Shakespeare & Beyond

It’s been a busy year on the Shakespeare & Beyond blog. These were the top five blog posts of 2017, from a pumpkin pie recipe to a quiz about props.

A bit of Shakespeare to help you reflect on the past year, plan for the next, or just impress your friends or family with a well-placed quote in a New Year’s Eve toast.

The most popular podcast episode was about attributing Christopher Marlowe as co-author for the “Henry VI” plays and how scholars make that decision.

In this unconventional Christmas play from 1619, the characters are different foods warring against one another for pride of place at the holiday feast.

Lewis Carroll gave this lovely 1868 edition of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with delicate cut-paper images by Paul Konewka, to his illustrator for “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” John Tenniel.

Mince pies and a honey-spiced drink called mirth are just two of hundreds of recipes found in a 17th-century handwritten recipe book once owned by Leticia Cromwell.

Take a look at our five most popular #FolgerFinds posts on Instagram, from early modern eclipses to the first edition of Shakespeare’s “Richard III.”

This excerpt from “London’s Triumph” by Stephen Alford looks at the Elizabethan understanding of usury, seen through Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.”

Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Company shares what it’s like to play Richard Burbage onstage in Lauren Gunderson’s “The Book of Will.”

Editing Shakespeare’s works is a complex process, explains Barbara Mowat, who with Paul Werstine edited the Folger Shakespeare Library editions.

We’ve got five Shakespeare-themed Christmas gift ideas for you, selected from the Folger shop and all under $20, from games to artwork and more.

Families share Shakespeare together in so many ways, such as watching his plays, quoting familiar lines, or throwing a Shakespeare birthday party.