Folger Library's $80M Renovation Unveils World's Largest Shakespeare Collection
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., has completed an $80 million renovation by architect Kieran Timberlake, reopening with expanded public spaces and a new exhibition, "Imprints in Time." The library houses the world's largest Shakespeare collection, including 82 copies of the First Folio (1623), over a third of the 235 known copies. Founded by Henry Clay and Emily Jordan Folger, the library opened in 1932. The renovation adds exhibition halls, interactive spaces, gardens, a café, and a teaching lab. The exhibition runs until January 5, 2025, and also features a rare Egyptian Book of the Dead, first editions of Gulliver's Travels and Joyce's Ulysses, a Martin Luther King speech printing, and an installation by Fred Wilson.
Key facts
- Folger Library completed $80M renovation by Kieran Timberlake.
- Library holds 82 copies of Shakespeare's First Folio (1623).
- First Folio copies are now on public display for the first time.
- Exhibition 'Imprints in Time' runs until January 5, 2025.
- Collection includes 200,000 references at opening, now grown.
- First acquisition was a 1685 Fourth Folio in 1889.
- Library opened in 1932, designed by Paul Philippe Cret.
- Fred Wilson created an installation for the reopening.
Entities
Artists
- William Shakespeare
- John Heminges
- Henry Condell
- Fred Wilson
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- James Joyce
- Jonathan Swift
Institutions
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- New York Public Library
Locations
- Washington, D.C.
- United States
- Capitol Hill
- New York