THE FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY: Everything old is new again!
After a four-year renovation and expansion of its visitor spaces and services, the Folger Shakespeare Library once again opened its doors on June 21, 2024. Having acted as Docents for 10 years before it closed, and as participants in the reopening weekend, we found the changes dramatic– and the public reception was electric! The new Folger is, indeed, for everyone.
Henry Clay Folger and his wife Emily Jordan Folger were long-time collectors of all things Shakespearean, of items from the English Renaissance period, and from 17th through early 20th century theater. From shortly after their marriage in 1885 until Henry’s death in 1930, they accumulated 82 Shakespeare First Folios–the largest collection in the world. These and their affiliated collections provide a veritable treasure trove for scholars of the Early Modern period. Making this feat possible was Henry’s income from his position within John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust and later as President and of Standard Oil of New York.
Henry and Emily’s collecting efforts were organized and advanced by Emily’s incredible diligence in identifying potential purchases, exhaustively cataloging them as they arrived, and noting where they were stored. She was the more scholarly of the two, having received a master’s degree from Vassar, under the mentorship of Shakespeare scholar, Horace Howard Furness in 1896, on the subject of “The True Text of Shakespeare.”
As their collection expanded, and as other early 20th century collectors, like Henry Huntington and J. P. Morgan, considered opening libraries to house their rare collections, Henry and Emily decided to open one of their own. Though Nantucket Island, New York and Stratford-upon-Avon were considered as possible locations, Washington, D. C. was ultimately selected. Henry was intimately involved in the planning for, and design of, the library (the primary architect was Paul Philippe Cret, of Philadelphia), but unfortunately, he died in 1930, only a few weeks after the cornerstone was laid.
Despite Henry’s death, and the onset of the Great Depression, the venture continued under Emily’s direction, and The Folger Shakespeare Library was dedicated on April 23,1932, the 368th anniversary of the purported date of Shakespeare’s birth, in 1564. The Library was originally envisioned as a scholarly library for research on Shakespeare, his times, and the evolution of theater, primarily Shakespearean, from the 16th through the early 20th century. However, from the beginning, there was always a space in the building, known over time as the Great Hall, for visitors to see and enjoy objects from the collection.
Beginning in the 1960s, exhibitions with a specific focus began to be mounted in the Great Hall, and as of the very early 1970s, volunteer docents were added to respond to visitors’ questions, give periodic tours of the building and engage in school and community outreach. This approach to public interaction continued until the early months of 2020.
The Folger Board of Governors had already begun, however, in the early years of the 21stcentury, to plan for a Folger that would reach outward to a much broader and more diverse audience than the inwardly-focused Folger of the previous 90 years. This outreach began in earnest in 2016, the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare. At that time, the Folger sent a First Folio on loan to every U. S. state and territory, which occasioned activities and exhibitions across the country. That effort stimulated an enormous amount of interest. The leadership of the Folger believed that this was their moment, and began the process of renovation.
After the initial requisite funds had been raised, the work began, unfortunately coincident with the onset of the COVID pandemic. A significant problem arose in the planning of the new Folger: the building was surrounded by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. Since outward expansion was impossible, the only way to go was down. Digging commenced, and in the end, after some incredible feats of engineering, 12,000 additional square feet of user-friendly space was wrestled from the site.
So, now that the expansion has been accomplished, what is there to see and experience in the public spaces? First, entrances to the building from the east and west ends are via gently sloping ramps, through gardens filled with plants that provide textural interest. Stairs – outside or inside– are no longer necessary, thus improving accessibility.
Entering from the west, you are greeted by a panel that reads “Shakespeare is…? He was there and then—and he is here and now.” Food for thought, indeed. A nearby installation by artist and sculptor Fred Wilson consists of a black Venetian glass mirror. Reflected in that mirror is a 1579 portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, an image of 19th century Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge--and you. As Wilson explains, the mirror represents Shakespeare himself. How the viewer interprets this juxtaposition is an individual decision.
