First Folios you can see in 2023

First Folios you can see in 2023 on ‘Folio Day’ (23rd April) or during the ‘Folio Season’ (4th March to 8th November)

You will find a list below of where and when you can see an original copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio across the UK (and elsewhere) ranked in their distance from William Jaggard’s Print House.

Distance from Jaggard's Print House

Venue, Location

Date on display

0.5 miles

Guildhall Library, London

24th April 2023

Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, City of London, EC2V 5AF

Monday 24th April, 10.30am to 3.30pm
Free entry

1.0 miles

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London

On display every day

The Upper Foyer, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 21 New Globe Walk, London, SE1 9DT

Open every day, 10.00am to 5.00pm 
throughout the year.  Free entry.

The ‘Munro’ first folio is on daily display in a special cabinet that incorporates a short film and slide show on the making of the First Folio. The Folio is normally open at a play in performance at the Globe.

1.9 miles

The British Library, London

On display every day

The Sir John Ritblat; Treasures Gallery, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB

Open every day; Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 5.00pm
(Sunday 11.00am to 5.00pm)

Free entry.

4.2 miles

The V&A, London

Dates TBC

Victoria and Albert Museum
Photo By Diliff

The V&A, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL

Open every day; 10.00am to 5.45pm
(except Fridays; 10.00am to 10.00pm)

The V&A’s ‘Forster’ First Folio is on display in the Theatre and Performance Galleries room 103 now and throughout 2023.

Three further First Folio happenings, both digital and ‘in person’ will take place at the V&A during 2023.

Details follow (here and on the V&A website).

5.6 miles

The National Maritime Museum, London

31st March to 24th September 2023

National Maritime Museum
Photo by Katie Chan

Maritime London Gallery, The National Maritime Museum, Romney Road, London, SE10 9NF

31st March to 24th September 2023
10.00am to 5.00pm (suitable for all ages)
Free entry.

‘The Tempest and the Thames’

The ‘Dulwich College’ First Folio will be displayed in Maritime London. The display marks the 400th anniversary of the First Folio’s publication and draws out the links between the nautical in Shakespeare’s work and the city in which he wrote.

Sunday 23rd April 2023
10.00am to 5.00pm
Free entry

Folio 400 Celebration

On Shakespeare’s birthday, special tours of the Tudor and Stuart Gallery and the Queen’s House will be held alongside the display in the Maritime London Gallery.

Friday 8th & Saturday 9th September 2023

‘Shakespeare and the Sea’

A two-day hybrid conference on Shakespeare’s relationship with the sea with speakers including Prof. Steve Mentz and Emma Smith (Oxford).

57.4 miles

King’s College Library, Cambridge

8th September 2023

King's College, Cambridge, Photo By Antoine Taveneaux
Photo By Antoine Taveneaux

King’s College Library, King’s Parade,
Cambridge, CB2 1ST

Friday 8th September 2023
10.30am to 4.00pm
Free entry.

‘Shakespeare and Theatre in Cambridge’

First, Second and Fourth Folios alongside items from the archives showcasing the history of theatre in Cambridge and King’s College.

59.2 miles

Queens College, Oxford

23rd April 2023

Queen’s College, High Street, Oxford, OX1 4AW

23rd April 2023
11.00am to 4.00pm

Folio400 at Queen’s College

The College’s First Folio was once owned by David Garrick, the great Shakespearean actor and theatre manager.

59.3 miles

Weston Library, Oxford

25th February to 14th May 2023

Weston Library, The Bodleian Libraries
Photo By John Cairns Photography

Weston Library, The Bodleian Libraries, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG

25th February to 14th May 2023
Monday to Friday 10.00am to 5.00pm
Saturday 11.00 to 4.00pm
Free entry.

‘Thou Art Translated’

An exhibition displaying a First Folio alongside a selection of translated texts, from Albanian to Xhosa.

59.3 miles

Blackwell Hall, Weston Library, Oxford

Saturday 4th March 2023

Blackwell Hall, Weston Library, The Bodleian Libraries, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG

Saturday 4th March, 10.30am to 3.30pm.  Free entry.

First Folio Day: ‘The Bard at The Bod’

Taster talks, hands-on-activities, discussions and pop-up performance.

77.7 miles

Winchester College, Winchester

20th April to 20th November 2023

Treasury, Winchester College, Winchester, SO23 9NA

20th April to 20th November 2023
Everyday 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Free entry.

An Exhibition; The First Folio and books linked with it (Jonson’s Folio, some contemporary quartos, Holinshed, North’s Plutarch and Golding’s Ovid plus Pope and Theobald material).

A catalogue of the exhibition will be written by the boys and girls of the sixth form.

For school/large parties please email to arrange; [email protected].

102 miles

The Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon

25th March to 5th November 2023

Shakespeare's New Place
Photo by Luca Giacometti

‘New Place’, The Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust, Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6QW

25th March to 5th November 2023
Everyday 10.00am to 4.00pm

‘To The Great Variety of Readers: Celebrating 400 years of Shakespeare’s First Folio’.

An exhibition at New Place in Stratford. The ‘Ashburnham’ First Folio will be on display together with the gold ‘W.S.’ signet ring (believed to belong to Shakespeare) and the miniature notebook belonging to one of Shakespeare’s earliest fans that was discovered on the Antiques Roadshow.

