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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 manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: October 2018
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“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: October 2018

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Author
The Collation

For this month’s mystery, we’d like your thoughts on this image: what’s going on here with the design appearing in different spots on these two books? What is it, what does it mean, why might it appear here? Share your…

The mystery of the Shakespearian cartoons
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The mystery of the Shakespearian cartoons

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Author
Sarah Hovde

I first encountered this book three years ago, in 2015. Intrigued by its sparse catalog record, which at that point consisted of a cataloger-supplied title (“”), an estimated page count, and little more, I went down to the vault to…

Experiments with early modern manuscripts and computer-aided transcription
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Experiments with early modern manuscripts and computer-aided transcription

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Author
Meaghan J. Brown Minyue Dai, Carrie Yang, and Reeve Ingle

Guest post by Minyue Dai, Carrie Yang, Reeve Ingle, and Meaghan J. Brown. Hundreds of years ago, scholars might spend hours in a library searching through thousands of pages to find a useful paragraph.Things get much easier when we can…

Happy 500th Birthday!
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Happy 500th Birthday!

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Author
Abbie Weinberg

On a recent tour, I was showing a book published in 1518, and mentioned that clearly we were celebrating its 500th birthday by showing it off to a group of very appreciative folks. But that got me thinking—what other books…

About that frontispiece portrait of Hannah Woolley....
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About that frontispiece portrait of Hannah Woolley....

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Author
Heather Wolfe

I was delighted by the range of responses we got for last week’s Crocodile post on the identity of the woman in the engraving: Catherine of Braganza, Cleopatra, Lady Frances Egerton, Elizabeth Nash nee Hall (Shakespeare’s grand-daughter), Hannah Woolley, and…

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: September 2018
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“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: September 2018

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Author
The Collation

For this month’s mystery, we have a pretty straight-forward question: Who is this woman? Leave your guesses in the comments below, and we’ll be back next week with more information!

Early Modern Digital Texts: a link roundup
quote from Hamlet F1
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Early Modern Digital Texts: a link roundup

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Author
Meaghan J. Brown

The early modern textual landscape is broad and varied online, from full-text collections focused on a single genre or area of research, to in-depth examinations of the history of a famous text. In this post, we’ll explore a few of…

A "lost" drawing by Ellen Terry
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A "lost" drawing by Ellen Terry

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Author
Erin Blake

Is it possible to lose something you never had? The other day I managed to “lose” a 1905 sketch of a theater interior by actress Ellen Terry (1847-1928). I had caught a glimpse of it when sorting through a small…

The Drury Lane printshop
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The Drury Lane printshop

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Author
Caroline Duroselle-Melish

Jeffrey Meade’s guess is correct: this type inventory includes a great variety of large sized type. It belongs to a longer document made in June 1819 recording the furniture of the Theatre Royal at Drury Lane when the theater was…

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: August 2018
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“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: August 2018

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Author
The Collation

This month’s Crocodile Mystery is about an inventory of typefaces found in a printshop. Can anyone guess in what type of printing business they would have been used? As always, leave your guesses and thoughts in the comments below, and…

Under Cover: Forged Bindings on Display at the Folger
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Under Cover: Forged Bindings on Display at the Folger

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Author
Elizabeth DeBold

Our latest exhibition, Form and Function: the Genius of the Book, provides visitors with a true visual feast. Offering a wide array of different types of bindings from the Folger collections, exhibition attendees will learn about the techniques and materials historically…

Announcing a New Fellowship for Before "Farm to Table": Early Modern Foodways and Cultures
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Announcing a New Fellowship for Before "Farm to Table": Early Modern Foodways and Cultures

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Author
Jonathan MacDonald

The Folger Institute is excited to announce a fellowship as part of Before Farm to Table: Early Modern Foodways and Cultures, the inaugural project of the Folger Institute’s Mellon initiative in collaborative research. Each Before “Farm to Table” fellow will…

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