In partnership with the American Library Association, the Folger looked for applicants who could provide creative public programs, support from local scholars and community organizations, and appropriate security. (When a First Folio comes up for auction, which rarely happens, it sells for more than $5 million.) All in all, the Folger’s First Folios will stop at 23 museums, 20 universities, five public libraries, three historical societies and one theater.

The First Folio, published in 1623 by two of the playwright’s colleagues, is so important because it’s the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays. It contains 36 scripts and is the original source for such immortal works as “Macbeth,” “Julius Caesar,” “Twelfth Night” and “The Tempest.” Of the 750 copies believed to have been originally published, 233 survive today, and the Folger owns 82.

Who is Peter Lik?

It irks him a little that you have to ask. Because by one measure — money — Mr. Lik may well be the most successful fine-art photographer who ever lived. He has sold $440 million worth of prints, according to his chief financial officer, in 15 galleries in the United States that he owns and that sell his work. The images are mostly panoramic shots of trees, sky, lakes, deserts and blue water in supersaturated colors. Generally speaking, his buyers are not people who acquire the art of Andreas Gursky and Cindy Sherman.