Holding History

press release: As part of the 2016 Shakespeare in Wisconsin celebration, Holding History welcomes you to hold, explore, and even take pictures of rare Shakespeare-related materials from the Special Collections of UW-Madison Libraries. Professor Joshua Calhoun presents a short talk that previews the November visit of a First Folio to Madison.

At “Shakespeare Reimagined,” participants will be welcomed into the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Special Collections Library for a lively, hands-on, student-driven experience with about a dozen volumes including Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette’s copy of Shakespeare’s plays, Rockwell Kent’s Shakespearean illustrations, and Shakespeare’s sourcebook, Holinshed’s Chronicles (1577). We’ll wrap up the evening with “Hamlet, Hamlet, Hamlet” as UW-Madison Professor Joshua Calhoun leads an exploration of the source material behind Shakespeare’s play and the 3 different versions in existence.

Visit holdinghistory.org or contact Sarah Marty at sarah.marty@wisc.edu to learn more about this unique program.

Holding History is hosted by the UW-Madison’s Special Collections in Memorial Library and is offered in partnership with UW Continuing Studies and UW-Madison Libraries. Grant supported provided by the UW-Madison Anonymous Fund, the Brittingham Fund, and the Kemper K. Knapp Fund.