The university is to put on an exhibition of rare original William Shakespeare folios dating back as early as 1623, 7 years after the playwright’s death. The collection has been put on display to commemorate 400 years since the Bard’s demise – thought to have been on the same day as his 52nd birthday.
The four folios reside full-time in the Brotherton Library’s Special Collections section after being acquired by Lord Brotherton of Wakefield himself.
PHD student and co-curator Kit Heyam spoke of the importance of Shakespeare and the connection Yorkshire has with his works.
“As a northern lad who loves Shakespeare, I was thrilled to be able to dig deep into his relationship with Yorkshire when curating this exhibition. So many of Shakespeare’s most dramatic stories are stories of Yorkshire, and our county’s actors and theatres have a long-standing love affair with his plays.”
The exhibition opens on the Tuesday the 6th of September and looks at the close link between Shakespeare and Yorkshire, helping to shed light on Yorkshire’s history and re-imagining the concept of regional identity.
Euan Hammond
Image: The Telegraph