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.
The Folger is open! New exhibition galleries, gardens, and shop
Explore our exhibitions
See what’s on view in our galleries.
Plan your visit
Get details and reserve timed-entry passes.
Check out our shop
Gifts, games, merch, and more!
What’s on
Join us for in-person and virtual events: theater, poetry, music, and more.
DC & Me: Community Stories from Anacostia
DC & Me: Community Stories from Mt. Pleasant
DC & Me: Community Stories from Penn Quarter
Early Music Seminar: Tale of Two Cities
Book Reading and Signing with Nicholas Meyer
Tale of Two Cities
Romeo and Juliet: Teaching Teenagers Then and Now
Folger Friday Presents: Craft Your Power
Our Shakespeare Exhibition
News and announcements
Folger Shakespeare Library Names Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper as Director
Press release: May 20, 2024
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
Throughlines, with Ayanna Thompson and Ruben Espinosa
Folger Members can preview this episode now!
How Popular Was Shakespeare in His Day?
In an excerpt from a classic Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episode, Emma Smith explores a fascinating question: how popular was Shakespeare in his lifetime?
Drinking with Shakespeare: Early Modern Tavern Tokens
Artistic Fellow Leah Hampton showcases the Folger’s collection of Early Modern bar tokens
Quiz: What do you know about "Romeo and Juliet"?
Challenge yourself with a quiz about Romeo and Juliet; Folger Theatre’s production is beginning performances on October 1.
The Roles of the River in Early Modern Times
An excerpt from Reading the River in Shakespeare’s Britain surveys some of the cultural roles of rivers, including how Shakespeare mentioned them in his plays.
'Year of Wonders' Resource Guide
To prepare for our September 5 discussion of Geraldine Brooks’s Year of Wonders, we have pulled together a list of resources related to plague in early modern England.
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.