The Wonder of Will: 400 Years of Shakespeare

The Folger is planning to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with a suite of collaborative Exhibitions at the Folger and related programs that will introduce people to the man who grew up in the English provinces and went on to become the most influential writer in the world, finding his way to America as a prized adopted "citizen." The 2016 celebrations will include: First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Life of an Icon, America's Shakespeare, Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity.

First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare

A national U.S. tour of First Folios traveling to 50 States and 3 territories. Published in 1623, the First Folio collection of Shakespeare's plays is the book that introduced Shakespeare to the world and allowed his works to travel far beyond the confines of Renaissance London. Individual copies of this precious book, which is the hallmark of the Folger's collection, will be sent to libraries across the country with an accompanying interpretive exhibition. Theatrical performances and educational initiatives will cluster around the First Folio in local schools and theaters, providing a truly rich experience for anyone who wants the chance to see this historic book and learn more about the Bard.

Hear Anthony West, curator of Fame, Fortune, & Theft, discuss the importance of the First Folio.

Shakespeare, Life of an Icon

A joint exhibition with the British Library, opening in Washington, D.C. and moving to London, of the greatest collection of documents connecting us to Shakespeare ever assembled. Brought together for the first time will be the deed to Shakespeare's house at New Place, records of legal disputes to which he was a party, a page of his handwriting in a manuscript for a play -- all featured items in a powerful collection of original documents that introduce us to Shakespeare the man from Stratford. The Folger is reaching out to British partners -- the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Globe Theatre -- to find opportunities to extend our celebrations into the U.K., including partnering with the British Council on a global initiative to celebrate the sonnet.

America's Shakespeare

Our second exhibition, following quickly on the first, that tells the story of how Shakespeare became the world's greatest content provider in media history, from the codex to the computer. ("America's Shakespeare" opens in DC and then travels to Chicago and Los Angeles.) This exhibition will introduce visitors to the William Shakespeare whose works are reproduced and enjoyed more than any other writer living or dead, telling the story of how the printed book, professional theater, radio, television, film, and the Internet have carried Shakespeare's words and works around the globe. The exhibition will focus especially on Shakespeare's afterlife in America, where his works powerfully influenced figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Emily Dickinson. It will also draw attention to digital media that help us find our way into Shakespeare, including apps, virtual collections, audio recordings -- all of which will be collected on a website that shares this material in perpetuity. Social and outreach events will be planned in each of the major cities that host these two landmark exhibitions.

Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity

Will & Jane, our third exhibition, offers a comparison of the literary celebrity of two of the most popular writers in the English language, William Shakespeare and Jane Austen. In observation of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death, the exhibition combines popular commodities with literary texts and other original documents to demonstrate the trends in passion for literary works from the Georgian era to our time. Examining the role Shakespeare and Austen play in everyday life, the exhibit draws connections between the Georgian passion for Shakespeare and the enduring contemporary obsessions with Austen and the Bard. A first edition of Austen’s Mansfield Park will be displayed alongside a letter from Austen, an avid Shakespeare fan, on a performance by Edmund Kean. The exhibit will also incorporate the rise of the “bonnet drama” and modern fandom, detailing the merchandizing of Shakespeare and Austen’s works with memorabilia from the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. Will & Jane also presents the fan favorite habit of radically manipulating and modernizing an author’s most famous texts, from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, contributing to the enduring popularity of these authors.