BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Folger Shakespeare Library -- Exhibit: First Folio! Shakespeare's American Tour

DC -- Folger Shakespeare Library -- Exhibit: First Folio! Shakespeare's American Tour:

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Description of Pictures: First Folio! Shakespeare's American Tour
Nov 19, 2016 – Jan 22, 2017
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the Folger Shakespeare Library sent First Folios to all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC. This exhibition celebrates their return to the Folger, and is the largest ever display of First Folios in a single venue.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. FOL1ST_170112_009.JPG: First Folio! Shakespeare's American Tour For the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death in 2016, the Folger Shakespeare Library embarked on one of our most logistically challenging projects ever. We sent an original 1623 First Folio – the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays – to all 50 states, as well as to Puerto Rico and Washington DC. This epic tour, First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare, began in January 2016 and ends in January 2017. Folger curators selected 18 of the 82 First Folios in the Folger collection to go on tour. Safely back in the Great Hall after traveling 71,000 miles, the Folios tell their stories – of the half million people they met, the activities held in their honor, their unique attributes, and the lasting relevance of the plays they include. The largest-ever display of First Folios in a single venue, First Folio! Shakespeare's American Tour is the capstone to an incredible year of The Wonder of Will, the Folger's celebration of Shakespeare and his enduring legacy.
2. FOL1ST_170112_013.JPG: First Folio! Shakespeare's American Tour For the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death in 2016, the Folger Shakespeare Library embarked on one of our most logistically challenging projects ever. We sent an original 1623 First Folio – the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays – to all 50 states, as well as to Puerto Rico and Washington DC. This epic tour, First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare, began in January 2016 and ends in January 2017. Folger curators selected 18 of the 82 First Folios in the Folger collection to go on tour. Safely back in the Great Hall after traveling 71,000 miles, the Folios tell their stories – of the half million people they met, the activities held in their honor, their unique attributes, and the lasting relevance of the plays they include. The largest-ever display of First Folios in a single venue, First Folio! Shakespeare's American Tour is the capstone to an incredible year of The Wonder of Will, the Folger's celebration of Shakespeare and his enduring legacy.
3. FOL1ST_170112_017.JPG: In Touch 52 Artist: Carrie Roy Materials: wool, mulberry silk To create this map, artist Carrie Roy used materials reflecting two important fibers in Shakespeare's time: wool and mulberry silk. Shakespeare's father was involved in wide-scale wool dealing in the 1570s, and in 1608 King James attempted to establish a silk industry in England by importing thousands of mulberry trees. In Carrie's words: "This map is also a reflection on the efforts of the First Folio tour. The logistics of bringing this book to 52 venues across the country and providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view the First Folio in person -- experiencing this closeness, the inviting tangible, almost touchable effect of seeing this historic artifact in person -- is incredibly moving and inspired the soft, textured, inviting surface of the tour map."
4. FOL1ST_170112_029.JPG: Folio #36 * 35,968 Total number of visitors * 1,629 Total miles traveled from January 6 to April 3, 2016 * 78 Total number of special events scheduled The Purple Copy open to Two Gentlemen of Verona At the Folger, I'm known as Folio number 36, or the "purple" copy. This is because 5 of my leaves have an unusual purple tint. One of my fellow Folios, number 78, also has leaves with the same purple tint, suggesting that someone pillaged the same First Folio to make us both complete. Incredibly, I consist of leaves from at least 5 different First Folios! Henry and Emily Folger purchased me in 1901 for $892.50.
5. FOL1ST_170112_043.JPG: Folio #55 * 34,405 Total number of visitors * 8,477 Total miles traveled from January 6 to April 17, 2016 * 97 Total number of special events scheduled The First First Folio open to Measure for Measure At the Folger, I'm known as Folio number 55, or the "first" First Folio. I was the very first Folio that Henry and Emily Folger purchased in 1896. I'm far from perfect: Merry Wives of Windsor comes from another First Folio, and part of my introduction is damaged. My first page and title page have been supplied in facsimile. Several early readers have added their signatures to my pages.
6. FOL1ST_170112_051.JPG: The Title Page At the Folger, I'm known as Folio number 6. Although I wasn't on tour, I'm familiar to all visitors to the Folger because I am always on display! My title page is in nearly perfect condition, which is rare. Only 21 other copies of the First Folio at the Folger have an intact title page. The engraving of Shakespeare is one of only two portraits widely accepted as a genuine likeness of the man (the other is the sculpture on his monument in the parish church at Stratford-upon-Avon). Engraver Martin Droeshout touched up the plate twice during printing. My title page has the final version.
