diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
index 8ce81c73d5..1ebf44aeb7 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
@@ -46,8 +46,11 @@ def authors_to_sort_string(authors):
     return ' & '.join(map(author_to_author_sort, authors))
 
 _title_pat = re.compile('^(A|The|An)\s+', re.IGNORECASE)
+_ignore_starts = u'\'"'+u''.join(unichr(x) for x in range(0x2018, 0x201e)+[0x2032, 0x2033])
 
 def title_sort(title):
+    if title and title[0] in _ignore_starts:
+        title = title[1:]
     match = _title_pat.search(title)
     if match:
         prep = match.group(1)