The Folger’s collection is vast and varied, including printed books; manuscripts; prints, drawings, photographs, paintings, and other works of art; and a wealth of performance history, from playbills to films, recordings, and stage costumes.
In addition to the rare material collection, the Folger holds a collection of over 100,000 monographs, periodicals, and electronic resources published between the 1830s and the present, related to the understanding and interpretation of Shakespeare, his works and impact, and to the early modern world.
Printed Books
Manuscripts
Works of Art
Performance History
History of the collection
Henry Clay Folger and his wife, Emily Jordan Folger, began amassing the collection of rare books that would become the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1889. They spent decades gathering the world’s largest Shakespeare collection, as well as associated works from Shakespeare’s time. The Library itself opened in 1932, and continues to expand its holdings today.
Caring for our collections
Related blog posts
Explore some of the scholarly work being done with, in, and around our collections.
Collection Connections: 'The East Indian' by Brinda Charry
Su Fang Ng revisits her May 2024 presentation on Brinda Charry’s The East Indian.
A ‘declineing time’? The final illnesses of Constance and Elizabeth Lucy
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There's the Short and the Long 'ſ/f'
Artistic Fellow Krysten Fikes explores the long ‘s’ in the context of her project on Black American Ebonics and Elizabethan English.
“According to the scrip”: Shakespeare’s text from cue scripts to promptbooks and beyond
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Beyond a Cure for Plague
Fellow Kathleen Miller explores the Early Modern use of plague cures to treat more than one type of illness