Shakespeare: Then and there, here and now
See the books that gave us Shakespeare, experience the man and his plays, and learn about the complexities of his cultural legacy. From the First Folio of 1623 to a newly commissioned work by contemporary artist Fred Wilson, this exhibition spans four centuries of performance, interpretation, critique, and re-invention.
Explore some of the many ways people have engaged with Shakespeare’s language, characters, and stories since the early modern period through a rotating selection of objects from the world’s largest Shakespeare collection – including books, manuscripts, promptbooks, playbills, memorabilia, art, and games.
Plan your visit
Admission is free, and all are welcome! We recommend that you reserve a pay-what-you-will timed-entry pass, with a suggested donation starting at $15.
The Folger First Folios
Get up close with the books at the heart of our Shakespeare collection: all 82 of the Folger First Folios.
The First Folio was printed in 1623 seven years after Shakespeare’s death. Without it, 18 of Shakespeare’s plays might have been lost forever.
Learn about the stories behind these remarkable books and how they came to the Folger.
How are these books different? What do they have in common? Explore distinguishing details and connections between copies.
Explore the books
Dig into the First Folios from the perspective of a detective, storyteller, or collector.
Make connections
Lights in the case illuminate the books to show connections between copies.
Learn more before your visit:
Printing press
See a printing press similar to the one that printed the First Folios. Press builder Alan May based it on a description in Joseph Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises on the Whole Art of Printing (1683), the first English-language printing manual.
Copies of the editions that followed the First Folio – the Second Folio, the Third Folio, and the Fourth Folio – show the early publication history of Shakespeare’s plays.
Printing with ink
See this fully functional printing press in action! Demonstration schedule to come.
Printing with light
Try your hand at setting type as it happened in a 1623 print shop, but without the messiness of ink.
Shakespeare, his world, and ours
Gail Kern Paster Gallery
Who was Shakespeare? And what is he to you? Explore Shakespeare’s life, the world he inhabited, and the legacy of his words. Collection items on display include Henry VIII’s schoolbook; the Pavier Quartos, the earliest attempt at a collection of Shakespeare’s plays; and artifacts from actor Earle Hyman, who played Hamlet in a groundbreaking production at DC’s Howard University in 1951.
On view
Preview a selection of collection items on display. Items periodically change to limit light exposure.
Don’t miss…
Prince Henry’s “boke”
The boy who would become King Henry VIII wrote “Thys boke is myne Prince Henry” in this copy of Cicero’s writings from 1502.
Shakespeare’s plays: Tellers and tales
Florence and Neal Cohen Gallery
Explore Shakespeare’s 38 plays and the many ways that people since his time have re-imagined them. Playbills, photographs, drawings, costume pieces, scripts, and other collection items reveal a variety of interpretations.
On view
Preview a selection of collection items on display. Items periodically change to limit light exposure.
Shake Up Your Shakespeare
Work with friends to create a Shakespearean conversation, using compliments, insults, and memorable lines from Shakespeare’s plays.
Fred Wilson
God me such uses send, Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend (2024)
Experience a new installation by renowned contemporary artist Fred Wilson, whose works reframe cultural symbols and encourage viewers to reconsider social, racial, and historical narratives. In God me such uses send, Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend (a quote from Shakespeare’s Othello), a black glass mirror is displayed in conversation with the Folger’s 1579 “Sieve” portrait of Queen Elizabeth I.
For the Folger I have created an artwork that absorbs its environment as much as it mirrors it. The painting of Queen Elizabeth I and the mirror, to my mind, reflect the relationship between the Royal and the Writer… I view the mirror as Shakespeare himself: larger than life, deeply profound, and giving every person who views his work much more than he, Shakespeare, could have ever gotten. Fred Wilson
An engraving of 19th-century Black actor Ira Aldridge is also displayed in the gallery, along with some lines from Othello, Act III, scene 3, that he wrote out by hand. Despite intense racism in the United States, Aldridge forged a successful theatrical career, receiving international acclaim on European stages.
Kids paths
Decoder Trail
Young Shakespeare sleuths (recommended ages 6-9) can pick up a magnifying glass and follow clues through the galleries in both exhibition halls. Decode messages, solve riddles, and create a poem to receive a special badge. Check in at the Welcome Desk in the entrance lobby for your decoder kit.
Discovery Trail
Young explorers (recommended ages 3-5) can roam the Shakespeare Exhibition Hall and find images on the walls from the Folger collection that match the ones in their notes. Check in at the Welcome Desk in the entrance lobby for your clue sheet.