November 22, 2003
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417
AMHERST, Mass.-Richard Kuhta, Librarian of the Folger Shakespeare Library, will speak about the outstanding and rare collection at the Washington, D.C. library on Thursday, Dec. 4, at 3 p.m. in the Barker Room at Robert Frost Library. His talk, titled "Thys Boke is Myne: Celebrating Books and their Owners from William Caxton to Langston Hughes," is sponsored by the Amherst College Library.
Kuhta will talk about books belonging to writers, collectors, royalty, actors and statesmen, showing the interesting and amusing ways people connect with their books.
He will illustrate how inscriptions, mottoes, marginalia, bookplates, labels, armorials and binding stamps link texts to their owners, from William Caxton to Langston Hughes.
The Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, is a major center for scholarly research in the humanities and a venue for exhibitions, cultural programs and the performing arts. Founded by Standard Oil executive Henry Clay Folger and his wife, Emily Jordan Folger, the Folger opened its doors on April 23, 1932, Shakespeare's birthday. An independent research library, privately endowed and supported, the Folger is administered by the Trustees of Amherst College, Folger's alma mater. The Folger welcomes more than 200,000 visitors a year. More information about the Folger and its programs is available on the Web at www.folger.edu or by phone at 202/544-7077.
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