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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

Signature statements in book cataloging
Collation

Signature statements in book cataloging

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Author
Erin Blake

Today’s post returns to the cliffhanger at the end of Tuesday’s Physical description in book cataloging overview: if , CXXII leaves : ill. ; 31 cm (fol.) forms a complete physical description in a library catalog, then what’s up with a4 A-O8 P10 and where does it fit…

Physical description in book cataloging
Collation

Physical description in book cataloging

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Author
Erin Blake

Does a4 A-O8 P10 make perfect sense to you? If so, please read on anyway. This isn’t a post on how to decode a collational formula. It’s a post about what to expect (and what not to expect) in the “physical description”…

Unlocking An Early Modern Account Book
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Unlocking An Early Modern Account Book

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Author
Paul Dingman

The answer to last week’s Crocodile mystery is, as some of you guessed, £135 15s 0d (or 135 pounds, 15 shillings). This amount is a snippet of one entry made on a page in Folger MS V.b.308, the account book of…

Building a Replica of the John Wilkes Booth Diary
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Building a Replica of the John Wilkes Booth Diary

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Author
Austin Plann Curley

Guest Post by Folger conservator Austin Plann Curley “You can’t always get what you want.” So said the Rolling Stones in 1969. Such was the case for the Folger Shakespeare Library in our recent request to borrow the Diary of…

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

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

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Author
The Collation

Here’s a mystery of the Crocodile manner for May. The text shown in this image is one piece of a larger whole, but the question is what is it and how does it relate to the whole? As always, post…

In Defense of the Card Catalog
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In Defense of the Card Catalog

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Author
Abbie Weinberg

Whenever I am giving a tour of our Reading Rooms, or introducing a new Reader to our collection, I always make it a point to mention that we still have a card catalog room (two, in fact—one primarily for our…

How to plan a Shakespeare tercentenary
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How to plan a Shakespeare tercentenary

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Author
Sarah Hovde

The Folger has a wide assortment of commemorative material relating to Shakespearean celebrations—from David Garrick’s 1769 Shakespeare Jubilee, to tercentaries and quatercentenaries of Shakespeare’s birth (although no materials from the quatercentenary of his death quite yet)—but we hold very few…

Letter Scraps
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Letter Scraps

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Author
Abbie Weinberg

Yes, indeed. As several readers astutely figured out, this scrap of paper most likely bears the tail-end of the phrase “Sotheby sale.” As for why it’s in our collection? Well, part of that answer comes with one more piece of…

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

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

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Author
The Collation

Welcome to our April crocodile mystery! So tell us, dear readers, why this scrap of paper is in our collection, and what it might be?

Musae Faciles; or, an Oxford Study Guide
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Musae Faciles; or, an Oxford Study Guide

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Author
Nicholas Tyacke

A guest post by Nicholas Tyacke Back in 2008, on the eve of directing a Faculty Weekend Seminar at the Folger, on “The University Cultures of Early-Modern Oxford and Cambridge,” I took the opportunity to consult the card catalog of…

New STC call numbers for old
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New STC call numbers for old

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Author
Erin Blake

The Great Reclassification has begun! As some of you may know, all newly-acquired vault material at the Folger is shelved in the order it was accessioned except for publications that fall within the scope of  A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland,…

Where is that book? Tracing copies imaged for EEBO
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Where is that book? Tracing copies imaged for EEBO

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Author
Meaghan J. Brown

How do you find a book? There are times when not just any copy will do, when you need to locate one exact copy of a book with a certain history. While gathering information for the Folger’s Digital Anthology of…

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