OHIO AT MICHIGAN:
IMPORTANT HOLDINGS FROM THE STATE OF OHIO

Follett, Oran, 1798–1894. The Shakspeare Plays. The Theatre. &c. "Who Wrote Shakspeare?" Printed for private circulation. Sandusky, Register Printing Establishment, 1879. With Addendum of 1881 at back.

At the age of 81, Oran Follett published this pamphlet containing his theories on the then-raging debate of whether William Shakespeare was truly the author of the works bearing his name. As a young man, Follett had settled in Sandusky, Ohio, in the 1820s and built a handsome stone Greek Revival mansion there in the 1830s, which now serves as the Sandusky Archival Research Center and local history museum. At one time he was president of the Sandusky, Dayton, and Cincinnati Railroad, and served as editor of the Columbus newspaper The Ohio State Journal from at least the 1850s, during which time he called a meeting to organize the Republican Party in Ohio and subsequently published the Lincoln-Douglas debates. After the Civil War he apparently retired back to Sandusky, and in 1875 gave the dedication speech for the new Erie County Courthouse in that city.

Follett presented this copy of his only forays into literary scholarship to noted Shakespeare scholar and collector Joseph Crosby of Zanesville, Ohio. Crosby wrote the following on the inside cover of the pamphlet:

“These pamphlets, an elaborate attempt to prove that Shakespeare did not write his own works, were presented to me by the author, Mr. O. Follet, of Sandusky, Ohio, May 20th, 1882. Joseph Crosby. Zanesville, O.”

While it appears Crosby did not agree with Follett’s theories, this notation by Crosby is valuable, since the pamphlet was published anonymously, signed only as “O.F.”

This pamphlet is part of the Shakespeare Collection at the University of Michigan Special Collections Library. The bulk of the collection was assembled by Professor Isaac Demmon beginning in 1881, using funds provided by Senator James A. McMillan of Detroit to supplement University resources. The two largest collections purchased were those of Joseph Crosby of Ohio and Edward Thomson of Flint, Michigan. The collection now contains some 6,000 items. Notable holdings include 17th-century originals of the second, third, and fourth folio editions of Shakespeare’s works, several hundred editions of his works from the 18th and 19th centuries, and assorted items such as pamphlets, playbills, and actors’ portraits.