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Elizabethan England

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7 habits of highly effective social climbers
Shakespeare and Beyond

7 habits of highly effective social climbers

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Author
Heather Wolfe

Imagine you want to become a power player in the rather authoritarian court of Queen Elizabeth. You want her to notice you in a favorable way, so you need to dress, act, and speak just right. Here are a few pointers.

Horchata and I share a heritage
Shakespeare and Beyond

Horchata and I share a heritage

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Author
Michael W. Twitty

Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty shares the extraordinary history of rice across the world resulting in horchata, a deeply personal drink for him.

Shakespeare's queer inspiration
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare's queer inspiration

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

In an excerpt from Straight Acting, Will Tosh tells the story of Richard Barnfield’s meteoric rise in literary London in the 1590s and how his groundbreaking poetry influenced Shakespeare’s sonnets.

New discoveries about the Shakespeare marriage
Shakespeare and Beyond

New discoveries about the Shakespeare marriage

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Matthew Steggle’s findings about a letter addressed to “Good Mrs Shakspaire” show the couple might have lived together in London at the time that Shakespeare was writing Hamlet and Othello, dispelling certain myths about their marriage.

Fashion in the Tudor court
Shakespeare and Beyond

Fashion in the Tudor court

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Learn the power of style in Tudor England and how the right ruff could help ambitious courtiers distinguish themselves in a competitive court.

The secrets of the conclave
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The secrets of the conclave

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What were papal conclaves like in Shakespeare’s time? Scholar John M. Hunt shares what’s changed from the early modern period and what remains the same.

Imagining Shakespeare’s actor Alexander Cooke
Shakespeare and Beyond

Imagining Shakespeare’s actor Alexander Cooke

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Author
Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor travels back to Elizabethan England with Nicole Galland’s novel Boy about Shakespeare’s acting company member Alexander Cooke in a surprisingly contemporary exploration of gender roles onstage and off.

The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots
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The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots

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Historian Jade Scott draws on hundreds of encrypted letters, including 57 recently unearthed letters in a French archive and decoded, to paint a vivid portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots in her new book, Captive Queen.

A letter from the Queen's lifelong favorite
Shakespeare and Beyond

A letter from the Queen's lifelong favorite

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

A letter to Elizabeth I from the earl of Leicester, who was organizing the defense of Britain against the Spanish Armada at the time, shows their playful relationship.

Grimoires and games
Shakespeare and Beyond

Grimoires and games

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Author
Ashley Buchanan

Immerse yourself in the magic of the Folger and the early modern world with our new game “A Night at the Library” paired with recipes for two conjuring cocktails to enhance playing.

Folger Finds: Winter Scenes
Shakespeare and Beyond

Folger Finds: Winter Scenes

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Scenes of winter in the Folger collection, from snowy outdoor scenes to fashionable illustrations to mentions of winter in Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

Holiday Festivities and Elizabethan Theater
Shakespeare and Beyond

Holiday Festivities and Elizabethan Theater

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Erika T. Lin studies early modern holidays and her work has yielded some surprising revelations—not only about the festivities themselves, but about the relationship between holidays and what we now think of as “theater.”

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