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
“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: September 2017
For this month’s Crocodile Mystery, tell us, if you will, what the image below depicts. Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and we’ll be back next week with the answer!
Black Monday: the Great Solar Eclipse of 1652
In all the excitement of yesterday’s solar eclipse, you may have learned that eclipses are common: most calendar years have four eclipses (two solar and two lunar), with a maximum of seven eclipses (though this is rare).According to Time &…
A New Era: The Folger Now Uses Aeon!
Arrive at the Folger and grab a locker. Check in at the Registrar desk. Find that perfect spot in the Reading Room—not too cold, with just the right amount of light. Say hello to the wonderful staff and pick up…
How to Make a Librarian Panic
Co-authored by Elizabeth DeBold (Curatorial Assistant), Renate Mesmer (Head of Conservation), Austin Plann Curley (Book Conservator), and Adrienne Bell (Book Conservator). With special thanks to Kevin Cilurzo (Conservation Intern). As some of our respondents observed in their comments on…
“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: August 2017
We’re in the heat of summer (at least here in Washington D.C.) as we approach the end of July. So to help everyone cool off (or at least provide a distraction), we’ve pulled another Crocodile Mystery from our vaults. Tell…
I learned to read Secretary Hand!!!! (And so can you)
Ever seen little kids at the swimming pool excitedly shouting “Look what I can do!!!!” after daring to jump off the big-kid diving board? That’s me right now, having just returned from Rare Book School in Charlottesville, Virginia, where I took Heather…
Shakespearian novelties- er, novelettes
I was pretty intrigued when I pulled this case marked “Shakespearian novelties” from the shelf in the Vault… Spine of the case housing four “Shakespearian novelettes” … then I realized that it actually said “Shakespearian novelettes,” and my excitement dimmed…
A Photographic Facsimile from 1857
The July Crocodile Mystery showed a “detail from a printed play” and asked what’s up with the strangely uneven tone of the page. What’s up is that although the text is printed, it is not printed in ink. It is a…
“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: July 2017
For the July 2017 Crocodile Mystery, have a look at this detail from a printed play. What’s up with the strangely uneven tone of the page? Check back next week to learn more….
The Folger Institute Partners with the Shakespeare Association of America on a New Fellowship
The Folger Institute is pleased to announce a new fellowship in partnership with the Shakespeare Association of America, designed to promote scholarly work on William Shakespeare, his works, and their joined legacies. The Shakespeare Association of America (SAA) is a…
The EMMO Conference on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age
On May 18th & 19th, 2017, EMMO held the Early Modern Manuscripts Online: New Directions in Teaching and Research conference at the Folger, in collaboration with the Folger Institute. This conference was a culmination of the project’s initial three-year phase, funded by a…
Imagining a lost set of commonplace books
As observed by one of our respondents, last week’s Crocodile was a detail from a blank leaf bisected by a vertical line in graphite, with a column of handwritten letters consisting of the Roman alphabet followed by the Greek alphabet. Folger…