Eugene O'Neill is a part of my rare book collection.

Just found an original sales contract tucked inside one of the volumes from the signed limited set of his plays. $120 in the middle of the Depression—equivalent to over $2,000 today. Wow!
#booksky #books
July 7, 2025 at 11:18 PM
So strange to think that The Devil and Daniel Webster was a story I saw as young adult lit as a 4th grader. I read it over and over again. So, when I became a book collector, it was one of my first books.

My copy is inscribed by John C. Farrar—the book's publisher. #booksky #books
June 27, 2025 at 11:23 PM
From learning about Patricia Highsmith's life, I'm tired just learning about her fascinating life.

As you can see from my collection, I got carried away with my doubles. Inheriting a book collection from someone with great taste is great, even if you already own the books. :)
#booksky
June 12, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Unfortunate that Ben Jonson's literary star doesn't shine any brighter.

Acquired this scarce folio-sized scholarly large paper edition on handmade laid paper w/fine bindings a bit ago.

Only 50 copies of this deluxe edition were published in 1875.
#booksky
#rarebooks
May 29, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Grolier Club's 1895 edition of the Poems of John Donne. Limited edition of 380 copies on handmade paper. You can never own too many John Donne books. My other copy is by LEC.
#booksky #poetry
May 22, 2025 at 3:25 AM
A letter I own from Elkin Mathews, the publisher, to Dodd, Mead & Co., regarding American publishing rights for a book that included unpublished writing by Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt.

Notably, Elkin Mathews was the first publisher of James Joyce. He also published Oscar Wilde.
#booksky
May 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
After looking up the bookplate, I learned this book once belonged to Edwin B. Holden, an early president of the Grolier Club and founding president of Club Bindery.

Was about to break this book apart for the 50 etchings by Rembrandt through the photogravure process before learning this provenance.
May 3, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I have loved Gordon Parks' The Learning Tree since boyhood.

Pulled out my inscribed copies of two of his books and am now on a research crusade to find out more about the person to whom he inscribed the books.

He clearly knew this person well.
#booksky
#photography
#film
April 19, 2025 at 2:00 AM
I need to figure out how to pick up three Frank Miller comics in one week.

It took me years to find my copies. I also need to start collecting the trade editions of Miller so I can have more luck.

Showing my limited signed editions of Frank Miller's Sin City.
#comics
#booksky
April 6, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Reposted by Drew Snow
Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness. I am very, very weak, but they are two different things.
April 1, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Never thought of "The Siege of Thebes" as Chaucer fanfiction. Not sure if you were being tongue in cheek, but...

Pulled out my 1602, 2nd Speght edition of Chaucer's Works, which helped establish him in the canon, and at the end of this important edition is the Lydgate poem!

My photos.
#booksky
March 25, 2025 at 4:53 AM
Reposted by Drew Snow
A Forgotten Tudor Patron

She was a Spencer, the wife of a Boleyn descendant, and a patron to Elizabethan greats like Edmund Spenser & John Dowland—yet history has overlooked Elizabeth Carey, Lady Hunsdon...

bit.ly/4kggMrZ

#TudorHistory #ElizabethCarey #WomenInHistory
Elizabeth Carey, Lady Hunsdon - The Tudor Society
he was the wife of a Boleyn descendant, the patron of some of Elizabeth I’s greatest minds, and a member of the powerful Spencer dynasty, the same family as Princess Diana. Yet, history has largely fo...
bit.ly
February 25, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Drew Snow
Built in the 1420s, Ireland's Kilcolman Castle was refurbished by poet Edmund Spenser in the 1580s.

An NEH grant-supported digital humanities project offers a VR model of the castle during Spenser’s time plus teaching modules with connections between the castle and his writings. ow.ly/xV3G50VielF
March 19, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Even though Alexander Pope's The Dunciad eventually focused on Colley Cibber, his true critique was Lewis Theobald, who harshly critiqued Pope's Shakespeare edition.

Theobald's retribution was harsh, as witnessed in his 1733 publication of Shakespeare's works.
#booksky
#❤️ 📚
#Shakespeare
March 19, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Reposted by Drew Snow
Happy #GlobalRecyclingDay! 🧵

Throughout the day we'll be sharing examples of recycling in the Library and Archive collections to this thread, starting with a classic: a page from an old manuscript repurposed as a flyleaf. This one has musical notation and reparative stitching too!

C14th, MS O.8.2
March 18, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Whenever I pull out my limited signed edition of "Batman: The Sunday Classics - 1943-1946", everyone is surprised that Bob Kane agreed to let other artists sign the limitation page.

#comics
#Batman
#Booksky
March 18, 2025 at 12:30 AM
As a former Fulbright scholar, the time I spent in Greece and Italy was an invaluable part of my growth and development as a researcher, as a teacher, and as a Global Citizen.

The scholars who are currently on program deserve better.
#Fulbright
#StandwithFulbright
March 13, 2025 at 1:06 AM
And...Serious journalists must be serious thinkers. Anyone who has read "The Letters of Lincoln Steffens" knows that knowledge was not simply pouring in and out of his mind w/no thought.

I love what he says about the literature of James Joyce. From my Carl Sandburg inscribed copy!
#booksky
March 13, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Had the golden opportunity to experience the Bishops' Bible of Queen Elizabeth I while doing research at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

The elevator has the door of a secure bank vault.

Turning the pages was a delight. NO GLOVES!
#booksky
#❤️booksky
March 10, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by Drew Snow
History education matters
March 8, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Was able to see the delightful show Fat Ham (a Black and modern retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet) last night @GoodmanTheatre w/Definition Theater.

I'm glad I was able to make it to the "cookout" before the show closes today.

So much fun!
#theater
#Shakespeare
March 9, 2025 at 9:22 PM