This 17th-Century Notebook Made an "Antiques Roadshow" Expert "Tremble"
When a manuscripts expert says "my goodness, is this a good thing" in response to the antique book you just handed him, you know you've hit the jackpot. That's precisely what happened on Sunday's episode of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow.
A man brought in a super tiny book that has been passed down in his family for generations and when the expert, Matthew Haley, started flipping through the pages, he found it was filled with scientific scholarly notes about William Shakespeare, written by a contemporary. Yes, that Shakespeare.
Let's just say, Haley didn't play it cool with his discovery. At one point he shared how excited he was about the tiny book by saying: "It is absolutely extraordinary, my hands are trembling now, just looking at it." After Haley calmed down, he told the man he believes the value of the book is at least $38,000, since anything from this century about Shakespeare is of huge interest to potential buyers.
So the saying is true: Good things do come in small packages. Watch the interaction for yourself:
Even though the script is hard to read, it's bound to reveal many insights from this time period. Hopefully whoever buys this antique shares what's on the pages with the rest of the world. After all, we're sure that's what Shakespeare would want.
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