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First Folio: The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare | On Tour From The Folger Shakespeare Library

Gail Kern Paster

“All that one needs to love Shakespeare is a great guide. Sometimes it’s an inspiring teacher. Sometimes it’s a fine performance.”

—Gail Kern Paster

Gail Kern Paster (B.A., Smith College, Ph.D, Yale University) was Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library from 2002 to 2011. Under her leadership, the Folger created a new division devoted to K-12 education, initiated a seminar program for undergraduates, digitized 35,000 images from its collection, and increased attendance at its public performances by 25 %. Her book The Body Embarrassed: Drama and the Disciplines of Shame in Early Modern England (1993) interpreted theatrical representation of the body through the Renaissance theory of the humors, introducing a new category to Shakespearean interpretation. President of the Shakespeare Association of America in 2003, she currently edits Shakespeare Quarterly.