You have officially missed the chance to see the Shakespeare: Life of an Icon exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Sucks to be you, because it really was awesome.

I’d rushed through it once before, during intermission at a performance, but knew I needed to go back and give it a thorough look through.

A page containing what is believed (but not confirmed) to be the only example of Shakespeare’s handwriting, beyond merely his signature. The only preserved letter written to Shakespeare (a neighbor’s request for some money). Paper, paper, paper.

Paper is beautiful. Books are beautiful. One of the best things about the Folger is that its collection is paper. It’s research library that believes its printed and written collections are museum quality. That was the most wonderful thing about the exhibit. We are human because of our minds and the written word is Western humanity’s repository of the history of what makes us human.