"That will make the Hooker Museum famous!"
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHAKESPEARE
Booklovers have considered the little volume presented by Francis Bacon to William Shakespeare the most glorious book in the world. It remained for many years in the British Museum, and many a pilgrimage has been made to worship at its shrine.
It was deposited in the Museum in 1838 by the Hedley family of Crawford Manor, and had been in the National Library for so long a time that it was considered the property of the nation.
The book itself was of great rarity as it was no other than the first edition of Bacon's "Essayes" published in London in 1597. It bore the following inscription written upon one of the fly-leaves:
To my perfect Friend Mr. Wylliam Shakespeare I give this booke as an eternall Witnesse of my love.
FRA. BACON.
In 1908 the Hedley family were in financial straits. It was discovered that the copy of Bacon's Essays had not been presented to the British Museum but merely deposited as a loan. The Museum tried its best to retain the precious volume, but the records were clear upon the point.
In December, 1909, the Hedleys stated that they would sell it to the Museum for £40,000 or fifty thousand dollars less than had been offered for it.