Walk in the doors of the room that holds the First Folio, and the dim room resembles nothing more than a theater before the curtain rises.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum opened its new temporary exhibit devoted to a visiting copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio. Only 234 known copies of the work, printed in 1623, survive.
“It’s just super exciting, you know,” said Freya Anderson, the state librarian who organized and coordinated the visit. “I got to see it outside of the case in real light, and I was like, on clouds the rest of the day. It was just truly, truly amazing.”
For Shakespeare fans and scholars, the First Folio is a landmark. When it was published seven years after the playwright’s death, it marked the first time that works like “Macbeth” and “Julius Caesar” appeared in print. Given Shakespeare’s enormous impact on the English language, it should be no surprise that each copy of the First Folio is hugely valuable. One sold for $6.2 million at auction in 2001. Another sold for $5.2 million in 2006, according to figures collected by the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.
The First Folio on display in Juneau is one of 16 from the Folger library that are traveling the United States to celebrate 400 years since Shakespeare’s death. The state received a federal grant in 2015 to cover the costs involved.
“Reading (Shakespeare) is the important part, right? But there is something about being in the presence that is just extraordinary,” Anderson said. “Truly, (one of my) top three librarian experiences ever. Not quite religious, but getting very close. Truly extraordinary experience.”
The exhibit won’t just be a static display — the state library and Juneau’s Theater in the Rough are collaborating on a series of Shakespeare readings, lectures and other activities.
Some of the lectures and readings will be transmitted statewide through Alaska’s Online With Libraries videoconference system.
A full listing of the activities is available online at http://lam.alaska.gov/firstfolioalaska and in print in the Empire’s sister publication, the Capital City Weekly.
Librarian Claire Imamura has been coordinating the events. Unlike Anderson, she admits she isn’t a die-hard Shakespeare fan. Still, she said there’s something important about the First Folio’s visit.
“Seeing a book that’s this old is a unique experience. We don’t have any books in our collection that are 400 years old, so coming at it from a museum or objects point of view, I think it’s great to see something that’s preserved, and that’s something that we’re trying to do here as well: Preserve Alaska’s history for the next 400 years and beyond that.”
The First Folio will be on display in Juneau through Aug. 24. There is no admission fee to see the First Folio or to attend any of the readings or lectures.
• Contact reporter James Brooks at 523-2258 or james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com.
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