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Uva shakespeare first folio12/3/2023 However, actually examining these materials has prompted me to realize how important and how fascinating these “slight” differences can be.ĭifferences between printings – mistakes, for example – can actually provide a rare point of entry into appreciating the in-situ life of a book as it was printed, which offers us insight into the living human component of early book production. I have always had a dim awareness that, like hand-copied texts, early printed books must have certain slight differences between them even when they are printings of the same book. One truth that has really seized me is the irreality of the notion of “copy” when it comes to books printed by hand. Vital as content is, I realize that I have spent relatively little time giving serious consideration to the material aspects of the books with which I come into contact. Traditionally – and perhaps this is a fault in someone who is supposed to be a librarian and a devotee of archaic texts – I have been a narrowly content-focused reader. I find that what this week seems to have sparked in me most generally is a rather different way of thinking about how I interact with books. Though courses only run for five days, RBS offers them throughout the summer both at the UVA headquarters and at Yale (which, of course, is home to its own extensive special collections). It was a packed five days: stimulating lectures demonstrations of type founding, composing, and printing – including my own use of a hand-press to print my own small octavo (8 leaf) booklet and hours of time spent in the world-class special collections of UVA (which boast, among many other rare incunables, two printings of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a dazzlingly bizarre, 15th-century rendition of a shady monk’s (1) lovesick dream written in a turgid mix of coined Latin, Greek, and Italian, and filled with unusual (and frequently suggestive) woodcut illustrations).Ĭlass sizes are kept intentionally small – about 12 students are admitted to each – and each course focuses on its own set of themes, which range from preservation to bibliography to typography to history. Last week, I had the chance to attend RBS, where I took a course on the early history of printed books in Europe. (It is also not restricted to librarians.) It is, simply put, a unique opportunity to delve into what might be called book archaeology. RBS, a well-known program which operates out of the Alderman Library at the University of Virginia, is much more than that. Admission is free.Some people call it “summer camp for librarians.” I would never use this phrase to describe Rare Book School, and not only because I have way too much style to do so. Special Collections Library is open seven days a week Monday – Thursday, 9 a.m. The event will feature a performance involving scenes, monologues, and sonnets in honor of Shakespeare’s body of work, and is directed by University of Virginia’s Associative Professor Kate Burke. A “Vigil for the Bard!” will also take place in Special Collections on October 14 at 4pm, October 23 at 2pm, and October 25 at 6pm. a special lecture, “Shakespeare for the American People” will be given by Virginia Mason Vaughan of Clark University inside the Special Collections auditorium. In addition to the First Folio, there will be other Shakespeare relics and artifacts, such as early editions, on display.Īdditional events will also be held to celebrate the event. This exhibition commemorates the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. The Folio takes center stage beside the University’s “Shakespeare By The Book” exhibition in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. “This is the earliest known place of publication for some of the most famous plays, including The Tempest and Macbeth.” “About half of the plays had been published previously in small, single-work ‘quarto’ editions,” Special Collections Curator Molly Schwartzburg said. The University of Virginia has been given the honor of hosting Shakespeare’s First Folio from now until October 26th as part of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s traveling exhibition “First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare.” The First Folio is an original collection of 36 of William Shakespeare’s plays published in 1623.
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