Entering from the east, you are confronted by a digital participatory “Shake Up Your Shakespeare” big screen, at which you and another player can trade electronic compliments or insults from Shakespeare’s plays. Most visitors, at least in the early days, preferred to exchange insults, some of which are fairly obscure nowadays. What, for example, does “You Banbury Cheese!” mean today?
Continuing into the Shakespeare Hall, all 82 First Folios are visible in a specially-constructed glass case. Two are selected for viewing in a case flanked by consoles that enable the visitor to select specific Folios for viewing. You can take a closer look at the one Henry Folger considered his premier Folio: the presentation copy from William Jaggard, the First Folio printer, to Augustine Vincent, his friend from the College of Heralds. Or perhaps you would like to see the one that, for several years in the 19th century, could be borrowed for up to a week from the Plymouth, England public library. Or maybe you’d care to examine a sample from the large percentage that were once owned by women, or the one owned by the Wodehouse family, or the one with the imprint of a pair of eyeglasses on a page. The variations go on and on–each distinctive in its own way, each priceless.
During opening week, a visitor identified herself as being a member of the Caxton Club. There are two of William Caxton’s books on display in the new exhibition spaces. The first isThe Canterbury Tales, printed by Caxton in 1477, and obtained by the Folger in 1938 from the estate of Sir Leicester Harmsworth,. (One visitor said that, in many libraries, this particular volume would be the centerpiece. Here, it is one of many candidates for that honor.)
The second Caxton is included in a very special loan exhibit from the Stuart and Mimi Rose collection, which will be available for viewing until January of 2025. The Recuyell of the Histories of Troy is a first edition of the first book printed in English by Caxton. Forty-nine other treasures from the Rose rare book and manuscript collection are on display, including an Egyptian Book of the Dead, from 100 BCE, and also a first edition, hand-colored Nuremberg Chronicle. There are first editions of Don Quixote, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyreand Phyllis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Twentieth century literature includes first editions (and presentation copies) of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye. Proofs, with corrections in the authors’ hands include The Lord of the Rings, Dr. No, and Profiles in Courage.
Lest scientific works be neglected, the exhibit also includes first editions of Copernicus’s De revolutionibus, Kepler’s Astronomia nova, Galileo’s Dialogo, Newton’s Principia, and Darwin’s On The Origin of Species, among other gems. With this exhibition as an opener in the temporary gallery, one can only imagine what might be in store next for this exhibition space!
However, even though the Rose collection is full of wonders, the Folger vaults cannot be overshadowed. Items that have languished in storage for years are beginning their rotation through the exhibition cases.
In the Shakespeare Hall, for example, alongside the 82 First Folios (and a working reproduction of the type of printing press on which the First Folio would have been printed), there are two large exhibits that showcase aspects of Shakespeare. The first – called “Shakespeare Is…”-- begins with Shakespeare’s world in the late 16th and early 17thcenturies and extends to modern times.
This section begins with a reminder of Tudor England, represented by objects signed by the boy who would become King Henry VIII, and by his daughter, Elizabeth I, the future Queen. Then there are objects that reflect Shakespeare’s rise (e.g.,the document in which he is called an “Upstart Crow”), and his prosperity (e.g., portions of Shakespeare’s deed to New Place, in Stratford). Additional objects point to what else was going on at the time: the settlement of Jamestown and the Virginia colony, as represented by John Smith’s 1612 map of Virginia; the lure of gold and silver and sugar in the New World; and the enslaving of Africans to do the hard labor.
Following these is a section on Shakespeare performance in the 19th and 20th centuries: beginning with a look at the 1849 Astor Place riots in New York, pitting rabid fans of the American Shakespearean actor Edwin Forrest against supporters of the English actor Charles Macready. The outcome wasn’t pretty. Also ‘not pretty’ was the long-delayed and denied acceptance of Black actors in Shakespearean roles. That history is traced from 19thcentury productions in blackface to the 1930’s “Voodoo Macbeth”, staged in Harlem with a totally Black cast, as part of the Federal Theater Project, and, proceeding even farther, to Black actors, like Earle Hyman as Hamlet, in Washington, D. C. productions, to a 2015 production of “American Moor” – a hard look at the racism experienced by Black actors. at the Anacostia Playhouse in Washington. Elsewhere in the exhibit hall is a section on Paul Robeson and his contributions to Shakespeare’s universal appeal.