7. FOL1ST_170112_063.JPG: Folio #58 * 37,631 Total number of visitors * 4,083 Total miles traveled from January 4 to April 3, 2016 * 85 Total number of special events scheduled The Scissors Copy open to The Tempest At the Folger, I'm known as Folio number 58, or the "scissors" copy. My seventeenth-century owner or binder left a pair of scissors in my pages, and you can still see its rusty traces today. Henry and Emily Folger purchased me in 1910 for $3,060. At the time, I was considered an "unrecorded" Folio since I did not appear in Sidney Lee's Census of the Shakespeare First Folios (1902). My first page and my title leaf are missing. These and the last two leaves of the play Cymbeline were supplied in facsimile. I also contain leaves from other First Folios throughout my Tragedies section.
8. FOL1ST_170112_070.JPG: Sophisticating the First Folio The obsession with the First Folios in the 19th century led booksellers and collectors to create what are known as "sophisticated" or "made-up" folios. These consisted of incomplete folios that were "perfected" through the addition of pages from other incomplete First Folios or through the creation of printed or handwritten facsimile pages. All of the Folios selected for the tour are made-up copies, as are the vast majority of the 82 First Folios in the Folger vault. The stories of their incompleteness and their consequent "perfection" reveal the desire of earlier owners and collectors to own complete copies, and the lengths that booksellers would go to satisfy the demand.
9. FOL1ST_170112_074.JPG: To Be, or Not to Be, That is the Question Translating Hamlet's Iconic Speech These iconic words resonate in many different languages with people all over the United States. Some of the 52 venues were inspired to provide fresh translations of Shakespeare's famous words into the languages of their community members. This led to 2 new translations and the creation of 1 new collection of translations in Sign Language. A third translation was attempted, but not completed: the University of South Dakota discovered that the Lakota language does not have an equivalent verb for "to be."
10. FOL1ST_170112_091.JPG: What is a First Folio? Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories & Tragedies is the true title of the collection of plays that scholars and Shakespeare fans fondly refer to as the First Folio. The First Folio contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays and groups them into comedies, histories, and tragedies. 18 of these plays had never before been published and otherwise might have been lost, including favorites such as Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Twelfth Night. The First Folio was printed in 1623, 7 years after Shakespeare's death in 1616. The First Folio was followed by the Second Folio in 1623, the Third Folio in 1664, and the Fourth Folio in 1685. A folio is a large book made by folding sheets of paper (approximately 14 x 18 inches) in half, with each sheet forming 4 pages. This format was usually reserved for history, religion, and other weighty subjects. The First Folio was the first folio-sized book ever published in England devoted exclusively to plays. Before 1623, about half of Shakespeare's plays were published in quartos – small books made from folding larger sheets of paper twice to create 8 pages per sheet. Quartos were like the easily disposable paperbacks of today, and very few of them survive. No manuscript copies of the plays written in Shakespeare's handwriting have been found yet. Many people think, therefore, that the First Folio – compiled by his friends and fellow actors, John Heminges and Henry Condell, after his death – is the closest thing we have to the plays as he wrote them. The title page includes the famous Droeshout portrait of Shakespeare, considered an accurate likeness by those who knew him. Scholars think that about 750 copies of the First Folio were printed, which was a typical print run in the period. 235 First Folios are known to survive, including two discovered in 2016. The Folger Shakespeare Library has 82 copies. Each copy of the First Folio is unique. Many small changes and corrections were made during the printing process, and over the years successive owners have rebound or otherwise tried to improve their copies. See and touch a reproduction of First Folio #68 at the table in the center of the exhibition hall.
