Shakespeare’s First Folio coming to UO art museum next year

To mark next year’s 400th anniversary of the death of renowned poet and playwright, William Shakespeare, several of his original First Folios are embarking on a cross-country tour that will include a stop at the University of Oregon.

Published by his colleagues in 1623 just seven years after his death, Shakespeare’s First Folio contains some of the first known reliable texts of 36 of his famous works. There are just under 250 original First Folios believed to still be in existence.

Those original texts will now be coming to every state in the union and Puerto Rico as part of a program funded by the Folger Shakespeare Library — which houses 82 of the existing First Folios — the Cincinnati Museum System, the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Without the First Folio, the world would not enjoy comedies such as “Much Ado about Nothing” or “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” high school English teachers couldn’t assign readings and essays on the tragedies of Macbeth or Hamlet and the Shakespearean sagas of Kings John, Richard III and Henry VIII might have faded into the unknown.

For a complete list of all First Folio plays, click here.

With the Folger Library program guaranteeing one First Folio to all 50 states, institutions across America competed to put on of them on display  in 2016. After a successful application effort led by associate  professor of English Lara Bovilsky, the Folger Library  announced in February that the UO was selected as the Oregon site.

“Our project proposal brought together English Department faculty, the Jordan Schnitzer museum, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and UO Library Special Collections,” said Karen Ford, professor and head of the Department of English. “Our faculty will be giving gallery talks to visitors about the cultural and material history that led to Shakespeare's changing meanings, reputation and influence in England, the U.S. and globally.”

In addition to the gallery talks, visitors will also see the university’s own copies of Shakespeare’s Second and Fourth Folios, as well as some other works from the time period and historic illustrations of the playwright.

Part of Bovilsky’s application was a creative pitch to hold an opening gala for the coming exhibit. Now that the UO has been chosen, plans for the gala, titled, “Shakespeare’s Texts: Page/Onstage,” have begun.

The event will include performers from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival acting out a scene from one of Shakespeare’s First Folio plays multiple times, but with different textual interpretations. A discussion with UO English faculty about the various manuscripts and differing levels of audience engagement will take place following the performances.

“We're proud of this idea of Lara's and have never heard of anything like it,” Ford said. “It will be very interesting and rich.”

Through the Jordan Schnitzer museum’s educational literary-based programs, hundreds of Oregon high school students will take a field trip to campus to learn about Shakespeare and the power of creative expression. UO English faculty will also be able to meet with regional high school teachers to start a dialogue about the students’ transition from high school literature curriculums to college-level English classes.

While all of this is still about a year away and the plans have just begun, those involved in the process are increasingly excited for this important piece of world history to come to the university.

“As is clear from this sketch of our plans, this will be a distinctive, far-reaching and highly visible way to promote the humanities at UO,” Ford said.

— By Nathaniel Brown, Public Affairs Communications intern