Walking into the Special Collections section of the library, I saw some small, relatively old-looking books. I wondered which of these clearly old, but relatively unremarkable books was the one I was looking for. After inquiring about The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, I was happy to see that it was so big and grand. I wasn't sure whether to start with the first or second volume of the enormous book to more easily find the passage about King Lear, but I thought the beginning was probably a great place to start. Opening the book, I was struck by the smell of 400 year old pages. I expected the typical "old book smell", however the smell I expected usually accompanies books that are a century or less old, rather than four centuries old. The smell I smelled was much stronger. Maybe 300 years ago it smelled like I thought it would and had simply gotten exponentially more pungent. I was very surprised at how sturdy the pages were. Not only were they much thicker than I expected, but they were also in amazing condition. I'm sure that a large, hard-bound book like this would have been a relatively expensive luxury in 1587, despite the use of the printing press. It is in such good condition that I can imagine it being purchased as a status symbol. I see it as part of a huge library collection, meant to fill shelves and impress rather than be read, which would explain the book's extraordinary condition. The two large books appeared to be divided into volumes within each physical book. I couldn't find a table of contents and each volume started with the first page. I spent most of my time examining the second volume entitled "History of England", which came after the cal volume...... middle of paper... no children in Shakespeare's version of the play. Rather than later kill herself due to imprisonment by the new dukes of Albanie and Cornwall, Shakespeare omits several years and her two nephews, and Cordelia still meets the same end, but at the hands of her own generation. Shakespeare's King Lear takes the story told by Holinshed and adapts it to his needs to create a more deeply tragic story. Scotland and how it may have influenced Shakespeare's work. The old book was extremely interesting and the story it tells serves as inspiration for further investigations into the legend of the story of King Lear and the changes in the story over time which I intend to examine in my research paper.