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All 24 posts by

Goran Proot

was Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Rare Books at the Folger Shakespeare Library from June 2012 to August 2014.
Miracles lately vvrovght: the use of “vv” for “w” in 17th-century titles
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Miracles lately vvrovght: the use of “vv” for “w” in 17th-century titles

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Goran Proot

In earlier posts I surveyed the use of “v” for “u” in titles and imprints of books printed in the Southern Netherlands. In both cases, this habit clearly faded out in the course of the seventeenth century. These findings, in…

An argent lion rampant: coats of arms in 17th-c. books
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An argent lion rampant: coats of arms in 17th-c. books

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Goran Proot

In recent months, the Folger Shakespeare Library added a rare emblem book to its holdings, a thin quarto bound in pasteboards holding 24 unnumbered leaves . The emblem book presents itself as a “new year’s gift” containing 13 engravings: one coat…

Steady sellers
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Steady sellers

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Goran Proot

Recently, Jan van de Kamp, a scholar from the Netherlands, contacted me with the question of whether I knew a method to extract all religious steady sellers from the Short Title Catalogue, Netherlands (STCN). He would like to use that…

Abbreviations and signatures
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Abbreviations and signatures

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Goran Proot

As Sjoerd Levelt guessed in the comments, this month’s crocodile image featured an abbreviation, rather than a letter, in the signature mark: sig. 22Here’s a longer look at what this character is and how it ended up being used in…

A catchy Italian design
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A catchy Italian design

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Goran Proot

In 1629 Agostino Mascardi’s Italian story about the conspiracy of Count Giovanni Luigi de Fieschi was published—according to a statement on the engraved title page only suggesting an imprint—in an unspecified Antwerp printing shop. Because of that, the edition is…

V and U in 17th-century Flemish book imprints
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V and U in 17th-century Flemish book imprints

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Goran Proot

In my last blog post I discussed the use of “V” and “U” in titles on title pages of 17th-century books published in Flanders. For this blog post I surveyed two extra elements which often appear on title pages as…

V and U in 17th-century Flemish book titles
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V and U in 17th-century Flemish book titles

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Goran Proot

For many years bibliographers in Flanders have been speculating about the use of “V” in the place of “U” on title pages of early modern hand-press books. For the occasion of this blog post, I decided “TO TAKE VP THE GAVNTLET” in…

The use of paragraph marks in early 16th-century Flemish editions
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The use of paragraph marks in early 16th-century Flemish editions

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Goran Proot

(UPDATE January 23: In editing this post, I inadvertently inserted an inaccurate use of “Dutch” as a modifier in the post title; I’ve now updated it to the correct “Flemish”. SW.) The Folger Shakespeare Library has very strong Continental holdings.…

“Très-humblement”: Tracing the mysteries of a 1602 Dutch pamphlet
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“Très-humblement”: Tracing the mysteries of a 1602 Dutch pamphlet

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Goran Proot

For more than a year now I have been working with volunteers on the Flemish holdings in the Folger. I reported on this project at the annual international conference of Sixteenth Century Society and Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico,…

Fingerspitzengefühl
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Fingerspitzengefühl

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Goran Proot

Just like “Fernweh”—the opposite of “Heimweh” or one’s longing for distant countries—the German word “Fingerspitzengefühl” is almost impossible to translate. Literally it refers to the sensitivity of one’s fingertips and it expresses an accurate knowledge or a delicate feeling that…

"Printed at Antwerp the fiue and twenty day of March"
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"Printed at Antwerp the fiue and twenty day of March"

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Goran Proot

This title page shows a strange combination of typographical features and language. Strange, at least, for someone who has seen a lot of title pages printed or published in Antwerp, and probably less so for people who are mainly dealing…

A ballet for the Polish prince
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A ballet for the Polish prince

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Goran Proot

In my previous Collation post, I discussed a rare broadside announcing a Jesuit theater performance held in Brussels in September 1624. The Jesuits hoped that Ladislas Sigismund Wasa, who was traveling through Europe, would honor that event with his presence. Whether…

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