Shakespeare & Beyond

Celebrate Black History Month with five books and one essay about race in early modern Europe and in Shakespeare’s plays.

Whether you’re giving a valentine to a sweetheart or a friend, why not say it with Shakespeare? We have a new set of beautifully illustrated Shakespeare valentines for you, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Ninety documents relating to Shakespeare’s life, including six from the Folger collection, have been added to the UNESCO International Memory of the World register.

Let’s check in with our theater partners with Shakespeare plays onstage in January, sharing a snapshot of Shakespeare in performance around America.

These books and documents from the Folger collection show the many ways an English coronation would be celebrated in the 16th and 17th centuries.

“Fools and Mortals,” a new novel from New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, tells the story of the first production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in Elizabethan England, from the perspective of William Shakespeare’s younger brother Richard.

It’s been a busy year on the Shakespeare & Beyond blog. These were the top five blog posts of 2017, from a pumpkin pie recipe to a quiz about props.

The most popular podcast episode was about attributing Christopher Marlowe as co-author for the “Henry VI” plays and how scholars make that decision.

Take a look at our five most popular #FolgerFinds posts on Instagram, from early modern eclipses to the first edition of Shakespeare’s “Richard III.”

This excerpt from “London’s Triumph” by Stephen Alford looks at the Elizabethan understanding of usury, seen through Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.”

Editing Shakespeare’s works is a complex process, explains Barbara Mowat, who with Paul Werstine edited the Folger Shakespeare Library editions.

We’ve got five Shakespeare-themed Christmas gift ideas for you, selected from the Folger shop and all under $20, from games to artwork and more.