Shakespeare & Beyond

These recent additions to the Folger collection relate to a range of early Shakespeare films that represented important firsts, won awards, and witnessed the transition from silent films to “talkies.”

Read an excerpt from “The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After Romeo and Juliet,” a memoir by the star of Franco Zeffirelli’s classic film.

Whether you’re giving a valentine to a sweetheart or a friend, why not say it with Shakespeare? See beautifully illustrated quotes for Valentine’s Day.

In his recent memoir, “Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite,” Roger Daltrey of The Who writes, among other things, about playing the Dromio twins in the BBC’s TV movie of “The Comedy of Errors” (1983).

Recent news about proteomics (the study of proteins) in the humanities has included a Folger Shakespeare Library project, irreverently called Project Dustbunny, that studies proteins in rare books to learn about those who once handled or read them.

Inspired by a real-life episode, Simon Mayo’s novel ‘Mad Blood Stirring’ tells the powerful story of a Shakespeare production by African American prisoners of war at Dartmoor prison in England, near the end of the War of 1812.

Enjoy our five most popular #FolgerFinds posts on Instagram of items from the Folger Shakespeare Library collection, from a silhouette of a ‘Midsummer’ scene with Bottom and Titania to vintage photos of 19th-century actress Julia Marlowe.

Enjoy our most popular Shakespeare & Beyond blog posts from 2018, an eclectic range including a tasty 17th-century recipe, a quiz, a new play on Sarah Bernhardt and Hamlet, a female science fiction author from 1666, and a look at…

Revisit some of our most popular 2018 Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episodes, from Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway to a conversation with actor Derek Jacobi to the tyrants in Shakespeare’s plays.

From rudeness to gross behavior, Ruth Goodman’s book “How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England” sheds some surprising light on what bad behavior really meant, including the reason that Shakespeare had Sampson threaten to “bite my thumb” at another character…

A detailed but absurd decor chat with Lady Macbeth is one of Susan Harlan’s many hilarious design interviews with literary figures in her new book “Decorating a Room of One’s Own.”

Tracy Young, who had previously directed “The Winter’s Tale,” writes about the challenges of translating “The Winter’s Tale” for the Play on! project.