First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare – Utah

First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare was a touring exhibition from the Folger Shakespeare Library that visited one location in all 50 United States, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC in 2016 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.


This article provides highlights from the exhibition’s visit to Utah

Exhibition Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Exhibition Venue: Salt Lake City Public Library

Exhibition Dates: October 8, 2016 – October 31, 2016


Partner Organizations:

  • Utah Division of Arts & Museums
  • Utah Shakespeare Festival
  • Utah Humanities
  • J. Willard Marriott Library U of U
  • Southern Utah University
  • Utah Valley University


Complementary Exhibitions:

  • Recovering the Classics, October 1, 2016 – October 31, 2016
    • This collection of original covers for literature in the public domain was designed by illustrators, typographers, and designers from across the country. The City Library is hosting 40 posters from the national exhibit and has partnered with Art Access to have 12 Salt Lake area artists design covers for Shakespearean works.
  • The Play’s the Thing: 166 Years of Theatre in Salt Lake City, October 3, 2016 – November 19, 2016
    • Explore the rich history of theatre in Salt Lake City through rare books, playbills, theatre magazines, and other ephemera drawn from The City Library’s Special Collections and historical periodicals.


Event Lists:

  • October 6, 2016 – Lecture: Shakespeare’s First Folio: The Most Famous Book You Don’t Know by professors Barry Weller, Richard Preiss, and Mark Matheson.
  • October 8, 2016 – Lecture: The Printer’s Bill: Compiling, Producing, and Selling Shakespeare’s Play by Dr. Richard Saunders
  • October 8, 2016 – First Folio Kick Off
  • October 9, 2016 – Film Screening: Shakespeare Uncovered
  • October 10, 2016 – Lecture: The Language Game: Twelfth Night and the Audience by Ralph Alan Cohen
  • October 10, 2016 – Serendipitous Shakespeare: Balcony Scenes
  • October 12, 2016 – Savvy Senior Movie: The Tempest
  • October 15, 2016 – First Folio Fun: Playing with Shakespeare! Forsooth, For Youth
  • October 15, 2016 – Justifying all the Fuss: Readings in the First-Edition Plays of Shakespeare’s First Folio, student workshop
  • October 15, 2016 – Lecture: Saved by the First Folio: Dramatic Visions in Shakespeare’s Late Plays by Dr. Mark Matheson
  • October 15, 2016 – Thus with a Fish I Die: Shakespearean Death Lines, family program
  • October 15, 2016 – Selected Scenes from the 2016 Student Shakespeare Competition
  • October 18, 2016 – Serendipitous Shakespeare: Madrigal Music
  • October 22, 2016 – Lecture: Willy the Kid: Shakespeare in the American West 1850-1870 by Matt Nickerson
  • October 23, 2016 – Film Screening: Shakespeare Uncovered
  • October 24, 2016 – Serendipitous Shakespeare: The Scottish Play Meets Broadway
  • October 26, 2016 – Savvy Senior Movie: Love’s Labour’s Lost
  • October 29, 2016 – Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, family program
  • October 29, 2016 – The Empire Striketh Back: Author Ian Doescher
  • October 30, 2016 – Film Screening: Shakespeare Uncovered


Click here to learn about the First Folio that visited Utah.