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crocodile mystery

"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": April 2013
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"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": April 2013

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Author
The Collation

Is April the cruellest month? If so, here’s a suitably dark crocodile mystery for you to solve: your April crocodile (click to enlarge) What is this and what might we learn from it? Your speculations are welcome in the comments, and the…

The seven ages of man, rendered movingly
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The seven ages of man, rendered movingly

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Sarah Werner

In my last post, I described this month’s crocodile mystery as more of a rhetorical device than a question to be answered: what does this box prompt us to imagine what might be? All images in this post can be…

"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": March 2013
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"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": March 2013

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Author
The Collation

I’m a bit early with the March crocodile, but sometimes it’s hard not to wish February done. And so here’s another variation on our crocodile mystery theme, this time asking you not what an item is, but what it might…

a Henry for her time
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a Henry for her time

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Author
Sarah Werner

So the short answer to last week’s crocodile mystery is that this is a picture of Gwen Lally in the role of Henry V: Gwen Lally as Henry V How did I know that’s who this was? Well, click on…

"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": February 2013
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"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": February 2013

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Author
The Collation

Something a little bit different with this month’s crocodile mystery: this is an object that I both know and don’t know what it is. At one level, it’s not hard to figure out what is being depicted. But who and…

A letter from Queen Anne to Buckingham locked with silk embroidery floss
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A letter from Queen Anne to Buckingham locked with silk embroidery floss

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Author
Heather Wolfe

No, it’s not Lady Gaga’s hairline or the frizz on one of those creepy troll dolls. These were not real guesses from our readers, but the musings of Collation editorial staff when faced with an absence of comments to our…

"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": January 2013
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"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": January 2013

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Author
The Collation

To welcome you all into 2013 and back to The Collation’s regular posting schedule, we offer this crocodile mystery for you to ponder: As always, leave your thoughts below and the answer will be revealed next week!

Volvelles
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Volvelles

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Author
Sarah Werner

As three of you immediately identified in your comments, last week’s crocodile mystery was the fastening in the center of a volvelle, holding the various layers in place and allowing them to turn: volvelle from Cortes’s Breve compendio, leaf 37r…

"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": December edition
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"What manner o' thing is your crocodile?": December edition

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Author
The Collation

If it’s a new month, it must be time for a new crocodile mystery, and so: click to enlarge As always, we invite your your thoughts below on what this might be and what we might learn from it!

Itty-bitty tab dividers
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Itty-bitty tab dividers

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Author
Erin Blake

The main trick with November’s “crocodile” was having to figure out the scale. It looks at first glance like a woolly button on a pin-striped shirt: The November ‘Crocodile’ But when a ruler is included in the shot, you can…

“What manner o’ thing is your crocodile?”: November edition
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“What manner o’ thing is your crocodile?”: November edition

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Author
The Collation

And now, for your viewing pleasure, we present this month’s crocodile mystery. What is it? How was it made? What size is it? Would it sell well as a postcard in the Folger gift shop? This caption intentionally blank. Please…

embroidered bindings
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embroidered bindings

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Sarah Werner

So last week’s crocodile mystery was nailed by Aaron Pratt within a half-hour of my posting: what you see below is, as he notes, an embroidered binding depicting David and Goliath and covering a Book of Psalms, in this instance,…

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