The Collation

It seems fitting that with last week’s retrospective post being all about paper, this week we should turn to the age-old question: just what do you call it when a book still has pages joined together (aside from “difficult to…

One of the most important physical aspects of our collection is the very paper on which the books, manuscripts, and drawings were created. Unsurprisingly, we’ve had quite a few posts on this topic! This week, we invite you to take…

Eyebrow shaping has been a thing for a long time. Including in the early modern period. Another one of our favorite posts from the past comes from the time when Heather Wolfe found a whole section on eyebrows in one…

If you’ve ever been confused by the differences between woodcuts, engravings, and etchings, clearly you’re not alone! This post by Erin Blake, from 2012, is perennially one of our most popular. So in case you missed it the first time…

Happy summer, everyone! (Or happy winter, if you’re in the southern hemisphere!) From now until the end of August, we’re going to be doing a summer retrospective here on The Collation, highlighting some of our past posts. This blog has…

Tell us what you think is going on here! If you have correctly answered a crocodile post in the last 6 months, please consider giving it a couple days for others to have a guess, and no checking Hamnet, either…

Last month’s Crocodile Mystery asked you to name what the images had in common. This month we ask the opposite: what’s different? How many differences can you spot? Click the image for a larger view. Much MUCH larger versions of…

Welcome to another Crocodile Mystery! This month, we ask that you look at the images below and tell us what they have in common. (Yes, we know there are many possible answers to this. Yes, we are looking for one…

Welcome to this month’s Crocodile Mystery. Today, we’re going to ask you to read between the lines, as it were: can you make out the the crossed-out name on this title page? Squint your eyes, tilt your head, and give…

UPDATE: The Reading Room will be open from 9 am – 4:30 pm on Saturday, April 20, 2019. Please note that the docent-led public tour of the space will still take place from noon to 1pm, as usual, so researchers…

For the Crocodile of the month, we ask you to look at the title page (ignore the beautiful ink blot by the imprint) and colophon of this book in relation to its call number STC 4811. Is there something a…

In February, our crocodile mystery involves a few real crocodile tears. For this month’s mystery, we ask you look at the image below and let us know if you can guess what the symbols mean for the future of this…