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.
The Folger is open! New exhibition galleries, gardens, and shop
Plan your visit
Get details and reserve timed-entry passes.
Explore our exhibitions
See what’s on view in our galleries.
Take a tour
Reserve a group tour or student experience.
Check out our shop
Gifts, games, merch, and more!
Eat at Quill & Crumb
Enjoy lunch or a quick snack at our new café.
What’s on
Join us for in-person and virtual events: theater, poetry, music, and more.
How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition
Folger Gala
Early Music Seminar: Kings and Commonwealth
From Richard III to Adrienne Rich: Building Bridges with Complex Texts
'The Death I Gave Him' by Em X. Liu
Folger Book Club:
'The Death I Gave Him' by Em X. Liu
Kings and Commonwealth
Family Workshop: A Power Player Spectacle
Cocktails and Conversation: "A Springtime Revival" with Douglas Clark
Foraged Mixology
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
'The Death I Gave Him' Resource Guide
On May 1, 2025 the Folger’s virtual book club continues with a discussion of The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu. To prepare for the discussion, we have pulled together a list of resources related to Hamlet, science fiction, and technology.
Juliet and Romeo as a Western
Author Anthony Del Col shares how the newest Kill Shakespeare adventure found its inspiration in Westerns like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Mid-20th-Century Rare Book Rebindings
A look at 20th-century rebinding practices in the Folger collection
The Yorkist Pretender, with Jo Harkin
Who was Lambert Simnel—the boy who nearly claimed the Tudor throne? Author Jo Harkin explores royal ambition, historical memory, and the fine line between fact and fiction in her new novel The Pretender.
Fuseli's Shakespeare Paintings
One of 18th-century Britain’s most prolific narrative painters, Henry Fuseli found inspiration in Shakespeare, with his painting of Macbeth and the witches one of his “best poetical conceptions.”
Finding Beulah
Fellow Sara Pennell hunts down the former owner of one the Folger’s many recipe books.
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
Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Julius Caesar
Othello
Hamlet
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.