crocodile mystery
"What manner o’thing is your crocodile?": January 2017
For this month’s Crocodile Mystery, have a look at the handwriting and discoloration in this detail. What’s going on? Leave a reply in the Comments section to share your thoughts.
Scissors inside books?
The rusty outline we showed in last week’s Crocodile post is, as one of our responders, Giles Bergel, correctly guessed, from a pair of scissors. It appears in Folger First Folio number 58, in Henry IV, part 1 (pp. 50-51). This First Folio…
“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: December 2016
Here is another ghostly residue for you to identify, for this month’s Crocodile Mystery: As always, leave your thoughts and guesses in the comments, and come back next week to find out the answer.
Spirit rapping and other things that go bump in the night
This month’s Crocodile Mystery was a bit of a trick, rather than a treat (although hopefully this post will fulfill the treat aspect)—as far as I know, it really is just a fancy, decorated letter A. This is one of…
“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: November 2016
Welcome to the November Crocodile Mystery! Take a look at the image below and tell us, if you can, what it is and where it appears in our collection? As always, leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments below,…
I have sent you a Privy Seal...
The answer to last week’s crocodile mystery? As Jan Kellett correctly pointed out in her comment to the October Crocodile Mystery, the red-orange concentric circles in this image are an “offset mark made by a seal.” The mark was made…
"What manner o'thing is your crocodile?": October 2016
A new crocodile mystery for a new month! Can you tell us what this is? As always, please comment with your thoughts and guesses about our mystery image, and we’ll be back next week with the answer!
"To benefit the suffering Belgians"
As several readers quickly guessed, last week’s crocodile image was a photograph of a Russian edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets. The “ghost” type in the image is due to a glassine (translucent paper) jacket around the volume, which obscures the printed…
“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?”: September 2016
Ready for September? We are, with a new crocodile mystery for you to take a stab at! What’s going on with this book? Why does some of the text on the cover appear to be faded?
Don Quixote on an Early Paper Cover
The Folger Shakespeare Library recently acquired a copybook with an intriguing pictorial paper cover, and it is, of course, the subject of the crocodile mystery we posted last week. This cover is made of thick paper (thicker than regular paper…
“What manner o’thing is your crocodile?” August 2016
As July rapidly draws to a close, we have a pretty new puzzle for readers to ponder. This month’s mystery is about the picture on this paper cover: what is the image about and why is it on this cover?…
"What manner o'thing is your crocodile?" July 2016
This month’s mystery could have many different answers, but there’s one in particular we’re looking for. The question is simple: why is this binding interesting? Any ideas? Please share your answers in the comments, and check back next week to find out if any…