(ticket allows access to ALL Shakespeare Birthplace Trust sites)

109 miles

Longleat House, Wiltshire

20th April to 29th October 2023

Longleat House, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 7NW

20th April to 29th October 2023
Included on Guided Tours of Longleat House
£4.95 in addition to day ticket or annual pass

‘Folio 400: Shakespeare treasures at Longleat’

A display featuring the Longleat First Folio, the Peacham drawing (the only surviving contemporary illustration of a Shakespeare play), and the Longleat portrait of Shakespeare (derived in 1704 from the Chandos portrait).

195 miles

Brotherton Library, Leeds

29th March to 24th June 2023

Brotherton Library Reading Room By Cavie78
Photo By Cavie78

Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery, Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Woodhouse, Leeds, LS2 9JT

29th March to 24th June 2023
Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am to 5.00pm
Free entry

The ‘Brotherton’ First Folio will be on display. On May 3rd, Emma Smith will present a talk. More details to follow.

199 miles

John Rylands Research Institute and Library, Manchester

Saturday 22nd April 2023

John Rylands Library By Stephen Richards
Photo By Stephen Richards

John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester, 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH

Saturday 22nd April 2023
11.00am to 4.00pm
Free entry

Meet curators and researchers at the University of Manchester to examine and learn about texts illustrating the global connections of Shakespeare’s works from his time to the present. Hear short readings and talks and see our rarely displayed First Folio on display in the stunning surroundings of the Historic Reading Room. Watch our Columbian press in action and take home a Shakespeare quote during a printing demonstration.

219 miles

The Craven Museum, Skipton

Monday - Saturday throughout the year

The Craven Museum, Skipton Town Hall, High Street, Skipton, BD23 1AH

Monday to Saturday,
9.30am to 4.30pm, through out the year
Free entry

This copy of the First Folio belonged to local businessman John James Wilkinson. His family owned Primrose Mill in Embsay, along with tobacconists and grocers’ shops. John was also a noted scientist and amateur playwright, co-writing a play about Skipton. When John died, he left his First Folio to his sister, Ann. She bequeathed it to the museum in 1936.

360 miles

Old Trinity Library, Dublin

14th April 2023 to (TBC)

The Long Room, Trinity College By Diliff
Photo By Diliff

The Long Room, Old Trinity Library, Trinity College, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland

14th April 2023 to (TBC)
Monday to Saturday – 8.30am to 5.00pm
Sundays – 9.30am to 5.00pm

The Trinity College First Folio, plus other items including Irish editions of Shakespeare.

(entry with Book of Kells Exhibition ticket, €18.50)

Plus an Online Exhibition for free!
Thursday 13th April 2023
(time and title TBC)

Lecture on Trinity’s First Folio by Professor of English, Andrew Murphy.

Friday 14th April 2023
Free, but ticketed by Eventbrite

One day symposium ‘Shakespeare the Irishman’ wit invited speakers.

370 miles

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Foundation Corboud, Cologne

3rd March to 11th June 2023

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Foundation Corboud, Obenmarspforten
 (next to Cologne Townhall)

D-50667, Cologne, Germany

3rd March to 11th June 2023
Tuesday to Sunday 10.00am to 6.00pm (closed Mondays)
Entry €8.00/€4.50; free for Ukrainians (with ID)

‘The Whole Drama’

The Cologne First Folio (one of the few graded 1A by Sidney Lee) surrounded by forty works from the art and theatre world.

402 miles

The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh

September 2023 - (dates to be confirmed)

The National Library of Scotland By Kim Traynor
Photo By Kim Traynor

Treasures of the National Library of Scotland Exhibition, The National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EW

April and September 2023
(dates to be confirmed)
Free entry.

405 miles

The Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow

22nd & 23rd April 2023

The Hunterian Gallery, Glasgow By Ham
Photo By Ham

The Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, 82 Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QQ

Saturday 22nd April & Sunday 23rd April 2023,
10.00am to 5.00pm,
Free entry.

Once owned by J.O Halliwell-Phillips who described it as his ‘second best’ First Folio, being neither ‘ragged nor rotten’.

443 miles

Marble Hall, Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute

17th April to 3rd May 2023

Marble Hall, Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute, Scotland, PA20 9LR

17th April to 3rd May 2023
Saturday to Wednesday
(Closed Thursdays and Fridays)

Opening hours; to be confirmed.

572 miles

Lyrik Kabinett, Munich, Germany

24th April 2023

Lyrik Kabinett, Munich, Photo by Amrei-Marie
Photo by Amrei-Marie

Lyrik Kabinett, Amalienstr. 83A (Back Building), University of Munich, 80799 Munich, Germany

24th April 2023, 7.00pm
Entry €8/€6, LK Members free

‘All the World’s a Book; the 400th birthday of Shakespeare’s First Folio’

An evening of poems, written especially for the subject by Albert Ostermaier, Uljana Wolf and Marcel Beyer (present) and UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, Lavinia Greenlaw and Ulrike Draener by video-link. Moderator Tobias Döring.

An original First Folio will be on display.

The poems will also be available to read and enjoy on this site.

11,386 miles

Auckland Libraries, Auckland,
New Zealand

23rd April 2023

Auckland Libraries, Photo By Pakoire
Photo By Pakoire

Reading Room, Auckland Libraries, Level 2, Central City Library, Lorne Street, Auckland, New Zealand

23rd April 2023

The Auckland Libraries First Folio will be on display on the 23rd April 2023.

Details to follow.

Celebration

Find out more about events being planned to mark the 400th Birthday of The First Folio.