This month, as part of the Fisher's rotating mini-exhibition schedule, we present a rare opportunity to see one of the most important texts in the English language. Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies : published according to the true originall copies, will be on display through September. Only 232 copies of this cultural treasure, better known as Shakespeare’s First Folio, remain in the world today.

Justifiably celebrated as one of the foundational texts in all of English literature, the First Folio was published in 1623 and was the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays. While half of the plays had been previously published in quarto editions, often with defective texts, the real importance of the First Folio is that it presented in print for the first time eighteen works, including Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It. In total, the First Folio gathered together thirty-six of Shakespeare's plays.

To listen to the Fisher's Director Anne Dondertman discussing this important book, one of the treasures of the Fisher Library, please click here. Better still, please come to the Fisher this month to view this significant work for yourself. Anne was also on CBC's Metro Morning on Friday, Sept. 12. To listen to her interview with Matt Galloway, please click here.

On Display: Shakepeare&#039;s First Folio

On Display: Shakepeare's First Folio