The Trinity Centre for the Book will be formally launched by the Provost of Trinity College Dublin, Linda Doyle, in the Long Room of the Old Library of Trinity College Dublin on 13 April.
The launch coincides with the opening of a new exhibition in the Library of Trinity College Dublin entitled “Shakespeare the Irishman”, marking 400 years since the Bard’s complete works were first published, organised by Prof. Andrew Murphy as part of global Folio400 celebrations. The exhibition has also seen the digitisation of Trinity's copy of the First Folio, surviving copies of which are among the most highly-sought after books in the world.
Mark Faulkner, Ussher Assistant Professor in Medieval Literature and Director of the Trinity Centre for the Book, commented:
“As this exhibition demonstrates, Trinity’s Library has an outstanding collection of Shakespearean material; and this excellence is mirrored in its holdings of medieval manuscripts, early printed books and the archives of authors, politicians, thinkers and many others. The new Trinity Centre for the Book will harness these outstanding collections and the university’s significant concentration of experts across its three faculties and the Library to further our understanding of one of society’s most important technologies – the book.”
An online version of the exhibition is available via Google Arts & Culture.