UNLV’s library has Shakespeare’s First Folio on display until Sept. 29

In 1623, seven years after William Shakespeare’s death, two of the famous playwright’s friends collected 36 of his plays and turned them into a folio. They published 750 copies and, as of today, only 235 exist.

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., has 82 of those copies, and one of them is at UNLV through September.

UNLV’s Lied Library, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway, was chosen as one of 52 locations for the inaugural national tour, titled “First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare,” courtesy of the Folger Library.

May 3 marked the 400-year anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. The First Folio represents a major collection of his work, such as “Macbeth,” “Julius Caesar” and “Twelfth Night.” Had those two friends not published the folio, at least 18 of those plays would have been lost forever.

Michelle Light, special collections director at Lied Library, said the Folger Library called about five months ago looking for a stop in Nevada. So far, the tour has seen a success in turnout nationwide.

“Some venues, there have been between 5,000 and 12,000 people that have come to other cities,” Light said. “So, we’re hoping to break attendance records.”

The exhibit, which opened to the public Sept. 1, features a wide variety of artifacts that pertain to Shakespeare’s time and UNLV’s involvement with his plays. Upon entering the special collections area on the third floor of Lied Library, visitors notice a collection of the library’s books that pre-date Shakespeare and center on Las Vegas’ central theme — gambling. One book in particular dates to 1505 — the oldest book collected — written by Filippo Beroaldo, and it’s a debate on who was the worst of three people: a whoremonger, a dice player or a drunkard.

“Very appropriate for Las Vegas,” Light said, jokingly. “We collect on sin here.”

There are also books on how to play certain card games, as well as the 16th century’s definition of card counting.

“You find it in Shakespeare’s plays. Kind of the backdrop to his scenes is gambling,” said Peter Michel, special collections curator. “Gambling is a part of Shakespeare’s time and culture. We weren’t deliberately trying to upstage the Folio. The idea was to put the Folio in the broader context of printing.”

Michel said these books were notoriously common in the 16th and 17th centuries.

“Any well-heeled gentleman would have these in his library,” he said.

To the far right is a collection of playbills, posters and casting information of UNLV’s 1970s productions, including “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet.” Classic photos and sketches rendering the costumes worn on stage are also on display.

Toward the back of the room is an array of posters highlighting the history of Shakespeare and how Henry Folger, the Shakespeare Library’s namesake, came to acquire the rare artifacts. The former chairman and president of Standard Oil in New York City, Folger was an avid Shakespeare collector and had the funds necessary to obtain the historical texts.

Folger died in 1930, and the library in his name opened in 1932.

Front and center of that display is the First Folio, opened to page 265, noting the famous “Hamlet” passage: “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” Light said the uniqueness of the Folio comes from the fact that each copy is different, with errors and edits aplenty. There was a noticeable blotch near the top of page 265, which Light was told could be the remains of a squashed insect.

As for the process of getting the First Folio to UNLV, extreme measures were taken. The glass encasing the literature is equipped with an alarm so sensitive, anyone leaning over the case could trigger it. The temperature of the special collections room had to be lowered to 70.4 degrees, roughly 3 or 4 degrees cooler than normal. The lighting also had to be lowered, and humidifiers, set to 49 percent, were installed to ensure the linen-made pages would not deteriorate.

Lied also reports the environmental conditions to the Folger Library on a regular basis.

“Our facilities crew has been amazing in getting everything just right so we could host this,” Light said.

When the tour wraps up, the Folger Library will do a grand reveal at the end of the year on which location received which edition. The pages of the folio look to be in pristine condition for the time period.

“This volume will always have Las Vegas associated with it,” Light said.

There are events scheduled throughout the month. The Shakespeare Institute of Nevada performed a number of plays in 20-minute stretches Sept. 11, and the “Bomb-itty of Errors” — a hip-hop adaptation of Shakespeare — had performances scheduled up to Sept. 11, as well.

On Sept. 17, there will be activities for kids ages 6 to 12, such as understanding familiar lines from “Hamlet,” how to create a folio and having fun with Shakespearean insults. There will also be guest speakers to close the month, including University of Nevada-Reno English professor Eric Rasmussen Sept. 18, talking about his account of how Shakespeare was a secret Catholic.

Light said this is a huge deal for UNLV and the library itself. Emails have been sent out to students and faculty, as well as fliers posted across campus to spread the word about the exhibit. Light is also hoping to arrange field trips for schools across the valley.

“Such an honor,” Light said. “I’m so pleased. I’m from Las Vegas, and I think it’s so wonderful that we can have real history come to Las Vegas. When I was in high school, I would’ve loved the opportunity to get to see something like this in person. So, I hope people come to take advantage of it.”

The First Folio exhibit is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday through Sept. 29.

Admission is free, but you must RSVP in advance. Visit guides.library.unlv.edu/firstfolio or call 702-895-2111.

To reach View copy editor Danny Webster, email dwebster@viewnews.com or call 702-477-3834. Find him on Twitter: @DannyWebster21.