Languages
There are around 100 languages represented in the Shakespeare Collection, from Abkhazian to Zulu, with German and French the most represented languages in the collection.
There are also copies of Shakespeare’s work in Braille and in the fictional language of Klingon!
The number of languages represented in the collection is largely a product of Empire and material from across the world was actively collected through British Foreign Offices. Many items were received as personal gifts, governmental donations, and through national and international appeals.
Today, in Birmingham, more than 100 languages and dialects are spoken every day, making this city one of the most diverse in the world.
The Great Feast of Languages video below features multilingual Brummies performing Shakespeare in different languages.
To switch on subtitles for the videos, move your cursor (pointer) to the bottom of the video screen, and click the subtitles/closed captions icon when it appears.
The German connection
From the moment it was founded in 1868, the Shakespeare Collection formed a strong connection with Shakespearean scholars in Germany and this is reflected in the vast holdings in the collection.
Steve Hewett, a researcher from the University of Birmingham and one of the Heritage Ambassadors from the Everything to Everybody project, researched this special connection:
Read Steve Hewett's article - Shakespeare Memorial Library and Germany
The Shakespeare Collection also includes a rare and impressive album of German Shakespeare scholars, actors, painters and composers.
To find out more, visit: Shakespeare Album : History of the Album : Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur | Mainz
In February 2019, Professor Tobias Döring of Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, former President of the German Shakespeare Society, was invited to visit the Library of Birmingham by the Everything to Everybody project. He kindly wrote a preliminary survey of the German material held in the Shakespeare Collection
Read Tobias Döring's - Preliminary Survey of the German Research Material
Page last updated: 25 October 2023
