Hamlet's Legal Documents - A Rare Book Room Open House

"There’s another. Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his quillities, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks?" Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1

Join Hamlet and Horatio in this February's Rare Book Room open house, on Friday, February 24, 12:10-1pm.  We'll be following Hamlet through the so-called "gravedigger scene," as he banters with Horatio about English legal documentary forms while watching a gravedigger at work (as it happens, digging Ophelia's grave).   Drawing on the Rare Book Room collections, we'll have a look at the indentures, fines, warrants, and other forms that Shakespeare names in this odd and spectacular glimpse of the material culture of early modern English law.

Drop in for a quick look or linger for a collections break. You'll find the Rare Book Room downstairs on the Library's Level 2.