Early modern life
Quiz: Shakespeare and travel
In this busy travel time, try out our “Travel and Shakespeare” quiz about journeys in his plays and in real life, too.
Better than a Pound of Sorrow: Antidotes for Melancholy in Early Modern England
Fellow Andrés Gattinoni looks at Early Modern collections of music and jokes intended to cure melancholy.
A ‘declineing time’? The final illnesses of Constance and Elizabeth Lucy
Folger Fellow Emma Marshall explores the history of the women of the Lucy family.
George Saunders in happier times
The tale of George Saunders and his hopes for a wife.
A 17th Century Letter Collection, Part 3: Farming in Early Modern England, 1630-1632
A final look at the Powell family letters.
A 17th Century Letter Collection, Part 2: Travelling Around Early Modern England, 1630-1632
A continued look at the Powell family letters.
“To the right Wor[shipfu]ll and my very louinge freinde the Lady Powell …”: A 17th Century Letter Collection
The first part of a series of posts examining the Powell family letters.
How Shakespeare Thought About the Mind, with Helen Hackett
The Elizabethan period marked an unusually rich moment for theories of consciousness and for the representation of thought in literature, says scholar Helen Hackett.
Stealing Signs
Thanks to everyone who shared their guesses on last week’s post and congratulations to those of you who guessed correctly! Sermo mirabilis: or the silent language by Charles de La Fin, London, 1693. Folger call number: L174 The mystery image…
My True Meaning: emotions in seventeenth-century wills
Anyone who has read early modern wills, whether in an attempt to confirm the names of family members or out of interest in material history, knows that they are full of emotion. Dying men and women describe their family members…
Love-in-idleness, Part One: Adapting an early modern recipe for heartsease cordial
Marissa Nicosia adapts an early modern recipe for heartsease cordial. This purple pansy syrup was used to “clear the heart” – to treat the chest and lungs or to reduce fever – but also for healing heartaches.
Women Patrons as Playmakers
A guest post by Elizabeth Kolkovich In the summer of 1602, Alice Egerton, Countess of Derby, did something rather extraordinary. When Queen Elizabeth I visited her house, she brought to the forefront the female patrons who usually remained behind the…