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
Explore our exhibitions
See what’s on view in our galleries.
Plan your visit
Get details and reserve timed-entry passes.
Check out our shop
Gifts, games, merch, and more!
What’s on
Join us for in-person and virtual events: theater, poetry, music, and more.
Little Books, Big Gifts: The Artistry of Esther Inglis
Beginner One Shot 5E Session: A Night at the Library
Folger Salon with Suzette Marie Martin and KhoKhoi (mary alinney villacastin)
Gallery Talk: Collecting at the Folger - Anything But Shakespeare!
DC, I Love You: Community Playwriting Workshops
Early Music Seminar: A Mass for Christmas Eve
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Folger Book Club: The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Virtual Folger Salon with Edel Lamb, Dominick Porras, and Susan Valladares
A Mass for Christmas Eve
News and announcements
Folger Shakespeare Library Names Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper as Director
Press release: May 20, 2024
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
Studying Shakespeare Now
Members can listen to this episode now!
What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in November
Explore what’s playing at our Shakespeare Theater Partners around the country this November.
Shakespeare's Most Adolescent Play
It may not surprise you to hear that Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare’s teenaged play but that might have surprised earlier readers who considered the play adolescent for other reasons.
Collection Connections: 'Dating Dr. Dil' by Nisha Sharma
We revisit Anandi Rao’s November 2024 presentation as part of our discussion of Nisha Sharma’s Dating Dr. Dil.
Saving Prince Henry
Though Henry V reigned over England for only nine years and four months, he looms large over English history. In a new biography, historian and journalist Dan Jones examines Henry’s life anew.
Bringing Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Operatic Heights
Washington National Opera’s Artistic Director Francesca Zambello interviews director, Brenna Corner, about Verdi’s opera inspired by Macbeth.
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.