‘And There’s the Humor of it’: Shakespeare and the Four Humors exhibition to be featured at University Libraries

VERMILLION, S.D. -- The University Libraries at the University of South Dakota are hosting “And There’s the Humor of it”: Shakespeare and the Four Humors, a National Library of Medicine (NLM) traveling exhibit Tuesday, Aug. 5 through Saturday, Sept. 13. The exhibit, consisting of six free-standing banners, is on display on the second floor in the I.D. Weeks library building on the USD campus. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

The four humors date back to the ancient Greeks who theorized that an individual’s health and temperament rely on the balance of four major body fluids: blood (sanguine), phlegm (phlegmatic), black bile (melancholic), and yellow bile (choleric). An excess of one humor would affect the individual’s personality. This exhibit explores the role played by the four humors in several of William Shakespeare’s plays through imagery and rare books from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health and the Folger Shakespeare Library. For more information about “And There’s the Humor of it”: Shakespeare and the Four Humors at the University Libraries, contact Danielle Loftus, Art and Exhibits Committee, (605) 677-5123, email dloftus@usd.edu. For library hours please see www.usd.edu/library/hours.cfm. originally posted -  http://www.usd.edu/press/news/news.cfm?nid=3001