Psssst…. we’re working on a new online catalog for the Folger collection. Do you want to help out by having an early look? If so, please keep reading! The link is deliberately buried deep in this blog post because there’s some context we want you to have, and some important warnings about the parts that we’re still working on.… Continue Reading
Posts By: The Collation

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Crocodile Mystery for May. This month, take a moment to examine this image from a 19th century printed text of Macbeth published as a promptbook for performance. What is odd about the disposition of characters in the book’s suggestion for the play’s final staging? Lock in your guesses in the comments below. See you next week for the big reveal!… Continue Reading

We’re back with yet another paleography puzzle for April’s crocodile: comment with your best guess about the below two items from this early modern list of accounts or charges, and as a bonus, tell us what they might have to do with witches!
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Interview and excerpt: Simon P. Newman, Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London
At the Folger, we are proud to sponsor research inquiry within a vibrant and intellectually generous community. Periodically, as that research is published, we circle back to talk with recent authors to showcase the role of collections-based inquiry on their methods and arguments. Today, we pose a series of questions to 2018-2019 long-term fellow Simon P. Newman, followed by an excerpt from his new book, Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London, published by University of London Press.… Continue Reading


As you’re waiting for the interminable month of February to finally expire, distract yourself with the following thought: Prints like this one were useful as well as decorative. What use did they serve?
Leave your thoughts and guesses in the comments below, and we’ll be back next week with more information.… Continue Reading
At the Folger, we are proud to sponsor research inquiry within a vibrant and intellectually generous community. Periodically, as that research is published, we circle back to talk with recent authors to showcase the role of collections-based inquiry on their methods and arguments. Today, we pose a series of questions to 2015-2016 NEH Long-term Fellow Dr. Paul M. Dover that get at the heart of his research at the Folger, followed by an excerpt from Dr.… Continue Reading
For this month’s crocodile mystery, please examine these words from different manuscript recipe books from our collections, and tell us what they have in common. We’ll be back next week with the answer.
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The Folger Institute is pleased to introduce Dr. Ashley Buchanan, our new Associate Director for Fellowships. Dr. Buchanan received her Ph.D. in early modern history in 2018 from the University of South Florida and comes to the Folger with experience as the study abroad coordinator at Mercer University and as a postdoctoral fellow in the Plant Humanities Initiative at Dumbarton Oaks.… Continue Reading

This image sets the stage for this month’s theatrical Crocodile Mystery. What type of stage mechanics is represented in these designs?
Leave your thoughts in the comments below and come back next year for the big reveal!… Continue Reading

For our final Crocodile Mystery of the year, here’s a paleographical challenge. What’s going on here, and why might the Crocodile find it interesting? (Disclaimer: This is not a Folger manuscript).
Leave your thoughts, guesses, and attempts at transcriptions in the comments below and we’ll be back next week with more info!… Continue Reading