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All 16 posts by

Rachel B. Dankert

is an Adjunct Lecturer for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Information. Over a decade of special collections librarianship allows her to share her passion for this work with early career practitioners. She was the Learning and Engagement Librarian at the Folger Shakespeare Library from 2018-2022.
Collection Connections: 'Edith Holler' by Edward Carey
Folger Spotlight

Collection Connections: 'Edith Holler' by Edward Carey

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Rachel B. Dankert

We revisit Rachel B. Dankert’s October 2024 presentation as part of our discussion of Edward Carey’s Edith Holler.

Collection Connections: 'Beheld' by TaraShea Nesbit
Folger Spotlight

Collection Connections: 'Beheld' by TaraShea Nesbit

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Rachel B. Dankert

Rachel B. Dankert revisits her November 2023 presentation on TaraShea Nesbit’s Beheld and the experience of early colonists in America.

Stealing Signs
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Stealing Signs

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Rachel B. Dankert

Thanks to everyone who shared their guesses on last week’s post and congratulations to those of you who guessed correctly! Sermo mirabilis: or the silent language by Charles de La Fin, London, 1693. Folger call number: L174 The mystery image…

Not for the faint of heart
Rachel May 2022 Croc post
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Not for the faint of heart

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Rachel B. Dankert

Thanks to everyone who registered a guess for this month’s Crocodile Mystery and congratulations to those of you who answered correctly! As many of you pointed out, the oddity in the final disposition of characters is Macbeth’s full-bodied presence on…

A Blessing to Booksellers
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A Blessing to Booksellers

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Rachel B. Dankert

In her 1616 mother’s advice book, The Mothers Blessing, Puritan author Dorothy Leigh exhorts her readers: “Teach a childe in his youth the trade of his life, and he will not forget it, not depart from it when he is…

Trappings of the stage
January 2022 croc mystery image
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Trappings of the stage

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Rachel B. Dankert

Thanks to those who registered your guesses on our most recent Crocodile Mystery. All of the guesses gazed upward, when the answer actually lay underfoot. While these strange designs resemble theatrical lighting effects, they are, in fact, designs for stage…

Three chords and the truth
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Three chords and the truth

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Rachel B. Dankert

There are moments when a song is the best way to convey an emotional message. Even though songs are mostly public things, they still can feel intensely personal. Popular songs in early modern England were sung in ballad form. At…

The Pirates of H.M.S. Pinafore
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The Pirates of H.M.S. Pinafore

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Rachel B. Dankert

The mystery man in the Crocodile Mystery image is the Englishman W.S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert, the librettist and playwright, in costume as King Claudius. Gilbert, along with composer Arthur Seymour Sullivan, created during the 19th century some of the most…

A recipe for brioche (knitting)
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A recipe for brioche (knitting)

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Emily Wahl Rachel B. Dankert

…a Collation KAL (knit-along). Cast on We built our friendship with knits and purls over coffee in the Folger Tea Room. Sharing patterns, exchanging techniques, and giving fiber recommendations are still staple conversation topics for us seven years after we…

Play it again, Ham
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Play it again, Ham

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Rachel B. Dankert

As a Folger staff member, I am used to seeing Shakespeare’s face everywhere, but the image from this month’s Crocodile Mystery made even me do a double take. This month’s mystery was a stumper! The Hamlet behind Shakespeare/Yorick was Edwin…

This Post Stinks, or, ‘I hope that the stuff will not smell too vilely’
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This Post Stinks, or, ‘I hope that the stuff will not smell too vilely’

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Rachel B. Dankert

John Masefield has a burning question he needs answered. Literally. Writing from his home Hill Crest in Boar’s Hill, Oxford, the Poet Laureate asks theater production veteran Allan Wade a crucial question about staging his home theatrical production of Macbeth.1…

Idols of the Reformation
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Idols of the Reformation

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Rachel B. Dankert

Thank you to all who weighed in on this month’s Crocodile Mystery! Many people recognize October 31, 1517 as a major milestone in the beginning of the Protestant Reformation—the date that it is said Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses…

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