VISITORS got their first glimpse of Shakespearean treasures owned by the Bodleian Library at a new special exhibition.

The library has launched Shakespeare's Dead, with new displays about the life and death of William Shakespeare. The exhibition, launched on Friday, is being curated by English professors Simon Palfrey and Emma Smith and features valuable items from the Bodleian's collections, including a First Folio, the earliest edition of the bard's plays.

Displays at the Weston Library in Broad Street focus on how Shakespeare dealt with the subject of death.

Objects on display until September 18 include loans from the Ashmolean Museum and from Brasenose and Corpus Christi colleges.

There is an animated film by artist Tom Cross, based on primary school pupils drawings of Shakespearean death scenes.

Visitors can also see pamphlets, plays and diaries by Shakespeare's predecessors and contemporaries.

Curator Emma Smith, a Hertford College professor who has written a new book entitled Shakespeare's First Folio, said: "The exhibition shows how Shakespeare channelled the universal fear of death into dramatic moments that continue to affirm life for audiences and readers around the world.

"The exhibition will be an opportunity for visitors to rediscover Shakespeare in a whole new light."

The bard is believed to have died 400 years ago on his birthday, April 23rd, and a series of events are taking place in Oxford to commemorate his death.

For further information about events throughout the year visit shakespeareoxford2016.co.uk