University to host touring exhibit of early Shakespeare folio

A nearly 400-year-old collection of William Shakespeare’s plays will make a stop in New Jersey.

Drew University in Madison will host an exhibition featuring a rare “First Folio” of the Bard’s plays in the fall of 2016.

The folio was assembled by two of Shakespeare’s actors in 1623 and is an original printing of the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays. Included are plays such as “Macbeth,” ”Julius Caesar” and “The Tempest.”

Of 800 copies made originally it’s estimated between 200 and 300 remain. The exhibition will tour all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Island.

The Daily Record reports the book will be opened to the famous “to be or not to be” line from hamlet when it’s exhibited at Drew.