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Holding History Kickoff Event

August 12, 2015

We were delighted to welcome the July 21 kickoff Holding History event, which brought together campus and community partners and library donors with undergraduate and graduate students — in a turnabout from customary practice, it was the students who guided participants in turning the pages of a dozen rare books from our holdings. Holding History is an initiative created by Professor Joshua Calhoun of the UW-Madison English department, in partnership with the Department of Special Collections, UW-Madison Libraries, and UW Continuing Studies. This first event focused on Shakespeare’s plays and poems, and showcased such books from Special Collections as our Second Folio of Shakespeare’s plays (1632) and an edition of 1640 of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

English major Tegan Vail and English PhD student Kaydian Campbell invite participants to leaf through 16th-century poetry books in Special Collections. (Photo: Rick Marolt) Kaydian Campbell is also a student library employee in Special Collections and in the Libraries' technical services department.
English major Tegan Vail and English Ph.D. student Kaydian Campbell invite participants to leaf through 16th-century poetry books in Special Collections. (Photo: Rick Marolt. From the Holding History Facebook page.) Kaydian Campbell is also a student library employee in Special Collections and in the Libraries’ technical services department.

Read more about Professor Calhoun’s Holding History initiative and enjoy photos from the event at the Holding History Facebook page, which show Josh Calhoun’s enthusiasm for Special Collections — and that of his students — in action.

Expect too to hear far more about Shakespeare in Wisconsin in the coming months, as the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries and the Chazen Museum of Art prepare to host “First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare,” a national traveling exhibition of the Shakespeare First Folio in 2016.