The book that saved Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Available for over a year

Deep in the archives at the University of Leicester is an original and very rare copy of one of the most influential texts in the English language. Shakespeare’s Fourth Folio was published in 1685 and is significant as it was the last time his plays were printed in one complete volume in the 17th century. BBC Leicester’s Ben Jackson went to see it for himself with Christina Wolf, lecturer in English literature at the University of Leicester, and Sarah Wood, assistant archivist at the University of Leicester Library. Produced by Pete Wardman. If you want to know as soon as a new episode is available, make sure you subscribe to Secret Leicestershire on BBC Sounds and have push notifications turned on. Clip from Macbeth – Antony Sher / Royal Shakespeare Company production 1999