How Shakespeare Thought About the Mind

On our podcast, Helen Hackett discusses her new book, The Elizabethan Mind: Searching for the Self in an Age of Uncertainty, a wide-ranging study of the many conflicting ideas that Elizabethans had about their own minds.

Listen to the Episode

Macbeth, Cartoons, and the End of Slavery

This blog post by our new head of exhibitions looks at two Civil War-era cartoons in the Folger’s collections that allude to Shakespeare’s Macbeth to comment on slavery and its place in U.S. society and politics.

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Celebrating Kathleen Lynch, Folger Institute's Executive Director

The Folger has dedicated a new acquisition to the collection in honor of Kathleen Lynch, who retired this month after a distinguished career leading the Folger’s center for advanced research in the early modern humanities, the Folger Institute.

The new acquisition is a 1676 book titled A collection of the several writings of that true prophet, faithful servant of God and sufferer for the testimony of Jesus. This particular copy, filled with handwritten inscriptions, was a gift from a prominent Quaker to his fellow Friends held captive in York Castle, where it was passed around among the prisoners.

In honor of Kathleen Lynch's retirement, the Folger has also established the “Dr. Kathleen Lynch Fund," which advances the intersection of scholarly and public humanities.

About Kathleen Lynch

About Folger Institute

Give to the Fund

Shakespeare & Evil Laughs

Our friends at DC Public Library are running an Evil Laugh Contest. Here are some delightfully devious Shakespeare lines you can use in your performance.

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Off the Shelf

Speaking of laughs... Joy Wiltenburg writes about an 18th-century humor compilation in the Folger collection, in this excerpt from her new book, Laughing Histories.

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A Royal Visit

Did you know? King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla visited the Folger Shakespeare Library in 2005. Check out four items from our collection that they saw.