Folger Collections

Ahead of the US premiere of The Mirror and the Light, curator Heather Wolfe shares the juicy stories behind items in our collection related to Cromwell and Anne of Cleves.

We revisit Elizabeth Zeman Kolkovich’s March 2025 presentation as part of our Folger Book Club discussion of Flora Carr’s The Tower. Explore Folger collection items that relate to the novel.

Folger Fellow Ianick Takaes explores an early modern staging of heaven and hell.

A letter to Elizabeth I from the earl of Leicester, who was organizing the defense of Britain against the Spanish Armada at the time, shows their playful relationship.

A look at items in the Folger collection belonging to William Stukeley, an antiquarian with an interest in Robin Hood

GWU students reflect on their experience using the Folger collections in Dr. Rachel Pollack’s first-year writing course.

To celebrate her feast day, explore the legend of Saint Agatha as told through Folger manuscript V.b.334

Go behind the scenes of our exhibition, Little Books, Big Gifts: The Artistry of Esther Inglis. 400 years after her death, Inglis “can still make the whole place shimmer.”

I made a zine inspired by the Folger Shakespeare Library’s collection (and you can too!). 

In early modern England, New Year’s Day was celebrated with a long-standing custom of giving gifts to the monarch. Each gift was carefully recorded on “gift rolls.” What were the top gifts in 1539 and 1585?

Scenes of winter in the Folger collection, from snowy outdoor scenes to fashionable illustrations to mentions of winter in Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

Flowers, bugs, birds, frogs—all and more are found in the manuscripts of Esther Inglis (1570?–1624) now on display in Little Books, Big Gifts, a special Folger exhibition highlighting her artistry with pen and brush.