Welcome to the Folger
Enjoy great stories | Explore what makes you curious | Share the best in art, history, and literature with friends and family at the world’s largest Shakespeare collection.
Opening June 21: New exhibition galleries, café, and shop
What’s on
Join us for in-person and virtual events: theater, poetry, music, and more.
Folger Book Club: Immortal Longings
Early Music Seminar: Ovid's Metamorphoses
Ovid's Metamorphoses
Shakespeare is FOR Students with IEPs and 504s
O.B. Hardison Series Finale Reading: Edward Hirsch
Shakespeare's Birthday Lecture: Dr. Patricia Akhimie on "The Goodness of the Night: Editing Othello"
Folger Book Club: The East Indian
About us
How did the world’s largest Shakespeare collection end up one block from the US Capitol? Explore the Folger’s origin story.
The latest from our blogs and podcast
"What manner o’ thing is your crocodile?": April 2024
This month’s Crocodile Mystery presents you with an object that is used in the library, but is not part of the library collection itself.
“Murder most foul”: How Shakespeare connects Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth
Austin Tichenor explores the deep connections the president and his murderer share with William Shakespeare.
'Immortal Longings' Resource Guide
Resources related to Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong.
Ramie Targoff on Shakespeare's Sisters
Ramie Targoff explores the lives and works of Mary Sidney, Aemelia Lanyer, Anne Clifford, and Elizabeth Cary in her new book, Shakespeare’s Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance.
A ballad for Titus Andronicus
Listen to a ballad that was written around 1594 as a spin-off of Titus Andronicus, the revenge tragedy that’s considered one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most violent plays.
About 'Immortal Longings'
Introductory information on the April 2024 Folger Book Club selection, bestselling YA author Chloe Gong’s adult epic fantasy debut, inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.
About the Folger's Search for a New Director
The Folger is seeking a seasoned and strategic director with energy and vision to lead the organization into its second century. Learn more about the search process.
Our collection
The First Folio
The Folger has the world’s largest collection of First Folios. Learn more about the book that gave us Shakespeare.
A majestic portrait
The Folger collection includes about 200 paintings. This portrait of Queen Elizabeth I by George Gower is dated 1579 making it the oldest painting in our collection. Two years after he completed this portrait, Gower became Serjeant Painter to the Queen, making him the most important artist in England.
Our other Elizabeth I holdings include hand-signed letters, books, and even New Year’s gift rolls detailing her holiday gifts. It is the largest collection of Elizabeth I materials in North America.
Shakespeare’s works
View the full list of plays and poems to read, search, and download our bestselling editions of Shakespeare’s works.
Shakespeare’s most popular plays
Explore
What was Shakespeare's theater like?
Learn about the Globe and other London playhouses where Shakespeare’s company performed. What was it like to be an actor there, or an audience member?
Teach
How can Shakespeare help 21st-century students be stronger readers?
Our Folger Method is revolutionizing how not just Shakespeare but all literature is taught using strategies that allow all students to own – and enjoy – complex texts.
Research
If we are what we eat, what can recipes from the past tell us?
Projects like Before ‘Farm to Table’ unite scholars and practitioners in investigations into the past to shed light on what matters to us today.
Support the things you love
Your gifts make access to our collection, learning opportunities, and exciting experiences happen.