Last year the Library welcomed Michael Witmore for his talk Digital Vellum: The Coming of the Digital Dark Ages. The event sold out, and attendees were still talking about it weeks later.

We are thrilled to welcome him back later this month for a deep dive into another passion of his: understanding William Shakespeare.

Join us for a fascinating talk April 23 (Shakespeare’s birthday!) called “If”, “and” and “but”: Understanding Shakespeare with Three Words with Michael Witmore. Registration is required.

In 1623, two of William Shakespeare’s friends, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published 36 of his plays in a single book now known as the First Folio. The book came out after Shakespeare’s death and organized the plays into three groups: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies.

For people who study literature using computers, this simple sorting is useful. Heminges and Condell knew Shakespeare well because they were actors in his company, so their groupings can be treated as a reliable starting point.

In his talk, Michael Witmore shows how computers can use just three very common words, “if,” “and,” and “but,” to help identify two of the three types of Shakespeare’s plays. Looking at these patterns helps reveal how Shakespeare structured his comedies and histories. The talk also explores a bigger question: what counts as knowledge in the humanities?

About Michael Witmore

A Longmont resident since 2024, Michael Witmore is a scholar of Shakespeare and rhetoric, a digital humanist, and a former library and cultural institution director. He served as director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., from 2011 to June 2024, where he oversaw the conception and completion of the Folger’s $81.5 million, four-year renovation. He now consults on digital preservation and cultural accessibility.