Without one book, the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare’s works, 18 of the Bard’s plays might have been lost forever, including “Macbeth,” “Julius Caesar,” “Twelfth Night” and “The Tempest.”
Of the estimated 750 copies of the First Folio that were printed, 233 survive today, of which 82 are in the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.
This year the Folger has mounted “First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare,” a traveling exhibit that will bring the First Folio to all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The only Massachusetts stop on the schedule is Amherst College, where the exhibit is set to open at the college’s Mead Art Museum with a reception Monday, 6-8 p.m. and run through May 31.
Visitors will be able to see the book itself open to Hamlet’s “To Be or Not To Be” monologue. A six-panel display exploring Shakespeare’s impact, then and now, with additional digital content and activities, will accompany the 1623 book. The exhibition and opening reception are free and open to the public. Related events are scheduled at the college throughout the month. See amherst.edu/mead.