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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
1.0 miles
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London
On display every day
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.
1.1 miles
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London
31st October 2023 (with a talk by Emma Smith)
Sir John Soane’s Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was formerly the home of neo-classical architect John Soane.
Photograph – Sir John Soane’s Museum by Gareth Gardner, © Sir John Soane’s Museum
2.2 miles
Christie's, London
2nd May – 26th May
2nd May – 26th May 9.00am to 5.00pm weekdays
(20th/21st May 12.00-5.00pm)
Free entry.
Christie’s celebrates Folio400 with a special exhibition uniquely bringing together SIX rarely-seen First Folios from British private and institutional libraries. No other exhibition in the UK has ever displayed so many copies at one since they first went on sale at Edward Blount’s bookshop in November 1623. Each surviving copy tells its own story, and the exhibition not only celebrates the original publication but also the after-life of individual copies and the vicissitudes of Shakespeare across the centuries. On display will be the Arundel Castle copy, courtesy of the Duke of Norfolk – one of only five complete copies in private hands; the first copy to have been in America; one likely descended from an original purchaser; and others from private British collections, rarely, if ever, exhibited before.
4.2 miles
The V&A, London
Dates TBC
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. More details to follow.
Update:
To tie in with this year’s folio celebrations, the V&A have produced a short film which looks in detail at one of the V&A’s three copies of the FF.
5.6 miles
The National Maritime Museum, London
31st March to 24th September 2023
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).
24.5 miles
The Royal Collection, Windsor Castle
2nd - 9th November 2023
2nd to 9th November 2023
Open to pre-booked school groups only
£6.00 per pupil
The Royal Collection
Following an introduction to Shakespeare within the Royal Collection, students will be escorted to the wonderful Royal Library, a private area of the Castle not open to the public. They will meet with a royal librarian or curator and hear about some of the treasures on show. During the visit, the students will also have a chance to explore the Castle and St George’s Chapel to learn all about Windsor’s links to the great playwright.
30.8 miles
Eton College, Windsor
16th, 17th & 24th September 2023
Saturday 16th September 11.00am – 4.00pm
Sunday 17th September 2.30pm to 5.00pm
Sunday 24th September 2.30-5.00pm
This wonderful copy was bequeathed to Eton College by an Old Etonian in 1799. It is highly unusual as it has been augmented with c. 100 inserted pages, on which are pasted engraved prints of scenes and portraits relevant to the plays.
57.4 miles
King’s College Library, Cambridge
8th September 2023
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.
59.3 miles
Weston Library, Oxford
25th February to 14th May 2023
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
Wadham College, Oxford
23rd April 2023
23rd April 2023
11.00am to 4.00pm
Folio400 at Wadham College
The College’s First Folio was bequeathed in 1775 by the botanist and literary scholar Richard Warner, a former student at Wadham.
Free Shakespeare bookmark while stocks last and free refreshments for all.
77.7 miles
Winchester College, Winchester
20th April to 20th November 2023
20th April to 20th November 2023
Everyday 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Free entry.
An Exhibition: The First Folio, alongside Ben Jonson’s Folio and a quarto of Thomas Heywood’s A Fair Maid of the West, as well as a selection eighteenth century books, including Alexander Pope’s 1725 edition of Shakespeare’s works, Lewis Theobald’s copybook with his manuscript annotations and Theobald’s own edition of Shakespeare.
There is a free booklet about Pope and Theobald’s dispute about Shakespeare.
For school/large parties please email to arrange; [email protected].
82.7 miles
Suffolk Archives at The Hold, Ipswich
14th July to 29th October 2023
14th July to 29th October 2023
10.00am to 12.30pm and 1.00pm to 4.00pm Monday to Friday
Open to 9.00pm Thursdays
10.00am to 4.00pm Saturdays and Sundays
Free entry
An Exhibition: ‘Wolsey’s Ipswich’, part of the Wolsey’s 550 celebrations, includes a First Folio on loan from Cambridge University. The exhibition looks at how Wolsey has been depicted throughout history, including within Shakespeare’s Henry VIII, first published in the First Folio, 1623.
