Welcome to the Folger
Enjoy great stories | Explore what makes you curious | Share the best in art, history, and literature with friends and family at the world’s largest Shakespeare collection.
Plan your visit
Get details and reserve timed-entry passes.
Explore our exhibitions
See what’s on view in our galleries.
Take a tour
Reserve a group tour or student experience.
Check out our shop
Gifts, games, merch, and more!
Eat at Quill & Crumb
Enjoy lunch or a quick snack at our new café.
What’s on
Join us for talks, poetry, music, and other programs.
Imagining Shakespeare: Mythmaking and Storytelling in the Regency Era
On View: Missy Dunaway
Gallery Talk: Missy Dunaway
Printing Press Demonstrations
Our Shakespeare Exhibition
Family Workshop: A Shakespearean Feast!
Out of the Vault
About us
How did the world’s largest Shakespeare collection end up one block from the US Capitol? Explore the Folger’s origin story.
The latest from our blogs and podcast
About 'Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries'
Introductory information on the December 2025 Folger Book Club selection, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett.
Quiz: Food, drink, and Shakespeare
From sweet potatoes to ale, try our quiz on eating and drinking in Shakespere’s plays.
London's First Playhouse and Shakespeare
Before Shakespeare became a literary icon, he was a working writer trying to earn a living in an often precarious new industry. Daniel Swift traces how his creativity unfolded at London’s first commercial playhouse, The Theatre.
Painting the birds of Shakespeare
Folger Artist Fellow Missy Dunaway shares what she’s learning while working on The Birds of Shakespeare, her project to paint the 65 birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s works.
Shakespeare's Dream Factory
The Theatre, London’s first purpose-built commercial playhouse, was designed for making two things: money and plays. In an excerpt from scholar Daniel Swift’s book, both were of interest to Shakespeare, who learned his craft there.
Variations on Macbeth
Austin Tichenor shares three takes on Shakespeare’s Macbeth that focus on the human struggle within the tragedy in new and unexpected ways, including a production at the RSC, a novel about Lady Macbeth, and a film for streaming.
Our collection
The First Folio
The Folger has the world’s largest collection of First Folios. Learn more about the book that gave us Shakespeare.
A majestic portrait
The Folger collection includes about 200 paintings. This portrait of Queen Elizabeth I by George Gower is dated 1579, making it the oldest painting in our collection. Two years after he completed this portrait, Gower became Serjeant Painter to the Queen, making him the most important artist in England.
Our other Elizabeth I holdings include hand-signed letters, books, and even New Year’s gift rolls detailing her holiday gifts. It is the largest collection of Elizabeth I materials in North America.
Shakespeare’s works
View the full list of plays and poems to read, search, and download our bestselling editions of Shakespeare’s works.
Shakespeare’s most popular plays
Romeo and Juliet
Macbeth
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Julius Caesar
Othello
Hamlet
Explore
What was Shakespeare's theater like?
Learn about the Globe and other London playhouses where Shakespeare’s company performed. What was it like to be an actor there, or an audience member?
Teach
How can Shakespeare help 21st-century students be stronger readers?
Our Folger Method is revolutionizing how not just Shakespeare but all literature is taught using strategies that allow all students to own – and enjoy – complex texts.
Research
If we are what we eat, what can recipes from the past tell us?
Projects like Before ‘Farm to Table’ unite scholars and practitioners in investigations into the past to shed light on what matters to us today.
Support the things you love
Your gifts make access to our collection, learning opportunities, and exciting experiences happen.