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 café.
What’s on
Join us for talks, poetry, music, and other programs.
As You Like It
Imagining Shakespeare: Mythmaking and Storytelling in the Regency Era
Family Workshop: My Shakespearean Monologue
On View: Mandy Cano Villalobos
Community Workshop: Seven Ages of Music
The 2026 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize Reading
Our Shakespeare Exhibition
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
Famous quotes from As You Like It
Shakespeare’s beloved pastoral comedy overflows with wit and poetry, including the memorable Seven Ages of Man speech which begins “All the world’s a stage.” Explore some of the play’s most well-known lines, in order of their appearance.
About 'Queen Hereafter'
Introductory information on the March 2026 Folger Book Club selection, Queen Hereafter by Isabelle Schuler.
Folger Mysteries: February 2026
Spot the difference between two versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in this month’s Folger Mystery!
Wonder Man: Marvel’s Love Letter to Shakespeare
Shakespeare as the creator of heroes is explored in Wonder Man, the newest entry in the vast Marvel Cinematic Universe. Austin Tichenor explores the series’ interest in the power of theater and storytelling over super-powered beings fighting evil.
Race B4 Race 2025, Seminar 4: What We’re Reading and Why
The RaceB4Race Mentorship Network reads Swahili Worlds in Globalism
The Strangers' Case
Recently, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Sir Ian McKellen shared a monologue that some believe Shakespeare may have written. We look at the speech, known as The Strangers’ Case, from Sir Thomas More.
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.