102 miles
The Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon
25th March to 5th November 2023
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
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).
118 miles
Birmingham Central Library
23rd April to 21st October 2023
As part of their ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project, Birmingham’s First Folio, belonging to ALL of the residents of Birmingham, will go on its 2023 tour;
23 April (Shakespeare’s Birthday and ‘Folio’ Day) – Aston Hall
13 May – South Yardley Library
3 June – Dorothy Parkes Centre, Smethwick
2 July – The Core Library, Solihull
19 August – St Barnabus Church, Erdington
21 October – Bullring & Grand Central, Birmingham.
There will also be a special visit to the Library at HMP Winson Green.
(Free entry)
175 miles
Arras & St Omer, France
2nd & 3rd June 2023
2nd June
Université d’Artois, Arras, Maison de la recherche
3rd June
Bibliothèque d’agglomération du pays de St Omer, chapelle des jésuites
This 2-day conference will feature a display of the St. Omer First Folio discovered in 2014.
Prof. Eric Rasmussen and Prof. Emma Smith, both of whom have articles published on this website, will be the keynote speakers at the conference, along with a dozen other international specialists. A provisional programme can be viewed using the button below. For more details please contact Guillaume Winter at the Université d’Artois.
195 miles
Brotherton Gallery, University of Leeds
29th March to 24th June 2023
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
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.
203 miles
Shakespeare North Play House, Prescot
19th October – 11th November 2023
19th October – 11th November 2023
Free entry
To coincide with the European premiere production of ‘The Book of Will’ by Lauren Gunderson (connect to recent plays), The British Library have kindly arranged for one of their First Folios to be on display in The Exhibition Space. The interactive exhibition will tell the story of how the First Folio came to be.
219 miles
The Craven Museum, Skipton
Monday - Saturday throughout the year
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)
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
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)
April and September 2023
(dates to be confirmed)
Free entry.
405 miles
The Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow
22nd & 23rd April 2023
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’.
572 miles
Lyrik Kabinett, Munich, Germany
24th April 2023
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.
3,011 miles
The National Library of Israel
Jerusalem
Opening Hours
Sunday – Thursday 9:00 – 20:00
Friday 9:00 – 13:00
Free entry
As well as a complete Second Folio (1632), The National Library of Israel houses a wonderful First Folio fragment and have arranged a number of Shakespeare related events to celebrate Folio 400.
3,389 miles
Sterling Memorial Library, Yale, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
23rd August 2023 - 4th February 2024
23rd August 2023 to Sunday 4th February 2024
08.30am to 5.00pm every day.
Free entry.
An Exhibition; ‘Shakespeare For All Time?’
Centred around a First Folio copy, the exhibition tells a broader story, foregrounding early modern printers, 20th Century bibliographers and booksellers today.
4,912 miles
The Ransom Center, Texas, USA
19th August – 30th December 2023
19th August to 20th November 2023
Tuesday to Friday 10.00am to 5.00pm
Saturday and Sunday 12pm to 5.00pm
(closed Mondays)
An Exhibition: ‘The Long Lives of Very Old Books’ looks at the stories behind books published by Europeans in the Early Modern period, including three copies of the First Folio owned by the University.
11,386 miles
Auckland Libraries, Auckland,
New Zealand
23rd April 2023
23rd April 2023
10.30am-12.00pm
Free entry
The Auckland Libraries First Folio was placed on display on the 23rd April 2023 as part of a day of celebrations.
As part of their celebrations, Auckland Libraries created a podcast series which they have made available via Soundcloud. In the series, we hear from a book conservator, an academic, an actor and two librarians with a focus on the First Folio four hundred years after it was published.
Find out more about events being planned to mark the 400th Birthday of The First Folio.
The First Folio is one of the great wonders of the literary world. Published in 1623, seven years after the death of its author, it was the first printed edition of Shakespeare’s collected plays. Without this achievement, we would have lost half of his dramatic work. This website is dedicated in gratitude to the 400th birthday of this foundational book on the 8th November 2023.
