Folger Finds

“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.

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.

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

In this unconventional Christmas play from 1619, the characters are different foods warring against one another for pride of place at the holiday feast.

Lewis Carroll gave this lovely 1868 edition of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with delicate cut-paper images by Paul Konewka, to his illustrator for “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” John Tenniel.

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.”

Transparencies, popular in the late 1700s, use back-lighting to reveal a secret image. See one from the Folger collection that reveals Shakespeare’s ghost in Westminster Abbey.

Famous Shakespearean actress Ellen Terry (1847-1928) took the liberty of correcting certain biographical errors in a book about her friend Henry Irving.

Promptbooks let us peer into the minds of some of history’s greatest theater-makers and see how they imagined Shakespeare’s plays.

It’s #MuseumWeek, and the Folger is sharing recipes from Shakespeare’s time, stories of swords and duels, and a little bit of tennis.

See playbills from the Folger collection of amateur (and fundraising) performances by Charles Dickens, from Wilkie Collins to Shakespeare.

Some of the most engrossing illustrations of Shakespeare’s rarely performed tragedy come from Wyndham Lewis, an early 20th-century artist who, like Timon, was a misanthrope.