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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

Don Quixote on an Early Paper Cover
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Don Quixote on an Early Paper Cover

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Author
Caroline Duroselle-Melish

The Folger Shakespeare Library recently acquired a copybook with an intriguing pictorial paper cover, and it is, of course, the subject of the crocodile mystery we posted last week. This cover is made of thick paper (thicker than regular paper…

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?” August 2016
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“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?” August 2016

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The Collation

As July rapidly draws to a close, we have a pretty new puzzle for readers to ponder. This month’s mystery is about the picture on this paper cover: what is the image about and why is it on this cover?…

Shakespeare the player: a new discovery sheds light on two Folger manuscripts
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Shakespeare the player: a new discovery sheds light on two Folger manuscripts

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Author
Heather Wolfe

The reference to a coat of arms belonging to “Shakespeare the Player by Garter” in a manuscript at the Folger, V.a.350, has garnered much attention over the years. Folger MS V.a.350 is currently on loan to the British Library for their exhibition Shakespeare…

The Earliest Recorded Shakespeare in America?
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The Earliest Recorded Shakespeare in America?

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Author
Georgianna Ziegler

We know that a number of the founding fathers (and mothers) in 18th-century America knew their Shakespeare. John and Abigail Adams frequently quoted from Shakespeare in their letters; Thomas Jefferson recommended reading Shakespeare in a course of private study; and…

An unfinished gold-tooled binding
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An unfinished gold-tooled binding

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Erin Blake

July’s Crocodile mystery asked: why is this binding interesting? There are any number of answers, but the one I had in mind was: it’s unfinished. Last week’s picture shows the front cover of Folger call number STC 13051.3, the 1630 edition of A helpe…

"What manner o'thing is your crocodile?" July 2016
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"What manner o'thing is your crocodile?" July 2016

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Author
The Collation

This month’s mystery could have many different answers, but there’s one in particular we’re looking for. The question is simple: why is this binding interesting? Any ideas? Please share your answers in the comments, and check back next week to find out if any…

Music Manuscripts
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Music Manuscripts

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Author
Abbie Weinberg

Recently, I have found myself answering a number of reference questions concerning our musical holdings (a reference librarian manifestation of the frequency illusion perhaps?). Whatever the reason, it has been a nice reminder that some of our manuscript holdings contain…

Investigating a Bull's Head Watermark
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Investigating a Bull's Head Watermark

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Caroline Duroselle-Melish

What would draw an eighteenth-century reader to an early sixteenth-century book, written in Latin, on venereal disease? The Folger Shakespeare Library’s copy of Ulrich von Hutten’s book De Guaici medicina et morbo gallico liber unus printed in 1531 by Johann…

A Pictorial Table of Contents
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A Pictorial Table of Contents

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Author
Heather Wolfe

Last week’s Crocodile was a jumble of household instruments with numbers next to them. As our first commenter, Katie Will, correctly guessed, the detail was from the table of contents of a type of heraldic manuscript known as an Ordinary.…

“What manner o’ thing is your crocodile?”: June 2016
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“What manner o’ thing is your crocodile?”: June 2016

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Author
The Collation

It’s the last day of the month, and our intrepid readers know what that means: mystery time! So for this month, we ask: why on earth would someone make a jumble of pictures of everyday items like this? And why…

What’s in a genre? Metadata, Controlled Vocabularies, and the Folger’s Digital Anthology
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What’s in a genre? Metadata, Controlled Vocabularies, and the Folger’s Digital Anthology

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Author
Meaghan J. Brown

  Shakespeare’s plays are organized in the First Folio into three now familiar genre categories: Comedies, Tragedies, and Histories. Later scholars added a fourth, describing certain late plays like The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale that contain elements of both…

Early Modern Edit-a-Thon
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Early Modern Edit-a-Thon

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Author
Sarah Hovde

Have you noticed any new articles on Wikipedia lately? An average of 700-800 are added to the English-language Wikipedia each day. This is a rough average based on Wikipedia’s own calculations; you can read more about them on their Size…

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