The Collation

Research and Exploration at the Folger
left: detail of woodcut, right: same detail of print

Pietro Mattioli and the Everlasting Woodblocks

April 4, 2017 | By Abbie Weinberg

Yes, last week’s Crocodile Mystery was a close-up image of a woodblock. This woodblock, in particular: And in fact, it is the woodblock that was used to print this image: You can compare this section of the woodblock with the (hand-colored) print that it created: So what’s going on here? What is this book and why is the woodblock used for one of the illustrations still with it?… Continue Reading

Sign Here Please: ______ Blank forms from the Folger Collection

March 30, 2017 | By Guest Author

A guest post by Derek Dunne For anyone who has worked in the Reading Room of the Folger Shakespeare Library, you’ll know that a certain amount of paperwork is part of the daily routine: sign-in sheets, call slips, and of course the exit pass. Each of these is designed to be filled in over time—sometimes written by readers (‘PLEASE PRINT’ as shown below), sometimes stamped by library staff—meaning that the document is always in progress, never quite complete; making these documents both collaborative and hybrid.… Continue Reading

“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: April 2017

March 28, 2017 | By The Collation

As March draws to a close, spring has finally (mostly) sprung in Washington DC (we’ll not talk about our poor cherry blossoms). If the days are warming up where you are as well, contemplate this Crocodile Mystery while you enjoy the weather, and tell us what this image is: As always, leave your thoughts and guesses in the comments and we’ll be back next week with the answer.… Continue Reading

Histories and Communities of Books

March 23, 2017 | By Guest Author

A guest post by Megan Heffernan Working in the Folger Shakespeare Library this year has opened my eyes to the important role that research centers play in shaping knowledge. If this sounds like a truism, bear with me for a moment because I want to use this post to think through some of the ways that scholarship is sustained by access to archives.… Continue Reading

The Guild of Women-Binders and the “bindings of tomorrow”

March 21, 2017 | By Sarah Hovde

It’s not uncommon for me to encounter small presses, publishers, and binderies with which I’m unfamiliar in the course of my regular work at the Folger. However, few of them have as intriguing a story as the Guild of Women-Binders, which I discovered in our catalog earlier this month. The Guild of Women-Binders was started by Frank Karslake, a London bookseller with ambitious ideas, but little actual experience in bookbinding.… Continue Reading

From the Archives: Shakespeare in the USSR

March 14, 2017 | By Elizabeth DeBold

Since (and even before) our founding in 1932, Folger Shakespeare Library staff has come together with a wide variety of arts and humanities organizations to celebrate the powerful nature of Shakespeare’s plays and poems. Shakespeare’s works represent a literary place to which many of us turn in times of turmoil, both personal and on a broader stage. His works have been used to support many different viewpoints, and many different types of causes—regardless of what use Shakespeare’s words have been made to serve, we can agree that they are powerful and compelling in the hands of orators and writers.… Continue Reading