11. FOL1ST_170112_097.JPG: What is a First Folio? Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories & Tragedies is the true title of the collection of plays that scholars and Shakespeare fans fondly refer to as the First Folio. The First Folio contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays and groups them into comedies, histories, and tragedies. 18 of these plays had never before been published and otherwise might have been lost, including favorites such as Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Twelfth Night. The First Folio was printed in 1623, 7 years after Shakespeare's death in 1616. The First Folio was followed by the Second Folio in 1623, the Third Folio in 1664, and the Fourth Folio in 1685. A folio is a large book made by folding sheets of paper (approximately 14 x 18 inches) in half, with each sheet forming 4 pages. This format was usually reserved for history, religion, and other weighty subjects. The First Folio was the first folio-sized book ever published in England devoted exclusively to plays. Before 1623, about half of Shakespeare's plays were published in quartos – small books made from folding larger sheets of paper twice to create 8 pages per sheet. Quartos were like the easily disposable paperbacks of today, and very few of them survive. No manuscript copies of the plays written in Shakespeare's handwriting have been found yet. Many people think, therefore, that the First Folio – compiled by his friends and fellow actors, John Heminges and Henry Condell, after his death – is the closest thing we have to the plays as he wrote them. The title page includes the famous Droeshout portrait of Shakespeare, considered an accurate likeness by those who knew him. Scholars think that about 750 copies of the First Folio were printed, which was a typical print run in the period. 235 First Folios are known to survive, including two discovered in 2016. The Folger Shakespeare Library has 82 copies. Each copy of the First Folio is unique. Many small changes and corrections were made during the printing process, and over the years successive owners have rebound or otherwise tried to improve their copies. See and touch a reproduction of First Folio #68 at the table in the center of the exhibition hall.
12. FOL1ST_170112_107.JPG: First Folio! The Book that Gave us Shakespeare packs into 3 made-to-order crates like this one. Each is lined with shock-absorbent foam that cushions and isolates every item it contains. This crate has two halves: the bottom, which contains all the text panel parts, and the top, which contains everything necessary to assemble the exhibition, including: * variety of tools * supplies for mounting the First Folio * silica gel to keep the humidity inside the display case stable * weights for the display case Each crate fits through a standard door, and the high quality wheels make it relatively easy to push even though it weights 700 pounds. This crate has traveled to 9 venues in Kansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Missouri, North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.
13. FOL1ST_170112_115.JPG: The Logistics Scheduling the tour was like putting together a complicated jigsaw puzzle. To ensure that all 18 First Folios reached their 52 destinations successfully, Folger staff considered weather, the distance between venues, venue availability, and many other variables. Depending on the route, the couriers traveled with the First Folio by plane or by truck. They had to arrive a few days early to each site to allow the First Folio to acclimate to its new environment before putting it inside the display case. Rapid and dramatic shifts in temperature and humidity can be harmful to a book's pages and binding. After receiving specialized training and studying a 60-page courier guide, staff from the Folger and Cincinnati Museum Center (who provided tour support) traveled to each destination to install a First Folio, bringing with them: * The First Folio * A custom display case * A book cradle * An alarm system * Equipment to monitor humidity and light levels * 6 huge graphic panels * Tools for mounting the First Folio
14. FOL1ST_170112_138.JPG: Introducing Mr. William Shakespeare
15. FOL1ST_170112_145.JPG: The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare
16. FOL1ST_170112_155.JPG: A Stunning Legacy, Preserved
17. FOL1ST_170112_158.JPG: To Be or Not To Be
18. FOL1ST_170112_172.JPG: A Much-Loved Treasure
19. FOL1ST_170112_174.JPG: Why We Turn to Shakespeare
20. FOL1ST_170112_205.JPG: Selecting Venues In 2014, the Folger invited cultural institutions from across the US and US territories to apply for a traveling exhibition in 2016: First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare. The tour received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and was coordinated in association with the American Library Association and Cincinnati Museum Center. Despite the lengthy application process and programming, security, and climate requirements for the display of the books, we received almost 200 applications from a wide range of institutions, each competing for an opportunity to show the First Folio to their communities. Host sites were required to organize at least 4 free programs, including 1 workshop for school teachers and 1 event for families. Free admission to see the First Folio was strongly encouraged. Each institution created their own exhibition, with the First Folio and accompanying text panels as the focal point.
21. FOL1ST_170112_207.JPG: Selecting the First Folios to Travel First Folios were selected for travel based on the overall condition and stability of each book's binding and pages, as well as the condition of the opening shown at each venue: Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech. Each Folio was fully digitized and its condition analyzed before it was sent out. Sustained exposure to light leads to fading of ink, darkening of paper, and increased fragility, so the Folger's conservators established a "light budget" based on the total number of hours that the book could be safely exposed. This ensures that our First Folios are available for research and display hundreds of years from now. Sixteen of the 18 First Folios chosen to travel had only left the building once since the library opened in 1932. In 1942, they were secretly sent by train to Amherst College in Massachusetts to avoid potential damage during World War II.
