Research and discovery

How did the world react upon the death of Shakespeare in 1616? In an excerpt from The Complete Life of William Shakespeare, scholar Paul Menzer looks at the surprsingly quiet years following Shakespeare’s passing until the publication of the First Folio in 1623.

On her deathbed, did Elizabeth really name James her successor? In an excerpt from The Stolen Crown, royal historian Tracy Borman reveals the lie about the controversial succession that ended the Tudor era and launched the Stuart reign in March 1603.

At 19, Bullen Reymes left England for the Continent and his grand adventure began. His diaries show the making of a Renaissance man, including who he met, what he saw and heard, and what he read, including Shakespeare.

What if Shakespeare had died during the plague of 1592–93, still a young writer? Scholar Rory Loughnane imagines what Shakespeare’s place in literary history might have been if we had only his early works to recommennd him.

Patricia Akhimie, curator of the Folger exhibition To Hear Her Speak, asks: “What do Black women and Shakespeare have to do with each other?” Quite a bit over 400 years it turns out, as she shows in the catalog’s introduction.

Banning books goes back thousands of years, almost as long as people have been writing. Aaron T. Pratt, the Folger’s curator of rare books and prints, looks at one of 15 books that James I went beyond banning to publicly burn during his reign.

Shakespeare’s poems and plays record the pleasures and perils of the table. In Shakespeare in the Kitchen, Marissa Nicosia explores what Shakespeare’s works can tell us about Renaissance recipes, and what these recipes can tell us about Shakespeare’s works.

A roundup of Shakespeare stories, including discoveries about his only London real estate purchase and family papers; all Shakespeare’s plays ranked as well as video games Shakespeare would love; and actors sharing Shakespeare.

What do we know about Shakespeare’s life? As Shakespeare Documented shows, we know quite a bit about him as a playwright, businessman, and family man through primary sources from his lifetime and shortly thereafter.

In his groundbreaking documentary, We Were Here, Folger Fellow Fred Kuwornu shares the diverse African presence in Renaissance Europe—princes, ambassadors, saints, artists, scholars, and knights—all revealed through art from the period.

Reference Associate Erika Giddens, who manages the Folger’s Ask a Librarian service, takes us behind the scenes to share some of the most asked questions about Shakespeare and how she answers them.

We’re sharing some of the Shakespeare stories in the news in December 2025 and January 2026, from Hamnet to Bridgerton, The Beatles and King Lear, imagining Richard III’s voice, and remembering theater legend Tina Packer.