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He also edited a volume on Shakespeare's four Folios (Penn State University Press), published in conjunction with exhibitions mounted at CMU and the Frick Pittsburgh, and in 2025 authored Rare Books & Ancestral Machines: A Handbook to the Posner Center for Special Collections (Carnegie Mellon University Press).

Scholarly Work

Lemley's scholarly work has appeared in Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, The Library, Studies in Bibliography, Shakespeare Quarterly, Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Hyperallergic, and other journals.

PhD in English Literature and an MLIS with a certificate of concentration in rare book and special collections librarianship. Lemley has held research fellowships at the Houghton Library, Princeton University Library, the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology, and Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

STAB-STITCH HOLES, DECKLES, AND BROKEN TYPES: SOME NOTES ON THE FIRST OFFICIAL PRINTING OF THE US BILL OF RIGHTS (1792)

Early species descriptions of two native Virginian plants in the Histoire des plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l’isle Virgine, & autres lieux (Paris, 1620)

Who Rpinted Shakespeare’s Fourth Folio? Get access Arrow

Canst Thou Draw Out Leviathan with Computational Bibliography? New Angles on Printing Thomas Hobbes’ “Ornaments” Edition

Printing Leibniz's Calculus: Dating and Numbering the Editions of the Nova Methodus pro Maximis et Minimis (October 1684)

A collection of essays by leading scholars of Shakespeare in print, offering an overview of current research on the Folios and on unsettled questions about the bibliography of Shakespeare's plays.

The Four Shakespeare Folios, 1623-2023

Spotlights a treasured collection of objects from Carnegie Mellon's special collections to mark the reopening of the Posner Center. Rare Books & Ancestral Machines is a portable guide to the Posner Center--home to Carnegie Mellon University's special collections and the university's repository for rare books, manuscripts, and early technologies. Part museum and part laboratory for the humanities, the Posner Center is Carnegie Mellon's destination for discovery, research, and hands-on engagement with the past. Published to mark the reopening of the Center in fall 2025 after an extensive renovation, this richly illustrated handbook features nearly one hundred objects from the collection alongside eight interpretive essays. Designed to reflect the layout and logic of the Posner Center itself, the book blends item descriptions, illustrations, and thematic reflections in a compact, visually engaging format. It celebrates both the history and the future of special collections at Carnegie Mellon.

Rare Books and Ancestral Machines

From Stage to Page: 400 Years of Shakespeare in Print

Cipher Discs: Renaissance Encryption Machines

Sam Lemley administers research, acquisitions, exhibitions, and instruction in the Posner Center for Special Collections, CMU's home for rare books, manuscripts, and early scientific instruments and calculating machines. Lemley holds a PhD in English Literature and an MLIS with a certificate of concentration in rare book and special collections librarianship. Lemley has held research fellowships at the Houghton Library, Princeton University Library, the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology, and Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

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