Does everyone know the Folger Shakespeare Library?

It’s located on Capitol Hill at 3rd and East Capitol Streets SE, and of course, it is more than a library, although if it were only a research library, Dayenu. It is a theater, a museum, and now a cafe, and probably more.

It’s an independent non-profit created to house, maintain, and build upon the collections of Henry Clay Folger, former president and chairman of Standard Oil, and its endowment is controlled by Folger’s alma mater, Amherst College.

Long a DC cultural attraction, the Folger closed a few years ago to undergo a virtually complete renovation and expansion. It reopened about 9 months ago. I visited yesterday for the first time.

For those who have not yet seen the new Folger, let me describe it in one word: spectacular!

I didn’t go through the entire building. For example, I didn’t go into the theater itself, which is a virtually exact replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and where they are getting ready to open a production of Twelfth Night, which will run through the early summer. But it is open to visitors.

Those who have been to the Folger may remember the paneled faux-old English gallery, where manuscripts were displayed. It’s a gallery no more, but has been turned into an inviting  cafecand lunch spot.

There are entrances on the east and west sides, and to the left in this picture are two glass doors through which you can look into the public reading room, which was also quite busy yesterday.

But what I really wanted to talk to you about is the 12,000 square foot exhibit space on a downstairs level that had not been public space before. It is through this level that you now enter, and go past the information desk to see the two large and extraordinarily interesting exhibits.

The first exhibit is, not surprisingly, about Shakespeare. There are examples of early Folios, published in the 1630s. The Folger has over 80 First Folios, about a third of the world’s total. And of course, even more later folios, published shortly thereafter.  Were it not for these publications, the first published collections of any playwright’s works, many of his plays would have been completely lost.

The exhibit also concentrates on the performance of Shakespeare over the past 400 years. Included are the earliest playbill still existing, just to give one example, from 1697.

The second, even larger,  exhibit is called “How to be a Power Player: Tudor Style”. It tells you everything you need to know…how to dress, how to speak, how to run a house, how to be a soldier. You name it.

The items on display are amazing. Here are some examples.

A first edition of Machiavelli’s The Prince from 1564.

How to plan the perfect funeral, and how the funeral of Sir Philip Sydney turned out.

How about Anne of Cleves’ personal prayerbook?

Or the proclamation releasing Sir Walter Raleigh from the Tower of London?

And this is only a smattering of what is on display.

By the way, the Folger’s website is excellent.  I could have saved my time putting this together and just sent you there. Maybe I will do that next time.

And as to the Macbeth witches – weird or wayward? One of the many unanswerable questions. Another is: Who really wrote these plays, anyway?