Preview the new Folger book

The renewal of the Folger Shakespeare Library was more than a decade in the making, from master planning through construction completion in 2024. On September 1, Folger Shakespeare Library: Renewal and Revitalization, published by Chronicle Books and Princeton Architectural Press, will be released.

It’s less a monograph than a gathering of voices, the reflections of the engineers, artists, preservationists, and designers who reimagined this 1932 landmark, each of whom left something of themselves in the work.

At its center is a line from Shakespeare: “What’s past is prologue.” We came to read it not as a conclusion but as an instruction, a philosophy that commits all of us to remaining permanently and productively unfinished.

Please visit the preorder page to meet the many voices the book has brought together.