First Folio Tour: The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare

First Folio Tour: The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare

January 4, 2016 - January 2, 2017

The Wonder of Will, a Folger celebration of 400 years of Shakespeare

Folger Shakespeare Library

Four hundred years after Shakespeare's death, his characters are timeless and familiar, from wide-eyed Miranda to grim Macbeth. But how do we know about Shakespeare's plays in the first place?

For many of the plays, the answer is a single book: the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare. Assembled seven years after Shakespeare's death, the First Folio includes 36 of his plays—18 of which had never been before published. Without it, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, As You Like It, The Tempest, and more could have been lost.

In 2016, in partnership with Cincinnati Museum Center and the American Library Association, First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare will bring the First Folio to all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. The exhibition, which also includes panels and digital content, exclusively features First Folios from the Folger, whose collection of 82 First Folios is by far the largest in the world.

Visitors to First Folio! will come face to face with the original 1623 book, displayed open to Hamlet's speech in which he debates whether "to be or not to be." Each First Folio! host location has also planned public events and activities, often including additional exhibitions, in joyful celebration of the book that saved so many of Shakespeare's dramas and the amazing plays it holds.

The locations include 23 museums, 20 universities, five public libraries, three historical societies, and a theater. Explore our interactive map for the complete list of host sites and tour dates.

The Infinite Library: The Places of Learning in the Ancient World

The Infinite Library: The places of learning in the ancient world

March 14, 2014 – October 5, 2014

Colosseum

Rome Italy

Divided into 7 sections, the exhibition, curated by Rossella Rea and Roberto Meneghini, documents, by means of some 120 statues, frescoes, reliefs and and writing instruments, the evolution of books and reading in the Greco-Roman world from the Hellenistic Age to Late Antiquity, as well as the public and private sites where knowledge was exchanged and preserved.

On this occasion, the monumental ambulatories of the Colosseum are covered with armaria, the ancient shelves, and images of the spaces dedicated to Culture, in an unprecedented scenographic setting.

The exhibition issues from the results of two major archaeological excavations in Rome: the discovery of the Auditoria of Hadrian in Piazza Madonna di Loreto, which took place in 2008 during the preliminary excavations pursued for the construction of the metro C line, and the necessity to reconstruct in a unified context the results of the archaeological surveys carried out thus far, and still in progress, in the Templum Pacis, along via dei Fori Imperiali, which have returned unpublished findings, presented now for the first time.

The exhibition is promoted by the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma and by the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, in collaboration with Electa.

Slide Show @ Demotix: 3.13.2014 by Stefano Montesi

Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863 and the March on Washington, 1963

Changing America:

The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863

and the March on Washington, 1963

February 2014 - December 2017

One hundred years separate the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington, yet these two events are profoundly linked together in a larger story of liberty and the American experience. Both events were the results of people demanding justice. Both grew out of decades of bold actions, resistance, organization, and vision. In both we take inspiration from those who marched toward freedom.

Fifty libraries, museums, and other public sites across America will host a traveling exhibition, Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863 and the March on Washington, 1963, to explore the story of liberty and the American experience. The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), and the National Museum of American History (NMAH), and made possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

2014       

Jan. 22 – March 7, 2014

Copy 1:  Richmond-Miles Museum, Yanceyville, NC

Copy 2:  Peoria Public Library, Peoria, IL

March 19 – May 2, 2014

Copy 1: University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast, Hattiesburg, MS

Copy 2: Moline Public Library, Moline, IL

May 14– June 27, 2014

Copy 1: Promise Land Community Club, Charlotte, TN

Copy 2: Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, Detroit, MI

July 9 – Aug. 22, 2014

Copy 1: Springfield-Greene County Library District, Springfield, MO

Copy 2: Louisville Public Library, Louisville, OH

Sept 3 – Oct. 17, 2014

Copy 1: Arkansas State University, State University, AR

Copy 2: Miami University, Middletown, OH

Oct. 29 – Dec. 19, 2014

Copy 1: Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, LA

Copy 2: Avon Free Public Library, Avon, CT

2015

Jan. 7 – Feb. 20, 2015

Copy 1: Tarrant County College District, Fort Worth, TX

Copy 2: Dover Public Library, Dover, DE

March 4  – April 17, 2015

Copy 1: History Colorado, Pueblo, CO

Copy 2: Pease Public Library, Pease, NH

April 29– June 12, 2015

Copy 1: State Historical Society of North Dakota, Bismarck, ND

Copy 2: Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, Providence, RI

June 24 – Aug. 7, 2015

Copy 1: African American Museum of Iowa, Cedar Rapids, IA

Copy 2: Keene Public Library, Keene, NH

Aug. 19 – Oct. 2, 2015

Copy 1: Independence Public Library, Independence, KS

Copy 2: Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, NY

Oct. 14 – Nov. 27, 2015

Copy 1: West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX

Copy 2: Hudson County Community College, Jersey City, NJ

Dec. 9, 2015  – Jan. 29, 2016

Copy 1: Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA

Copy 2: Poughkeepsie Public Library, Poughkeepsie, NY

2016

Feb. 10  – March 25, 2016

Copy 1: Linfield College, McMinnville, OR

Copy 2: Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD

April 6  – May 20, 2016

Copy 1: Whitworth University, Spokane, WA

Copy 2: Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, NY

June 1 – July 15, 2016

Copy 1: Coeur d’Alene Public Library – City of Coeur d’Alene, Coeur d’Alene, ID

Copy 2: National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, Peterboro, NY

July 27 – Sept. 9, 2016

Copy 1: Riverside African American Historical Society, Riverside, CA

Copy 2: DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA

Sept. 21 – Nov. 4, 2016

Copy 1: Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, MN

Copy 2: University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL

Nov. 16, 2016 – Jan. 13, 2017

Copy 1: The Civil War Museum, Kenosha, WI

Copy 2:  African American Research Library and Cultural Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL

2017

Jan. 25 – March 10, 2017

Copy 1: DuPage County Historical Museum, Wheaton, IL

Copy 2: West Baton Rouge Museum, Port Allen, LA

March 22 – May 5, 2017

Copy 1: Franklin College, Franklin, IN

Copy 2: Xavier University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

May 17  – June 30, 2017

Copy 1: Racine Public Library, Racine, WI

Copy 2: Marengo County History and Archive Museum, Demopolis, AL

July 12  – Aug. 25, 2017

Copy 1: Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville, GA

Copy 2: SKIP

Sept. 6  – Oct. 20, 2017

Copy 1: University of Memphis, Memphis, TN

Copy 2: Florida Historic Capitol Foundation, Tallahassee, FL

Nov. 1 – Dec. 15, 2017

Copy 1: Waynesboro Public Library, Waynesboro, VA

Copy 2: Cape Fear Museum, Wilmington, NC

2018

January 10, 2018 – February 23, 2018

Copy 2: Nancy Carson Library, North Augusta, SC