Bringing a book to Boise State that’s nearly 400 years old and contains 18 Shakespearean plays that were almost lost to the ages is no easy feat. For Gwyn Hervochon, it’s been more than two years in the making.
Hervochon is an archivist, librarian and assistant professor at Albertsons Library and her dedication, along with the support of the campus and the local community, made her dream of bringing the First Folio to Boise State a reality.
The First Folio is the first published collection of Shakespeare’s plays. Printed in London in 1623, it contains the saved plays All’s Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, Henry VI Part 1, Henry VIII, Julius Caesar, King John, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Timon of Athens, Twelfth Night, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Winter’s Tale.
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., selected Boise State earlier this year as one of the hosts for the national traveling exhibition that will mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death. It will be the only Idaho location.
Hervochon said the monumental effort to bring the Folio wouldn’t have been possible without community support.
“The Shakespeare Festival, the Boise Public Library, Boise Department of Arts and History and groups from across campus all came together to make this possible,” said Hervochon. “We really wanted this to be accessible for everyone so we’ll have events for everyone on campus and across Boise while it’s here.”
More than 2,000 K-12 students will visit the exhibition, and during Bronco Welcome, 10 Things I Hate About You will be shown out on the intramural field. An opening carnival is planned for 1-5 p.m. on Aug. 20.
The First Folio will be on display Aug. 20-Sept. 21 in the Arts and Humanities Institute Gallery at the Yanke Family Research Park off Parkcenter Boulevard. It will be open to the public from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon-5 p.m. on Saturday-Sunday.
MORE ABOUT FIRST FOLIO
John Heminge and Henry Condell, two of Shakespeare’s fellow actors, compiled his plays, hoping to preserve them for future generations. Many of Shakespeare’s plays, which were written to be performed, were not published during his lifetime. Shakespeare’s playwright colleagues printed only 750 copies of the book. About 233 still exist and the Folger owns 82 of those. At auction, a First Folio can sell for more than $5 million.
The First Folio tour will stop in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Venues include 23 museums, 20 universities, five public libraries, three historical societies and one theater. Hundreds of libraries, museums, historical societies and other organizations competed for a chance to host a four-week display of a First Folio.
BY: BRADY W MOORE PUBLISHED 7:16 AM / AUGUST 4, 2016