Shakespeare Unauthorized

Shakespeare Unauthorized pulls back the curtain on four hundred years of collaboration, confusion, and even literary deception that surround the plays, poems, and life of William Shakespeare. Through an unprecedented exhibition of the Boston Public Library’s world-class collections, visitors can view some of the rarest, most extraordinary books in the world and learn about the countless men and women who have made and remade the works of a literary icon. Boston Public Library holds one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Shakespeare in a public institution, including rare first and early editions of beloved plays like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and The Merchant of Venice, as well as all four Shakespearean folios, most notably the Boston Public Library’s own copy of the world-famous First Folio. Through the pages of these precious books, visitors can experience Shakespeare in his original language and spelling, just as he would have been read by book lovers and theater-goers hundreds of years ago.