This year marks the 400th anniversary of the First Folio (the first collected works of William Shakespeare, published in 1623). In Great Britain, the poet's homeland, cultural events are planned to mark this event, one of them will take place in March. Residents of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, will be able to visit Shakespeare's New Place, which will display key items related to the First Folio and its author. Once there was a house in which the English playwright was born and died. The building was demolished in 1759, and later a museum was founded in its place.
The main exhibit will be the Ashburnham Folio, a copy of the First Folio acquired by the museum in the 19th century. Members of the Shakespeare company John Heming and Henry Condel worked on the original, collecting 36 plays under one cover. For the collection, the rights to works from other publishers were purchased, with the exception of the plays "Pericles" and "Two Noble Relatives", included in later editions.
Along with the book, you will see a signet ring with the initials WS. The artifact was discovered near the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford. It is believed to have belonged to Shakespeare. Another interesting exhibit is a notebook of a fan of the playwright, which will be shown to the general public for the first time. It contains quotations from plays with many notes - a vivid example of a thorough study of Shakespeare's work.
