The Folger Digital Image Collection contains high resolution images requested for research, publication, and the web. Also included are images created for special projects, e.g., pre-1640 quarto editions of Shakespeare.
Some images are accompanied by Hamnet descriptions of the entire item, but in most cases only abbreviated information exists.
Although users can access high-resolution Folger images directly from their browsers, we recommend downloading and installing the free Luna Insight program. Features include:
The ability to create a permalink to selected images. You can then save that link to your own website, or access it from anywhere on the web. (This feature is also available through a browser).
For example, turn off pop-up blocking and follow this "remote launch" permalink to a zoomable version of the Hamlet title page depicted above. Zoom in and read the full inscription about Shakespeare, copied in a late seventeenth-century hand from a book by Dryden!
The ability to save search strategies. You can then find more and more images that meet your needs as the collection continues to grow. (This feature is also available through a browser).
For example, follow this link to retrieve Hamlet-related images in your browser. Remember to turn off pop-up blocking!
The ability to export an html page containing thumbnails that link back to zoomable images. This feature is only available in the software download. Using this feature you can easily add images from the Folger Shakespeare Library to your own website, blog, Facebook, etc.!
Access images in our Quartos collection , which includes digitized copies of 218 of the Folger Shakespeare Library's pre-1640 Shakespeare texts, including poems, plays, and "apocryphal" editions now known to have been written by someone else. You can examine and compare images of different copies side-by-side. This feature is only available in the software download. After installation, follow the instructions in the sidebar for How to Access Digitized Shakespeare Quartos (pdf).
