The Collation

It’s said that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. The Collation’s March 2020 Crocodile Mystery, however, comes in with a unicorn and stag, and the following questions: what is this object, and why is…

Welcome back to our monthly Crocodile Mystery! For those of you (ahem) mystified by this designation for our reoccurring series of posts, take a look at the post where it was named! For the question this month, we’re returning to…

We’re well aware that around the world, and across time, there are many calendars (boy howdy do we know that), but if the calendar that you use is about to change over to January 1, 2020, we wish you a…

As we pass the winter solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, and the days grow longer at last (apologies to our readers in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s all down hill for you), we wanted to take a moment and wish…

Welcome to the final Crocodile Mystery of 2019! As we close out the year (and the decade!), we invite you to look at the image below and tell us, if you can, what on earth it’s talking about?! Leave your…

The November 2019 Crocodile Mystery is a two-parter…. What is this? And why is it part of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s collection? Please use the Comments section for answers, guesses, ridiculous speculation, and so on. Check back next week for…

For this month’s Crocodile Mystery, we ask you, our wonderful readers: What is this thing, and what is it made of? As always, comment with your thoughts and guesses and we’ll be back next week with more information!

We’re back! For this month’s Crocodile Mystery, we ask a classic question: what’s going on with this image? What is the purpose or function of the image shown? As always, leave your thoughts in the comments below, and we’ll be…

It seems appropriate to finish up our summer retrospective series with one of the earliest (and perennially most popular) posts. Whether it’s a back-to-basics refresher for you or an answer to the question you’ve been asking yourself, Deciphering Signature Marks…

It seems fitting that with last week’s retrospective post being all about paper, this week we should turn to the age-old question: just what do you call it when a book still has pages joined together (aside from “difficult to…

One of the most important physical aspects of our collection is the very paper on which the books, manuscripts, and drawings were created. Unsurprisingly, we’ve had quite a few posts on this topic! This week, we invite you to take…

Eyebrow shaping has been a thing for a long time. Including in the early modern period. Another one of our favorite posts from the past comes from the time when Heather Wolfe found a whole section on eyebrows in one…