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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

The "Greco Deco" Folger Shakespeare Library
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The "Greco Deco" Folger Shakespeare Library

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Author
Erin Blake

The About page for this blog declares that The Collation “seeks to present bite-sized glimpses of the materials found within our walls.” That’s a bit tricky at the moment: like most of the rest of the Folger staff, I haven’t…

Marks in Manuals
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Marks in Manuals

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Bénédicte Miyamoto

A guest post by Bénédicte Miyamoto Are these manuals I spy in the workshop? It is impossible to read the spines of the books in the illustration of an artist’s workshop in Salomon de Caus’s 1612 La perspectiue: auec la…

Hooked on Book Furniture...
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Hooked on Book Furniture...

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Dawn Hoffmann

… corners, clasps (and other interesting metal parts of a book)! A guest post by Dawn Hoffmann What makes these little (and some not so tiny) metal parts so intriguing? Why were they put on these books and who might…

Subscribing to the blog
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Subscribing to the blog

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The Collation

As some of you have noticed (and kindly reached out to us about!), we’re having a little bit of technical difficulties with the built-in blog subscription module. (You may have noticed that the lovely “subscribe here!” box that usually lives…

The Many Different Ways to Make a Lacemaking Pattern Book: The Case of Vinciolo's Book
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The Many Different Ways to Make a Lacemaking Pattern Book: The Case of Vinciolo's Book

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Caroline Duroselle-Melish

Folger Shakespeare Library, NK9405.V5 1592 Cage. Photo by Caroline Duroselle-Melish Early modern lacemaking pattern books are ‘eye catching’ picture books with pages after pages of intricate designs. Unlike most modern pattern books, they generally include very little instructions on…

All the Purposes of a Library: a piece of blue ephemera
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All the Purposes of a Library: a piece of blue ephemera

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Elizabeth DeBold

Thanks to all of you who participated in guessing for this month’s Crocodile Mystery! As some of you noted, it is a book bound in eighteenth-century waste paper, particularly waste paper related to a late eighteenth-century edition of the Cyclopaedia:…

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: April 2020
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“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: April 2020

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The Collation

For April’s Crocodile mystery, take a look at this image and let us know what you think is going on! As always, leave your comments and we’ll be back next week with more information!

First Folger Director: William Adams Slade, Part II
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First Folger Director: William Adams Slade, Part II

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Stephen H. Grant

A guest post by Stephen Grant Part I of the William Adams Slade saga was largely deltiological, that is having to do with picture postcards. Part II will be deltiological in one instance. Let’s now pick up with chronological references…

Strange New World: Folger Resources for Online Learning and Teaching
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Strange New World: Folger Resources for Online Learning and Teaching

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The Collation

I think Miranda will forgive the paraphrase when we say it’s a strange new world out there right now. For many of us, our lives have been turned upside down in the last week (has it really only been a week?),…

A Wyncoll's Tale
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A Wyncoll's Tale

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Elizabeth DeBold Heather Wolfe

Let’s face it, every special collections library has at least a few mystery items in the vault that are quietly passed down over the decades from curator to curator (or cataloger to cataloger, or acquisitions librarian to acquisitions librarian). These…

Dining with the Hermaphrodites: Courtly Excess and Dietary Manuals in Early Modern France
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Dining with the Hermaphrodites: Courtly Excess and Dietary Manuals in Early Modern France

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Kathleen Long

A guest post by Kathleen Long In 1605, a satirical novel, now known under the title L’Isle des Hermaphrodites (The Island of Hermaphrodites) was circulating on the streets of Paris. It was very popular at the time, according to contemporary…

A late 15th-century tapestry fragment with visible restorations
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A late 15th-century tapestry fragment with visible restorations

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Erin Blake

Yes, indeed, the Folger collection item the March 2020 Crocodile Mystery is two-toned because of fading (and yes, indeed, it is a tapestry). Congratulations and thanks to Elisabeth, Ed, and Carolyn for their comments. The mystery wasn’t quite solved, though:…

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