Out of the Vault: Into the Heart of the Folger
Ongoing exhibition of key items from the Folger collection and the people who use them
Booking and details
Plan your visitDates Ongoing, with rotating objects on display
Venue The Robin and Roger Millay Gallery in the Stuart and Mimi Rose Rare Book and Manuscript Exhibition Hall
Tickets Free; timed-entry pass recommended
The Folger at work
What is the Folger, and what do people come here to do? A rotating selection of rare books and manuscripts offer intriguing windows on the Folger’s remarkable collection, multifaceted work, and passionate community.
Signature objects and Folger voices
See signature objects from the collection — Shakespeare, and beyond — and learn how they connect with various aspects of the Folger’s work, through the voices of scholars, teachers, curators, conservators, and others.
Research, performance, learning, and more
Whether it’s transcribing centuries-old handwritten texts, making new discoveries in the Reading Room, or editing our best-selling editions of Shakespeare’s works, you’ll gain a fuller picture of what happens at the Folger.
On display now
- Holinshed’s Chronicles, a major source for Shakespeare’s Macbeth
- An English manuscript recipe book from about 1666
- Personal records from Emily Folger, co-founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library
- And more
See Folger Institute Artist Fellow Suzanne Coley’s textile-based translations of Shakespeare’s Sonnets 7 and 151, Gracious Light (2020) and Born of Love (2024).
Edmond Dédé’s Morgiane
On view Jan 10 – Mar 2
After 138 years, Edmond Dédé’s opera Morgiane receives its overdue world premiere by the combined forces of OperaCréole (New Orleans, LA) and Opera Lafayette (Washington, DC and New York, NY). In honor of that premiere, the Folger Shakespeare Library has partnered with the producing companies to display Dédé’s original composition here in our Out of the Vault exhibition, on loan from Harvard University.
A Lost Opera is Found: Edmond Dédé’s Morgiane
After 138 years, Edmond Dédé’s Morgiane—the first known opera by a Black American composer—is receiving its world premiere. Learn about this important American composer and how his magnum opus is being brought to life.
How often will collection items rotate in this exhibition?
In order to preserve our collection items and limit their exposure to damaging light, we will rotate objects every 3-5 months. This means that you could visit the exhibition several times over the course of a year and see different objects each time.