One of the most famous books in the English language, The First Folio of William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, one from the British Library, is will to exhibited at the CSMVS.

THE FOLIO

The plays of Shakespeare were first collected and published in a folio volume in 1623. Of the 37 plays attributed to him, 36 are contained in this First Folio. It is this fact that makes the First Folio so important; without it, 18 of Shakespeare’s plays, including Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and The Tempest, might never have survived. The Folio is intended to be kept open to pages 52–53, the last page of The Tragedie of Titus Adronicus and the first page of The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet (perhaps the most popular of his plays), both of which were first published as quartos not bearing Shakespeare’s name in 1594 and 1597 respectively.

THE ROYAL COPY

The Folio that would be exhibited at CSMVS is the royal copy from the collection of King George III, one among the First Folios published by Edouard Blount and Isaac Jaggard in 1623 in London. When George III took the throne in 1760, there was no substantial royal library and he decided to form a new one by acquiring individual volumes and entire private libraries with the help of his Royal Librarian.

• Venue: Curator’s Gallery, CSMVS
• Duration of Exhibition: January 20 – March 8, 2017

In Collaboration with British Library

In partnership with Shakespeare Lives In 2016, British Council, Great Britain

Supported by Godrej Properties

Education and Public programme is supported by Jai and Sugandha Hiremath, Hikal Ltd.