He is known the world over as England’s bard but a new exhibition will reveal how Scotland helped to cement and then enrich the reputation of William Shakespeare.

The exhibition, entitled Beyond Macbeth, has been organised jointly by the National Library of Scotland (NLS) and the University of Edinburgh and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It will give visitors the rare opportunity to see some of the earliest surviving examples of Shakespeare’s works. This includes a copy of the First Folio, the collection of 36 of his plays published by actor friends six years after his death. Without this collection, some of Shakespeare’s plays might never have survived.

The exhibition features a world-class collection of Shakespeare related material held by both institutions that was gathered over four centuries by key figures with Scottish connections.  In the process, it tells a little-known story of how Shakespeare has been seen from Scotland down the centuries.  

The exhibition is on from 9 December to 29 April at the National Library of Scotland, George 1V Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW. Entry is free. For more information about the exhibition visit www.nls.uk.