Skip to main content

Holiday Hours: The Folger is closing at 4:30pm on Dec 24 and Dec 31. We are closed all day on Dec 25 and Jan 1.

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

Expurgation with decoration: type ornaments as replacement text
Collation

Expurgation with decoration: type ornaments as replacement text

Posted
Author
Erin Blake

Thanks for the great comments on last week’s Crocodile Mystery. Everyone scores ten points, with full marks going to the two commenters who correctly identified the publication.Plus a happy-face sticker on Philip’s comment for the tongue-in-cheek description of the apparent…

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: July 2021
11 lines of type: fleurons and ems
Collation

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: July 2021

Posted
Author
The Collation

This month’s Crocodile Mystery comes from a 17th-century publication: What’s going on in this photo? Please speculate, elucidate, and/or procrastinate in the “Comments” section. Also, in case you, like I, had misremembered the source of the catchphrase we use for…

New Acquisition: Photographs of an early 20th-century production of Hamlet in Japan
Collation

New Acquisition: Photographs of an early 20th-century production of Hamlet in Japan

Posted
Author
Elizabeth DeBold

Welcome to a new regular series here on The Collation! Curatorial staff will be writing short pieces focusing on new acquisitions, hopefully giving our readers a glimpse into how we’re building our collections. Today, I’m excited to share a small…

Folger-Penn Press interview and excerpt: Megan Heffernan, Making the Miscellany
Collation

Folger-Penn Press interview and excerpt: Megan Heffernan, Making the Miscellany

Posted
Author
The Collation

In 2015, The Folger Shakespeare Library and the University of Pennsylvania Press established a cooperative agreement to publish volumes emerging from work substantially shaped by engagement with the Folger collections, often under the aegis of Folger Institute funding. Authors published…

Postcards in the (home) archive: Folger postcards, 1935
Collation

Postcards in the (home) archive: Folger postcards, 1935

Posted
Author
Stephen H. Grant

A guest post by Stephen Grant Editor’s Note: Stephen’s previous post covers postcards of the Folger from 1934. Figure 1. Left: Statue of Puck, Folger Shakespeare Library 1935. Right: Address side of same card. Author’s Collection, photos by Stephen Grant.…

Malicious teaseling: or how a simple reference question got complicated
Collation

Malicious teaseling: or how a simple reference question got complicated

Posted
Author
Heather Wolfe

We had seven excellent answers to the Crocodile, which included an image titled “Malice,” but not the text below it. The general consensus was that the cowering man was winding thread or wool off of a drop spindle. One of…

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: June 2021
Collation

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: June 2021

Posted
Author
The Collation

We’re back! Whew! After a few technical difficulties last month, we return to bring you another Crocodile Mystery. We’ll pause while the wild cheering dies down. Please consider the image below and tell us, if you can, what’s going on…

A recipe for brioche (knitting)
Collation

A recipe for brioche (knitting)

Posted
Author
Emily Wahl Rachel B. Dankert

…a Collation KAL (knit-along). Cast on We built our friendship with knits and purls over coffee in the Folger Tea Room. Sharing patterns, exchanging techniques, and giving fiber recommendations are still staple conversation topics for us seven years after we…

Facial Misrecognition
Collation

Facial Misrecognition

Posted
Author
Wan-Chuan Kao

A guest post by Wan-Chuan Kao  Oliver Sacks, who brought to popular awareness many cognitive conditions that are simultaneously debilitating and fascinating—such as visual agnosia, of which face blindness is one type—observes that “our faces bear the stamp of our…

Birds, Beasts, Maps, and Books: The Search for Richard Daniel, Esquire
Collation

Birds, Beasts, Maps, and Books: The Search for Richard Daniel, Esquire

Posted
Author
Danielle Skeehan

A guest post by Danielle Skeehan Even before research libraries shut down in March 2020, digitization efforts had already changed how we access archives and how we can do research. From the comfort of my home, I can do a…

Postcards in the (Home) Archive: Folger Postcards, 1934
Collation

Postcards in the (Home) Archive: Folger Postcards, 1934

Posted
Author
Stephen H. Grant

A guest post by Stephen Grant As I set out with “Folger Postcards 1934” to share my personal collection of Folger postcards in a systematic way with all you Collators, I have to pause. Why am I doing this? Yes, due to…

Play it again, Ham
Collation

Play it again, Ham

Posted
Author
Rachel B. Dankert

As a Folger staff member, I am used to seeing Shakespeare’s face everywhere, but the image from this month’s Crocodile Mystery made even me do a double take. This month’s mystery was a stumper! The Hamlet behind Shakespeare/Yorick was Edwin…

1 15 16 17 18 19 71