Shakespeare’s impact on artists’ books — which use books for both reading and artistic expression — will be the focus of a panel discussion on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Woodruff Library's Jones Room.

The free, public discussion is part of the celebration over the pending arrival of the First Folio, the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623, just seven years after his death.

The First Folio will be on view at Emory's Michael C. Carlos Museum from Nov. 5 through Dec. 11, the only display of the literary treasure in Georgia.

Thursday's panel discussion features Kate Doubler, Sujata Iyengar, Sarah Higinbotham and William Taft. Doubler, a Shakespearean scholar in Emory’s Office for Undergraduate Education, and Iyengar, from the University of Georgia, will discuss how the historic publication of the First Folio inspired the creation of fine press and artists’ books today.

Higinbotham and Taft will discuss their work on book-making projects with inmates at Phillips State Prison in Buford, Georgia. The session will also include some of the artists’ books held in the collection of the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library.

“Artists’ books are a jewel in the Stuart Rose library crown,” says Emory English professor Sheila Cavanagh, director of the World Shakespeare Project. “They can be unique or part of limited editions but are always very interesting.”

“Shakespeare Artists’ Books,” an exhibit showcasing artists’ books inspired by Shakespeare from the Rose Library collections, opens Oct. 20 and continues through Feb. 26 on Level 2 of Woodruff Library.