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Senate House Library First Folios: Digitised for the First Time
On the 8th November, we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the day that the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays was entered into the Stationers’ Register and became available for purchase. To celebrate this day, we are pleased to announce the full digitisation of both copies of the First Folio held by Senate House Library.
For the first time, these copies of the First Folio are available for consultation digitally. Senate House Library holds two copies of the First Folio: the Durning-Lawrence Library copy and the Sterling Library copy. These digital copies will allow scholars to consult the Folios remotely, for the images to be used in digital humanities initiatives and also helps the Library to preserve the material history of these special items.
The Durning-Lawrence Library images can be seen via this link.
The Sterling Library images can be seen via this link.
2023 has been a year of Shakespeare celebration across the UK, and further afield. Senate House Library is also pleased to announce an upcoming exhibition: Shakespeare’s First Folios: A 400-year journey. The exhibition traces the extraordinary journey of the First Folio since its publication in 1623, including how it was re-issued and published in different formats, and how the book became prized by collectors.
We are very grateful to Max Communications who digitised these copies for the Library.
