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Folger Collections

Lost at Sea
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Lost at Sea

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Author
Elizabeth DeBold

Shakespeare liked shipwrecks, including one in at least five of his plays. Sea storms and shipwrecks were a convenient way to separate characters or bring them into conflict, as well as stranding them in a strange place. In the “Age…

Dryden's Virgil, Ogilby's Virgil, and Aeneas's nose job
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Dryden's Virgil, Ogilby's Virgil, and Aeneas's nose job

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Author
Erin Blake

First, a confession: this month’s Crocodile Mystery was originally going to pose a question along the lines of “What’s weird about this image?” or “What makes this picture especially interesting?” but I gave up. I couldn’t figure out how to…

A nineteenth-century family circus
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A nineteenth-century family circus

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Author
Sarah Hovde

A few months ago, I wrote about the process of creating brief catalog records for the Folger’s playbill collection. Since then, I’ve completed records for playbills from London and all of Scotland, and have begun working my way through playbills…

Consuming the New World
Commonplace book
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Consuming the New World

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Author
Misha Ewen

A guest post by Misha Ewen William Petre (1575-1637) was a typical gentleman of his time. He was 22 years old and newly married when he began keeping an account book of his household expenses. Between 1597 and 1610 Petre…

"Whose least part crackt, the whole does fly": early views on Prince Rupert's Drops
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"Whose least part crackt, the whole does fly": early views on Prince Rupert's Drops

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Author
Abbie Weinberg

Honor is like that glassy Bubble That finds Philosophers such trouble, Whose least part crackt, the whole does fly, And Wits are crack’d to find out why. Samuel Butler, Hudibras, Part II, Canto II, lines 385-89. In the second part…

Black Monday: the Great Solar Eclipse of 1652
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Black Monday: the Great Solar Eclipse of 1652

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Author
Elizabeth DeBold

In all the excitement of yesterday’s solar eclipse, you may have learned that eclipses are common: most calendar years have four eclipses (two solar and two lunar), with a maximum of seven eclipses (though this is rare).According to Time &…

Behind the Camera with Antony and Cleopatra
Folger Spotlight

Behind the Camera with Antony and Cleopatra

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Author
emma poltrack

The sultry D.C. summer is winding down, but things are just heating up at Folger Theatre where we’re preparing for our first show of the season: Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. 

A New Era: The Folger Now Uses Aeon!
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A New Era: The Folger Now Uses Aeon!

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Author
Rachel B. Dankert

Arrive at the Folger and grab a locker. Check in at the Registrar desk. Find that perfect spot in the Reading Room—not too cold, with just the right amount of light. Say hello to the wonderful staff and pick up…

How to Make a Librarian Panic
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How to Make a Librarian Panic

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Author
Adrienne Bell Austin Plann Curley Elizabeth DeBold Renate Mesmer

Co-authored by Elizabeth DeBold (Curatorial Assistant), Renate Mesmer (Head of Conservation), Austin Plann Curley (Book Conservator), and Adrienne Bell (Book Conservator). With special thanks to Kevin Cilurzo (Conservation Intern).   As some of our respondents observed in their comments on…

Shakespearian novelties- er, novelettes
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Shakespearian novelties- er, novelettes

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Author
Sarah Hovde

I was pretty intrigued when I pulled this case marked “Shakespearian novelties” from the shelf in the Vault… Spine of the case housing four “Shakespearian novelettes” … then I realized that it actually said “Shakespearian novelettes,” and my excitement dimmed…

A Photographic Facsimile from 1857
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A Photographic Facsimile from 1857

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Author
Erin Blake

The July Crocodile Mystery showed a “detail from a printed play” and asked what’s up with the strangely uneven tone of the page. What’s up is that although the text is printed, it is not printed in ink. It is a…

What's my line? Exploring promptbooks for Othello
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's my line? Exploring promptbooks for Othello

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Author
Ben Lauer

Promptbooks let us peer into the minds of some of history’s greatest theater-makers and see how they imagined Shakespeare’s plays.

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