Skip to main content
All 96 posts on

Early modern life

Folger Finds: New Year's Gift Rolls of Elizabeth I and Henry VIII
Shakespeare and Beyond

Folger Finds: New Year's Gift Rolls of Elizabeth I and Henry VIII

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

In early modern England, New Year’s Day was celebrated with a long-standing custom of giving gifts to the monarch. Each gift was carefully recorded on “gift rolls.” What were the top gifts in 1539 and 1585?

Buds, Bugs, and Birds in the Manuscripts of Esther Inglis
Shakespeare and Beyond

Buds, Bugs, and Birds in the Manuscripts of Esther Inglis

Posted
Author
Georgianna Ziegler

Flowers, bugs, birds, frogs—all and more are found in the manuscripts of Esther Inglis (1570?–1624) now on display in Little Books, Big Gifts, a special Folger exhibition highlighting her artistry with pen and brush.

Even them?! Loving the neighbour in Shakespeare and early modern England
A black and white drawing of a woman looking over her shoulder a man leaning in towards her, his hat on the ground by his feet
Collation

Even them?! Loving the neighbour in Shakespeare and early modern England

Posted
Author
Roberta Kwan

Fellow Roberta Kwan discusses Shakespeare and loving thy neighbor

Holiday Festivities and Elizabethan Theater
Shakespeare and Beyond

Holiday Festivities and Elizabethan Theater

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Erika T. Lin studies early modern holidays and her work has yielded some surprising revelations—not only about the festivities themselves, but about the relationship between holidays and what we now think of as “theater.”

Tabitha Stanmore on Practical Magic in Shakespeare’s England
Shakespeare Unlimited

Tabitha Stanmore on Practical Magic in Shakespeare’s England

Posted

Uncover the world of cunning folk in Shakespeare’s England, as scholar Tabitha Stanmore reveals how these magic practitioners helped everyone from commoners to royalty with their practical spells and charms.

Alchemy, aqua vitae, and Mixology: How alchemy gave us liquor
Shakespeare and Beyond

Alchemy, aqua vitae, and Mixology: How alchemy gave us liquor

Posted
Author
Ashley Buchanan

Without alchemy there would be no mixology. No cocktails, no spirits, no liqueurs, no essences! Dive into the history of alchemy and distillation, with two cocktail recipes.

High spirits: Alchemy in Elizabethan England
Shakespeare and Beyond

High spirits: Alchemy in Elizabethan England

Posted
Author
Jennifer Rampling

Jennifer Rampling, a Princeton history professor and author of The Experimental Fire: Inventing English Alchemy, 1300–1700, explores alchemy in Shakespeare’s England.

Will Tosh on the Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited

Will Tosh on the Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare

Posted

Scholar Will Tosh explores the hidden queer lives in Shakespeare’s works, revealing how early modern gender fluidity and same-sex desire influenced the Bard’s plays and characters.

Drinking with Shakespeare: Early Modern Tavern Tokens
A labeled envelope sits beside a creased open piece of paper and a rusty looking coil on a background of tan felt
Collation

Drinking with Shakespeare: Early Modern Tavern Tokens

Posted
Author
Leah Hampton

Artistic Fellow Leah Hampton showcases the Folger’s collection of Early Modern bar tokens

The roles of the river in early modern times
Shakespeare and Beyond

The roles of the river in early modern times

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

An excerpt from Reading the River in Shakespeare’s Britain surveys some of the cultural roles of rivers, including how Shakespeare mentioned them in his plays.

Announced in 1622: A book now known as the First Folio
Two children look at an open First Folio enclosed in a clear case.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Announced in 1622: A book now known as the First Folio

Posted
Author
Greg Prickman

Greg Prickman explains how news of the 1623 book we now call the  First Folio appeared a year earlier, on the occasion of a trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany.

Quiz: Games, sports, and Shakespeare
Shakespeare and Beyond

Quiz: Games, sports, and Shakespeare

Posted
Author
Esther Ferington

Shakespeare’s plays are full of sports and games. Test your knowledge with these questions.

1 2 3 9