Shakespeare at Emory Exhibitions

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Shakespeare's Folios

First Folio! The book that gave us Shakespeare

NOVEMBER 5 - DECEMBER 11, 2016 | MICHAEL C. CARLOS MUSEUM

Emory University welcomes First Folio! The book that gave us Shakespeare, on tour from the Folger Shakespeare Library. This exhibit includes the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare, which is on national tour for the first time. Come and celebrate Shakespeare's extraordinary legacy 400 years after his death, and see one of the most influential books in history.

Second (1632), Third (1663), and Fourth (1685) Folios will be on display alongside the First Folio, providing a rare opportunity to view these important books within a broad historical context. This has been made possible thanks to a loan of the Second and Third Folios from Rose Library benefactor Stuart A. Rose.

To the Great Variety of Readers: Publishing Shakespeare

AUGUST 29 - OCTOBER 28, 2016 AND APRIL 3 - MAY 15, 2017 | WOODRUFF LIBRARY, STUART A. ROSE MANUSCRIPT ARCHIVES AND RARE BOOK LIBRARY, LEVEL 10

The First Folio may be departing Emory in December, but the Second, Third, and Fourth Folios will be back on display from April 3 in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. This rare opportunity to view all but the earliest version of the Folio is made possible by a loan of the Second and Third Folios from Rose Library benefactor Stuart A. Rose. Examples of early English printing as well as the works of several of Shakespeare’s contemporaries provide historical and cultural context while materials from the Rose Library’s collections document the ongoing popularity and significance of Shakespeare’s works. 

Free admission


Michael C. Carlos Museum

The New World in the Age of Shakespeare

JANUARY 14 - MARCH 26, 2017 | MICHAEL C. CARLOS MUSEUM

Although Shakespeare set The Tempest on a small island off the coast of Italy, many scholars argue that he drew inspiration for the setting, several narrative themes, and the figure of Caliban from the newly encountered Americas.  In spring 2017, the Carlos Museum will mount an exhibition entitled The New World in the Age of Shakespeare, which will explore this argument by pairing the Rose Library’s Fourth Folio with several engravings from Theodor de Bry’s Americae volumes, a series devoted to Columbus’s travels in the Americas, the customs of myriad American inhabitants, and the mistreatment of the native population by Catholic Spaniards.  The exhibition will also feature a number of complementary objects from the Museum's vast Americas collection.

Michael C. Carlos Museum Hours and Admission

Staged reading of Aimé Césaire's Une Tempête (A Tempest) February 9 - 12, 2017 in the Theater Lab of the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. More Info ››


Emory Libraries

Admission to all Emory Library exhibitions is free

Dispatched in Post: The Bard on Cards

MARCH 16 - JUNE 26, 2016 | WOODRUFF LIBRARY, LEVEL 2 (CFDE)

An exhibit showcasing some of Emory English Professor Harry Rusche’s extensive collection of postcards depicting iconic Shakespearean characters and scenes.  Late 19th to early 20th century postcards related to Hamlet and other popular plays will be the focus.

Plants Are Set Before Us: Shakespeare's Natural Worlds

MARCH 16 - JUNE 26, 2016 | WOODRUFF LIBRARY, LEVEL 2 (CFDE)

Plants play a vital role in William Shakespeare’s works, both as physical devices and as symbols. This exhibit will cite references from a variety of scenes and include specimens from the Emory University Herbarium.

All the World's an eStage: Shakespeare Postcards in a Digital Age

APRIL 22, 2016 - MAY 15, 2017 | WOODRUFF LIBRARY, LEVEL 3 (ECDS)

This exhibit showcases the newly re-designed website, Shakespeare & the Players, and features nearly 1,000 images of late 19th to early 20th century theatrical postcards of legendary actors in some of Shakespeare's most famous plays. The original website, begun in the 1990s by Emory English Professor Harry Rusche, went on to become an outstanding example of early digital scholarship.  

Opening Reception: MONDAY, APRIL 25 at 4:30 PM | WOODRUFF LIBRARY, LEVEL 3 (ECDS)

A Goodly Commodity: Shakespeare in Popular Culture

NOVEMBER 9, 2016 - FEBRUARY 26, 2017 | WOODRUFF LIBRARY, LEVEL 2

At the height of his career, William Shakespeare was popular culture. His work was tailored both to the Queen and to the commoner. Yet today, Shakespeare’s work has become a symbol of the literary elite. It has been stripped in the public eye of the universal truths and wicked wit it possesses. Displayed here are artifacts that aim to restore Shakespeare to his rightful place in popular culture. They make Shakespeare’s work accessible to all. This exhibit explores Shakespeare’s relationship with pop culture through various artifacts from the collections of Dr. Harry Rusche and Dr. Sheila Cavanagh.

Othello: The Moor Speaks

OCTOBER 20, 2016 - FEBRUARY 26, 2017 | WOODRUFF LIBRARY, LEVEL 2

One of Shakespeare's most important works, Othello provides commentary on the “rise of colonialism and imperialism,” as well as the ongoing struggle to define the qualities related to quintessential manhood and masculinity. Through the archival materials found in the Stuart A. Rose Library, this exhibition will explore the development of the play as a vehicle for African American actors such as Ira Aldridge, Paul Robeson, and Lawrence Fishburne to claim the role of the “Black Moor” from white men in black face. The exhibition will explore the complexity of being a black man in a white world, and the meanings associated with Shakespeare's provocative representation of race and racism.

Shakespeare Artists' Books

OCTOBER 20, 2016 - FEBRUARY 26, 2017 | WOODRUFF LIBRARY, LEVEL 2

This exhibit showcases artists’ books inspired by Shakespeare taken from the collections of the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. These works use the book form as a medium of artistic expression and also tell the history of bookmaking. Some focus will be placed on the materials and practices of present-day bookmaking, with especial focus on works created by inmates at Phillips State Prison in Buford, GA.

A Shakespeare Sampler

JULY 27 - DECEMBER 15, 2016 | OXFORD COLLEGE LIBRARY
MARCH 16 - MAY 17, 2017 | WOODRUFF LIBRARY, LEVEL 2

This exhibit adapts materials from four exhibits originally displayed at the Robert W. Woodruff Library:  A Goodly Commodity: Shakespeare in Popular Culture; Plants Are Set Before Us: Shakespeare’s Natural Worlds; Dispatched in Post: The Bard on Cards; and “All the World’s an eStage.” It also includes silent film footage not seen in any of the other exhibits.

And there's the humor of it: Shakespeare and the Four Humors

MARCH 13, 2017 - APRIL 22, 2017 | WOODRUFF HEALTH CENTER SCIENCES LIBRARY

William Shakespeare created characters that are among the richest and most humanly recognizable in all of literature. Yet Shakespeare understood human personality in the terms available to his age—that of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors—blood, bile, melancholy, and phlegm. These four humors were thought to define peoples’ physical and mental health, and determined their personalities, as well. "And there’s the humor of it" Shakespeare and the four humors explores the language of the four humors that bred the core passions of anger, grief, hope, and fear—the emotions conveyed so powerfully in Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies.

On tour from the US National Library of Medicine.