The Folger’s printed books collection ranges from the mid-1400s—the birth of printing in the West—to the present day. The books cover literary, cultural, political, religious, and social history in Britain and Europe from the 15th though 18th centuries, with a strong emphasis on the 16th and 17th centuries.
Early English Books
The Folger has the world’s third largest collection of English books printed between 1475 and 1640, many in multiple copies. It also contains English editions printed from 1641–1700, and editions dated 1701–1800.
The Shakespeare Collection
Including 168 early modern quarto editions of the plays and poems, 82 copies of the 1623 First Folio, 58 copies of the Second Folio (1632), 23 copies of the Third Folio (1663–64), and 39 copies of the Fourth Folio (1685). It also contains other editions spanning the 18th century through today, including modern fine press editions and translations into nearly 100 languages.
Continental Books
Books on subjects ranging from religious disputes to military tactics to travel advice. Nearly 500 “incunables” (incunabula), books printed before 1501. Works related to the Reformation include volumes by Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, and other authors. The collection also has a wealth of Italian drama, travel books, classical authors, emblem books, science and technology, military history, and French and Dutch historical and political pamphlets. It includes significant collections of printed herbals and festival books.
Modern Scholarship
Secondary sources in the Folger collection include journals, reference works, critical and historical books, and current editions of Shakespeare, including the Folger editions and the latest Oxford, Cambridge, and Arden editions. The Folger also provides access to a number of primary source subscription databases.
Experiences of Captivity in the Books of John Smith
Folger Fellow Adrian Finucane explores issues of captivity in John Smith’s writing.
"What’s in a name?" That which we call [primitive] by any other word...
Artist Eva Rocha’s multimedia work investigates processes of dehumanization and in this post she looks at early colonial depictions of “Original Peoples”.
The art of dying
a guest post by Eileen Sperry For early modern English Christians, dying was an art form. The bestseller list of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, had there been one, would have been topped by some of the period’s many…
Caught Inky Handed: Fingerprints of Practitioners
Thank you for your suggestions regarding these fingerprints. They are, indeed, the marks of two different fingers with different patterns. I tend to think, like Elizabeth, that they are the marks of a middle finger and an index or a…