Kossuth, Shakespeare and liberty – a research fellow from Stratford-upon-Avon

Professor Ewan Fernie, Fellow and Chair of Shakespeare Studies at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon paid a visit to National Széchényi Library in November 2016. The topic of Professor Fernie’s next book is the relationship between Kossuth and Shakespeare, which is why he visited the Hungarian national library. NSZL owns a unique “bookcase”, keeping Shakespeare’s works, which once belonged to Lajos Kossuth.

Why is this special piece of furniture so unique that even a British Shakespeare research fellow is impressed by it? Who gave this rather special gift to Kossuth and why did he appreciate it so much right until the end of his life? If you are interested in the adventurous history of the bookcase shaping Shakespeare’s birthplace, click here.

You can have a look at Kossuth Bookcase on Floor 7 of the Library during the opening hours of NSZL, or on the cover of a new book by Ewan Fernie, to be published by Cambridge University Press in the summer of 2017.