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The Collation

“What manner o’ thing is your crocodile?”: August, 2020

Some types of publication have fairly standard proportions. For example, you can be pretty sure this oblong volume isn’t a Bible or a play text:

book cover
Front cover of The pen’s excellencie, or, The secretaries delighte / Written by Martin Billingsley. [London] : Are to be solde by Io: Sudbury & George Humble in Popeshead alley, [1618?]. Call number: Folger STC 3062.3

If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably a Berlemont-style international phrase book or a penmanship manual. As it happens, I don’t have to guess: it’s a penmanship manual, namely, an edition of Martin Billingsley’s The pen’s excellencie (call number: Folger STC 3062.3).

I also don’t have to guess what’s inside the tall, skinny leather cover in this photograph. It’s time for the August 2020 “What manner o’ thing is your crocodile?” so you have to guess….

Use the “Leave a reply” box at the end of the post to share what you think it might be. Come back to The Collation next week to have a look inside.

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