The University of Delaware Library has announced a Shakespeare-series presentation by Joshua Calhoun of the University of Wisconsin-Madison on “The Ecology of Shakespeare’s First Folio” at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Class of 1941 Lecture Room in Morris Library.

Calhoun is an assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in Shakespeare, 16th- and 17th-century poetry, and the history of media. As a faculty affiliate at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, he also teaches courses in the environmental humanities.

In his teaching and research, Calhoun gets to explore three things he loves (and thinks everyone else should love, too): Shakespeare, old books and nature. He is currently writing a book about poetry, papermaking and ecology titled The Nature of the Page: Ecology, Poetry, and Papermaking in Renaissance England.

Calhoun is a University of Delaware alumnus, Class of 2006, and his dissertation director was Kristen Poole.

The library’s lecture series is associated with the current exhibition, “Shakespeare Through the Ages,” on view in the second floor Special Collections Gallery through Dec. 12. This exhibition explores the reception and treatment of Shakespeare and his works across the years, ranging from Shakespeare’s age to our own.

Books on display include early editions of Shakespeare, his contemporaries and his sources. Also on display are examples of Shakespearean criticism, adaptations, parodies, illustration, private press editions and forgeries, all drawn from the University of Delaware Library’s extensive holdings of rare books and manuscripts. All this, and more showcase the many ways in which Shakespeare’s works have lived on in the four centuries since his death.

These events are occasioned by First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare, which came to campus from the Folger Shakespeare Library for the month of September.

For a full list of events through Dec. 12, click here. These programs and exhibitions are sponsored by University Museums and the University of Delaware Library, with support from the Delaware Humanities Forum, the Special Collections Projects and Planning Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Charlotte Orth Shakespeare Fund of the Department of English, and the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, University of Delaware Library.

Immortal as the Bard’s plays may seem now, those who visited the First Folio exhibit may have noticed something else hiding in the airtight display case: a thermo-hygrometer used to carefully monitor temperature and humidity. The book that gave us Shakespeare wants to biodegrade. Like other Renaissance books, it is made from plants and animals that were alive 400 years ago.

In this talk, Calhoun will explore the ecologies that recorded and shaped and still tenuously preserve Renaissance literature. 

RSVPs are strongly encouraged via email at rsvp-library@winsor.lib.udel.edu. Walk-ins are welcome. Light refreshments will be provided and the event is free and open to the public.

Special Collections and Museums at the University of Delaware Library

Subject strengths of Special Collections of the University of Delaware include history and Delawareana, political papers, science and technology, art, and literature, represented in books, manuscripts, archival collections, electronic materials, maps, prints and photographs from the 15th century to the present. Political papers, family papers to ships’ logs are among the primary source material.

For an introduction to the range of holdings, browse exhibitions at this website and finding aids for unpublished materials at this site.

The recent merger of Special Collections with the University Museums brought into the collection works of American art of the 20th century (especially prints, photographs and work by African American artists), European prints, Inuit art, Pre-Columbian art and minerals.

Exhibitions are offered in the Special Collections Gallery in Morris Library, Old College Gallery, Mechanical Hall Gallery and in the Mineralogical Museum in Penny Hall.

All exhibitions and accompanying programs are offered to the UD community and general public without charge. Collaborative initiatives and programming with students, faculty and departments across campus foster diversity and enhance interdisciplinary research and teaching.

For information about Special Collections and University Museums, as well as current and past exhibitions, see the websites.