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The Collation

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

What's in a playbill?
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What's in a playbill?

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Author
Erin Blake

The Folger collection includes approximately 250,000 playbills, the single-sheet precursors of today’s multi-page theater programs.Many theater programs in the United States have a striking yellow banner with PLAYBILL in black letters on the front cover. These aren’t playbills, they’re free…

Postcards in the (home) archive: 1938
postcard of the Folger side-by-side with reverse, writing in ink
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Postcards in the (home) archive: 1938

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Author
Stephen H. Grant

a guest post by Stephen Grant Fig. 1. Folger Shakespeare Library from Northwest 1938Author’s Collection, photo by Stephen Grant Printed on picture side: FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY, WASHINGTON, D. C. 60063 Printed on address side: THE WASHINGTON NEWS COMPANY FOLGER SHAKESPEARE…

Small Latin and Less Greek
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Small Latin and Less Greek

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Author
Abbie Weinberg

with many thanks to Sara Schliep, Bob Tallaksen, Emily Wahl, Nicole Winard, and Heather Wolfe for their generous and careful assistance with this post. They are just a few of the folks who have been working on this project. Thank…

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: November 2021
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“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: November 2021

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Author
The Collation

What is going on in this image? Does something look a little odd to you? Is it all Gr— well now, that would be giving it away. Leave your thoughts in the comments and we’ll be back next week with…

Camaraderie, congeniality, and collaboration: paleography at the Folger
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Camaraderie, congeniality, and collaboration: paleography at the Folger

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Morgan McMinn

a guest post by Morgan McMinn Research libraries and archives are often thought of in terms of their physical existence but those misconceptions were challenged by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The Folger Shakespeare Library is…

Picturing Children’s Food in Early Modern Europe
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Picturing Children’s Food in Early Modern Europe

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Carla Cevasco

a guest post by Carla Cevasco While I started my Folger fellowship intending to research children’s foodways in the manuscript recipe book collection, I was surprised by how many hungry, eating, or even eaten children could be found in the…

Three chords and the truth
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Three chords and the truth

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Author
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…

Extra-Illustrating Othello
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Extra-Illustrating Othello

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Patricia Akhimie

a guest post by Patricia Akhimie On my last visit to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Fall 2019 (a time that seems all too distant now) to conduct research for a new edition of Othello, I set myself the goal…

Romeo and...
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Romeo and...

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Author
Elizabeth DeBold

Thanks for our many eagle-eyed readers and your attention to this month’s Crocodile Post. As several folks guessed, this is a French parody of Romeo and Juliet called Roméo et Paquette, published in 1773. This item is a new acquisition, purchased in…

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: October 2021
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“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: October 2021

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Author
The Collation

We’re back with another Crocodile Mystery! Please take a look at this partial image, and give us your best guess as to what this item might be? We’ll be back next week with the answer!

Should we care where Lucy Hutchinson went to church?
oil painting portrait of a 17th century white mine with brown hair wearing a white shirt and a dark robe on a dark background
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Should we care where Lucy Hutchinson went to church?

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Author
Crawford Gribben

A guest post by Crawford Gribben Over the last few years—and with the benefit of my summer Folger fellowship—I’ve been thinking about the network of friends and rivals that had at its centre the puritan theologian, John Owen (1616-83). John…

Postcards in the (home) archive: Folger postcards, 1937
Color postcard of the Folger Shakespeare Library side by side with the reverse of the card, containing only a date written in blue ink
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Postcards in the (home) archive: Folger postcards, 1937

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Author
Stephen H. Grant

A guest post by Stephen Grant Fig. 1. Folger Shakespeare Library from Northwest 1937Author’s Collection, photo by Stephen Grant Printed on picture side: FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY, WASHINGTON, D.C. 60063 Printed on address side: PUB. BY THE WASHINGTON NEWS COMPANY, WASHINGTON,…

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