Photographing Shakespeare

Founded in 1932, the Folger Library in Washington, D.C. is the world s largest Shakespeare collection. It hosts millions of visitors - in person and online - each year. For two years, award-winning photographer Robert Dawson and independent curator Ellen Manchester went behind the scenes to document its diverse, lively, and sometimes surprising culture. Provided with full access, Dawson and Manchester offer a vivid look at life and work at the Folger, from its arts, outreach, teaching, and research programs to the delicate craft of book conservation. Dawson s images also depict topics that might seem too difficult to capture - the birth of ideas, the scope of digital research, and the staff and visitors connection with Shakespeare and his works from Macbeth to A Midsummer Night s Dream. Along with photographs, the book also includes writer Jennifer Howard s exploration of the Folger s human side; a meditation on life, death, and the library by Stanford art historian Alexander Nemerov; and an essay by poet and playwright Afaa Michael Weaver on the many ways in which Shakespeare s works live on.