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Research and discovery

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“More strange than true”: Finding America among the fairies
Shakespeare and Beyond

“More strange than true”: Finding America among the fairies

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Author
Victoria Muñoz

“I have had a most rare vision…” Bottom’s words in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” echo the language of Spanish conquistadors describing Aztec Mexico.

BECOMING OTHELLO! A gender-flipped journey onstage and in the archive
Shakespeare and Beyond

BECOMING OTHELLO! A gender-flipped journey onstage and in the archive

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Author
Debra Ann Byrd

Debra Ann Byrd writes about encountering an early female Othello in the Folger collection and developing her memoir and solo show, Becoming Othello.

Translating the Chinese classic 'The Peony Pavilion' with a 'Shakespearean flavor'
The Peony Pavilion
Shakespeare and Beyond

Translating the Chinese classic 'The Peony Pavilion' with a 'Shakespearean flavor'

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Author
Esther French

The Peony Pavilion. “Kunqu performance at Peking University.” Wikimedia Commons / Antonis SHEN / CC BY-SA 2.0 Could Chinese literature be more popular with English-speaking audiences if translators favored words, phrases and poetic forms that spark associations with Shakespeare? This…

Small Latin and Less Greek: A Look at the Inkhorn Controversy
a photograph of a page in a dictionary
Shakespeare and Beyond

Small Latin and Less Greek: A Look at the Inkhorn Controversy

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Author
Sara Schliep

The Inkhorn Controversy in the 15th and 16th centuries focused on the use of long, Latinate words as opposed to shorter, Saxon-rooted English counterparts.

A Guide to Ladies: Hannah Woolley's missing book emerges from the archives
A Guide to Ladies by Hannah Woolley
Shakespeare and Beyond

A Guide to Ladies: Hannah Woolley's missing book emerges from the archives

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Author
David B. Goldstein

One of Hannah Woolley’s books has sat hidden in plain sight at the Folger since 1990—included in the Folger online catalog, but missing from an international database that scholars often use to search for early English books. It is the…

In the News: In Rare Books, Centuries-Old Proteins Can Reveal the Past
Sample of book dust being removed from 17th-century Bible. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Shakespeare and Beyond

In the News: In Rare Books, Centuries-Old Proteins Can Reveal the Past

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Recent news about proteomics (the study of proteins) in the humanities has included a Folger Shakespeare Library project, irreverently called Project Dustbunny, that studies proteins in rare books to learn about those who once handled or read them.

Savory biscuits from a 17th-century recipe
Savory Cogs Biscuits. All photography by Brittany Diliberto. www.beetwosweet.com
Shakespeare and Beyond

Savory biscuits from a 17th-century recipe

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Author
Elisa Tersigni Jack Bouchard

Interested in adding variety to your Thanksgiving dinner? Try this modernized 17th-century recipe for savory biscuits based on a manuscript in the Folger collection.

In the spirit of Oktoberfest: Food, drink, and changing times in early modern Europe
Hartmann Schopper. Panoplia omnium… 1568. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Shakespeare and Beyond

In the spirit of Oktoberfest: Food, drink, and changing times in early modern Europe

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Author
Jack Bouchard

As October comes to an end, we celebrate food, drink, and culture in the German cities of Shakespeare’s day, including the creation of beer and wine and the harvest festivals each fall, marked by our modern-day tradition of Oktoberfest.

Who decides what’s in a canon? Jeremy Lopez on English literary history
A select collection of old plays
Shakespeare and Beyond

Who decides what’s in a canon? Jeremy Lopez on English literary history

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Lopez looks at which early modern plays were considered better than others (and why) and how the works selected to represent the era might change.

Shakespeare Unlimited: Hearing the voices of discovery
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare Unlimited: Hearing the voices of discovery

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Author
Esther Ferington

In our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast, now celebrating its 100th episode, you can hear so many surprising and often first-person stories by scholars, musicians, authors, actors, and others on all manner of Shakespearean topics.

How Restoration playwrights reshaped Shakespeare’s plays to fit changing political norms and theatrical tastes
Shakespeare and Beyond

How Restoration playwrights reshaped Shakespeare’s plays to fit changing political norms and theatrical tastes

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Author
Claude Fretz

Restoration Shakespeare was a complex theatrical experience that integrated song, music, dance, and acting; indeed, music and dance, alongside stage machines and movable scenes, were central to the success of Restoration theatre more generally.

The Richard Stonley diary: Rediscovering an early Shakespeare purchase
Richard Stonley diary
Shakespeare and Beyond

The Richard Stonley diary: Rediscovering an early Shakespeare purchase

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Forty-five years ago on Shakespeare’s birthday, the Folger announced that Laetitia Yeandle, then curator of manuscripts, had “rediscovered” a long-lost diary entry marking the first recorded purchase of Shakespeare’s first publication, Venus and Adonis.

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