'Shakespeare Unauthorized' Puts Bard's Original, Early Works on Display

BACK BAY, MA — In honor of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death and his lasting legacy, the Boston Public Library is opening its formidable collection of early works to the public.

That collection includes the first four folios of the Bard's collected works, 45 early quarto editions of individual plays, and thousands of volumes of early source material, commentaries, translations, manuscripts, and more.

Several of those original works will go on display in the McKim Exhibition Hall on the first floor of the McKim building at the Central Library in Copley Square, starting this Friday and continuing until March 31, 2o17.

That includes what BPL calls "extraordinarily rare" first and early editions of plays, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and The Merchant of Venice, as well as all four Shakespearean folios, most notably the BPL’s own copy of the world-famous First Folio.

"Through the pages of these precious books, visitors can experience Shakespeare in his original language and spelling, just as he would have been read by book lovers and theater-goers hundreds of years ago," BPL said in a media release.

Image courtesy Boston Public Library