Manuscripts

Ahead of the US premiere of The Mirror and the Light, curator Heather Wolfe shares the juicy stories behind items in our collection related to Cromwell and Anne of Cleves.

A letter to Elizabeth I from the earl of Leicester, who was organizing the defense of Britain against the Spanish Armada at the time, shows their playful relationship.

To celebrate her feast day, explore the legend of Saint Agatha as told through Folger manuscript V.b.334

Go behind the scenes of our exhibition, Little Books, Big Gifts: The Artistry of Esther Inglis. 400 years after her death, Inglis “can still make the whole place shimmer.”

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?

Scenes of winter in the Folger collection, from snowy outdoor scenes to fashionable illustrations to mentions of winter in Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

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.

A behind the scenes look at the creation of a reproduction of one of the embroidered bindings on display in Little Books, Big Gifts: The Artistry of Esther Inglis.

Fellow Douglas Clark delves into the contents of the previously overlooked manuscript, Thomas Grocer’s Banquet of Sweetmeats.

Fellow Andrés Gattinoni looks at Early Modern collections of music and jokes intended to cure melancholy.

A suggested solution to May’s Folger Mystery about two almost identical letters regarding Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne of Cleves in the Folger’s Collection.

Folger Fellow Emma Marshall explores the history of the women of the Lucy family.