Folger Finds
In the spirit of Oktoberfest: Food, drink, and changing times in early modern Europe
As October comes to an end, we celebrate food, drink, and culture in the German cities of Shakespeare’s day, including the creation of beer and wine and the harvest festivals each fall, marked by our modern-day tradition of Oktoberfest.
Folger Finds: 19th-century actors in Shakespearean roles
See portraits from the Folger collection of Edmund Kean as Richard III, Ellen Terry as Beatrice, Edwin Booth as Iago, and Fanny Kemble as Juliet.
Toil and trouble: Recipes and the witches in 'Macbeth'
Shakespeare’s witches, like nearly all witches of Shakespeare’s time, have their roots in the kitchen more than in the study.
Summertime in the Folger collection: Sunshine, youth, and harvest
Slip into the Folger collection with me and connect with sweltering people from summers past in their quest to beat the heat or rhapsodize summer’s charms.
Quiz: Which copy of "Midsummer" are you?
The Folger’s collection includes a lot of editions of Shakespeare’s plays; some copies of these editions have their own, unique stories. Which of these special copies of Shakespeare’s classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream matches your personality? Take our quiz to…
Explore promptbooks from the 1950s festival Shakespeare Under the Stars
The Folger collection contains a number of prompt books from Shakespeare Under the Stars productions, which were gifts from Arthur Lithgow.
In the vault with 'Saint Joan'
Today, Folger Spotlight gives you a sneak peek at what was brought out for the Saint Joan company on a special tour of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s collection.
Shakespeare's Heroines (some of them, anyway)
Explore a set of early 19th-century watercolor portraits of Shakespearean heroines in the Folger collection.
Salvador Dalí and Shakespeare
See illustrations and costume designs by surrealist Salvador Dalí in the Folger Shakespeare Library collection for plays like “The Taming of the Shrew.”
Inside an Argentine translation of ‘Hamlet’ paired with surrealist illustrations
Rafael Squirru and Juan Carlos Liberti collaborated to create this Argentine translation of Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ with surrealist illustrations.
'The Blazing World' by Margaret Cavendish: The first science fiction novel written by a woman
“The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World” by Margaret Cavendish has been called the first science-fiction novel written by a woman. Learn more about this book, which is part of the Folger collection.
An edition of Richard III "adapted for amateurs"
Black actor J.A. Arneaux starred as the title character in the Astor Place Company’s production of Richard III and published his own 19th-century edition.