The Collation
Research and Exploration at the Folger
The Collation is a gathering of useful information and observations from Folger staff and researchers. Read more about this blog
Top five Collation blog posts of 2025
Take a look at our top five Collation posts from 2025. Thanks for a great year!
“Greetings from Jamaica”
Seventeenth century resonances in a twentieth century postcard sent from Jamaica.
How to be a true widow in early modern England
“Do not seek pleasure in music and singing” and other advice for widows from an early 17th-century manuscript.
Third Time’s a Charm: W. Blount Reads Sidney’s Arcadia
An examination of marginalia in the Folger’s 1593 The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia
Working Through the Tangle: Language, Archives, and Practice
What does the language of Shakespeare have in common with the Gullah-Geechee language?
Miscellaneous Race
Looking at enslaved Black workers and the 1588 Spanish Armada’s afterlives in a 17th-century English miscellany
Race B4 Race 2025, Seminar 1: What We’re Reading and Why
Keep up with what the RaceB4Race Mentorship Network is reading this year!
A Closer Look at Paste Papers with Folger Conservators
Have you ever noticed a decorated paper on a volume in our collection and wondered how it was made?
Anthony Burgess and Shakespeare
You probably know Anthony Burgess as the author of A Clockwork Orange, but did you know he was also a prominent commentator on Shakespeare’s life?
Dots and Slashes in Early Modern English Account Books: A Window into the Material Practices of Reckoning
The solution to this month’s Folger Mystery reveals the purpose of dots and slashes drawn in early modern account books
Folger Mysteries, September 2025 edition
Guess what these series of dots mean in this month’s Folger Mystery!
Musicians on ships in Early Modern Europe
A look at the many roles that musicians played aboard Early Modern ships.