Shakespeare is coming to Raleigh. That is, the First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare, on tour from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. will be on exhibit from Saturday, May 7, through Monday, May 30, at the North Carolina Museum of History.
The 1623 First Folio, published seven years after Shakespeare’s death, includes 36 of Shakespeare’s plays. Eighteen of those plays had never been printed before. Without the First Folio, plays such as Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, and As You Like It might have been lost forever.
Considered the most important piece of English literature ever published, it is estimated that around 750 copies were printed of which a third might have survived. While not the rarest of books, it is certainly one of the most important published.
One of the few existing copies was sold at a London auction in 2006 for $5,616,000 to an anonymous collector. On a national tour for the first time from the Folger, the N.C. Museum of History has been selected as one of 52 stops — one in each state, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.
The First Folio will be accompanied by colorful panels that highlight the power of Shakespeare’s language, characters and influence on our world, as well as the history of the First Folio. To complement the exhibit, the museum also will feature special programs.