Did You Know?

When South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and later SA president Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island in South Africa, he had access to The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. The book was secretly circulated between political prisoners, who each signed their names next to passages that held personal meaning. Pictured to the left is the passage Mandela chose to highlight in the collection. Look at it carefully. Why is it significant?  

Learn more by visiting the Folger Library's  online exhibit..