The Collation

While merchant Humphrey Walcot’s May 8, 1601 shopping list is unique for some of its items, writing lists of items and prices was very common. Packed with accounts, bills, and receipts, the Folger collection shows how people from all walks of life used numbers every day.

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…

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…

In answer to this month’s Crocodile Mystery, Abbie Weinberg explores 17th century vicar John Ward’s use of both Latin and Greek in his notebooks.

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…

A look at the virtual community of volunteer paleographers who work together to transcribe manuscripts in the Folger’s collection.

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…

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…

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…

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…

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!

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…