The second area of the Shakespeare Hall – called “Tellers and Tales” – highlights Shakespeare’s plays as performed around the world, from his time to the present. Here you will find a selection of objects identified with Shakespeare’s plays, including a playbill for the 1853 “winter season” of the Royal Arctic Theatre, a company of players aboard the H. M. S. Resolute in the Arctic, looking for Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition. You may also examine Cleopatra’s snake girdle, worn by the Polish actress, Madame Modjeska, in a late 19thcentury production of Antony and Cleopatra; a copy of Macbeth in Yiddish, for a 1904 production; the shooting script for the 1944 film of Henry V, starring Sir Laurence Olivier, a porcelain of Charlotte and Susan Cushman as Romeo and Juliet, and scores of other prompt books, sketchbooks and ephemera from many, if not all, of the plays.
A part of the expanded space is devoted to the Folgers’ own collecting philosophy and approaches, including Emily Folger’s invaluable contributions to the collection. Nearby is another exhibit, called “The Folger Collecting”, which shows various items collected by the Library since the deaths of the Folgers.
One cannot ignore the role the Folger has played in book and manuscript conservation; research into the history and provenance of objects in the collection and transcription of manuscripts by staff and docents. These are also addressed here, along with the long history of the Folger’s commitment to the education of the public about Shakespeare and his works. Several generations of the Folger editions of the plays, narrative poems and sonnets of Shakespeare (including Folger teaching aids) are on display, and the philosophy behind them explained.
Despite extensive renovations, many aspects of the Folger Shakespeare Library remain familiar. The exterior fa̤ade, for example, designed by Paul Philippe Cret, was not modified. Between the two doors on the north side are the tall grilled windows that overlook the original public exhibition space Рthe Great Hall . Today, the Great Hall houses a newly-added caf̩. Bas-reliefs by John Gregory, beneath the windows, depict scenes from several of the plays, and the east garden is graced with a fountain featuring the familiar statue of Puck.
The interior of the Library, prior to the renovation, was in the style of 17th century England, and the Great Hall, the Reading Room and the Elizabethan Theater retain that look. As a 1937 Guidebook to Washington, prepared by the Federal Writers’ Project said:
“The exhibition gallery (Great Hall) is a great paneled hall of exceptional dignity and scale. The high, vaulted ceiling is elaborately decorated with strapwork designs in plaster relief; the tile mosaic floor and the wooden grilled doors, with their rich carvings, bear the arms of Elizabethan England (on the east end), and of the United States (on the west end).”
The theatre remains, at first glance, much the same. Its improvements are less obvious than in other areas. Lighting and seating have been improved, and aspects of the stage and dressing areas are being considered for further improvement.
Finally, the Reading Room remains essentially unchanged. Again, from 1937:
“The Reading Room …is designed in the manner of a traditional English great hall. It has a high hammer-beam ceiling hung with three bronze chandeliers. Light enters through three large bays along the south wall (into which are laid coats of arms representing patrons of Shakespeare and others). Light also enters through a large tracery window at the west end: a reproduction of a church window at Stratford-on-Avon. The stained glass window depicts the Seven Ages of Man, and is the work of Nicoloa D’Ascenzo…On the north wall is a stone-canopied fireplace set with marble inlays. At the east end, a hall screen, with a reproduction of the Shakespeare memorial from Trinity Church at Stratford-on-Avon, forms a frame to the entrance of the Folger burial crypt. The east doorway is flanked by portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Folger (by society painter Franklin Salisbury.) “
The Reading Room is still reserved for registered researchers, but research opportunities are open to the wider spectrum of those interested in Shakespeare, his works, his time, and theater from his time to the present.
Whether or not you have visited the Folger Shakespeare Library in the past, this reincarnation is well worth another visit. There are books you have never seen before, there are things you may never see again. There will be new ways to think about what you have always known, and a change in perspective that makes everything new. Come see what has changed: perhaps it will be you.