22. FOL1ST_170112_215.JPG: Folio #33 Folger Shakespeare Library Great Hall I was prepared to travel just in case another First Folio needed to be pulled from the lineup. As a consolation prize, the Folger's curators are giving me a "staycation" in the Great Hall so that I can experience what being on display was like for the traveling Folios. I'm open to the "To be or not to be" speech, just like I'm on tour, and in the Shakespeare Gallery (to your left) are the 6 text panels from the tour. * 1/10 of a mile, at most traveled from November 19, 2016 to January 22, 2017 * Total number of people who visit me: Tell your friends to come to this exhibition! The Understudy Copy open to Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech At the Folger, I'm known as Folio number 33, or the "understudy." Henry and Emily purchased me in 1903 for $825. In 1875, my pages were completely taken apart (or disbound) to be photographed for the first-ever photomechanical facsimile. Like many of my other Folios on display here, I am missing leaves in my introduction and Cymbeline. Four of my missing leaves in Comedy of Errors, Much Ado about Nothing, Midsummer's Night Dream and Henry IV, Part II were supplied from other folios.
23. FOL1ST_170112_218.JPG: Folio #54 * 57,179 Total number of visitors * 10,074 Total miles traveled from April 25 to July 7, 2016 * 44 Total number of special events scheduled The Hutchinson Copy open to King John At the Folger, I'm known as Folio number 54, or the "Hutchinson" copy. Colonel John Hutchinson, who played an important role during the English Civil War, and his wife Lucy, a writer and translator, acquired me in the mid-17th century. I remained in the Hutchinson family until 1913, when Henry and Emily Folger acquired me for $3,950. My pages include extensive early notes on character lists and identification of scene locations for several plays. In the mid-1800s, a Hutchinson descendant had me rebound and supplied some of my missing leaves. 6 of the 9 introductory leaves are missing, along with 2 leaves in the plays The Tempest and Cymbeline.
24. FOL1ST_170112_222.JPG: Nearly Ghosts: 18 Artist: Carrie Roy Materials: walnut wood, acrylic Had it not been for the printing of the First Folio, the eighteen works here would have been lost. The plays are arranged according to their order or appearance in the First Folio. Each work has a unique shape, with the thickness conveying the play's word length. The titles of each work produce a ghostly illumination when set into the light box, reminding us of the value in preservation for future generations.
25. FOL1ST_170112_247.JPG: Folio #59 * 10,562 Total number of visitors * 1,547 Total miles traveled from April 11 to July 30, 2016 * 137 Total number of special events scheduled The Public Library Copy open to Twelfth Night At the Folger, I'm known as Folio number 59, or the "public library" copy. In 1829, 2 women, Mrs. Fortescue and Mrs. Gillis, offered me to their public library in Plymouth, England. Unlike the earlier 1830s, readers could check me out like any other book for up to 7 days. Then, a note was added to my inside cover: "not to circulate." Henry and Emily Folger purchased me in 1913 for $255. Like Folio number 72 (also on display), I was sold without the text of Troilus and Cressida, since the play was not licensed for publication until late in the printing process. A facsimile of the play was added at a later date. All but 2 leaves of my introduction, the last 2 plays Antony and Cleopatra and Cymbeline, and 22 leaves scattered throughout my text were likely replaced by leaves from the first published facsimile of the First Folio (1807).
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2017 photos: Overnight trips this year: Civil War Trust conferences in Pensacola, FL, Chattanooga, TN (via sites in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and Fredericksburg, VA, a family reunion in The Dells, Wisconsin (via sites in Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin), New York City, and my 12th consecutive San Diego Comic Con trip (including sites in Arizona). Ego strokes: For some reason, several of my photos have been published in physical books this year which is pretty cool. Ones that I know about: "Tarzan, Jungle King of Popular Culture" (David Lemmo), "The Great Crusade: A Guide to World War I American Expeditionary Forces Battlefields and Sites" (Stephen T. Powers and Kevin Dennehy), "The American Spirit" (David McCullough), "Civil War Battlefields: Walking the Trails of History" (David T. Gilbert), "The Year I Was Peter the Great: 1956 — Khrushchev, Stalin's Ghost, and a Young American in Russia" (Marvin Kalb), and "The Judge: 26 Machiavellian Lessons" (Ron Collins and David Skover). Equipment this year: I continued to use my Fuji XS-1 cameras but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Number of photos taken this year: just below 560,000.
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