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Folger Collections

Abbreviations and signatures
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Abbreviations and signatures

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Author
Goran Proot

As Sjoerd Levelt guessed in the comments, this month’s crocodile image featured an abbreviation, rather than a letter, in the signature mark: sig. 22Here’s a longer look at what this character is and how it ended up being used in…

A peek into the Conservation Lab
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A peek into the Conservation Lab

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Author
The Collation

Ever wonder what the conservators are up to on our third floor? Here’s a peek into what’s happening in the Werner Gundersheimer Conservation Laboratory this month: The team is in full treatment mode for the Library’s upcoming exhibition, “Symbols of Honor: Heraldry…

Buzz or honey? Shakespeare's Beehive raises questions
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Buzz or honey? Shakespeare's Beehive raises questions

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Author
Heather Wolfe Michael Witmore

Shakespeare’s birthday week begins with a bang: two New York booksellers, George Koppelman and Daniel Wechsler, announced that they have found Shakespeare’s dictionary. In their new book, Shakespeare’s Beehive, Koppelman and Wechsler present their reasons for believing that William Shakespeare…

Waste not, want not
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Waste not, want not

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Author
Sarah Werner

As all three commenters worked out, this month’s crocodile image is of printer’s waste used as endleaves. You can see the end of the book on the left side of the opening below (note the “finis” marking the end of…

A catchy Italian design
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A catchy Italian design

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Author
Goran Proot

In 1629 Agostino Mascardi’s Italian story about the conspiracy of Count Giovanni Luigi de Fieschi was published—according to a statement on the engraved title page only suggesting an imprint—in an unspecified Antwerp printing shop. Because of that, the edition is…

V, u/v, and library transcription rules
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V, u/v, and library transcription rules

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Author
Erin Blake

You know the saying, “the great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from?” You know Sarah’s post about the transcription practices used in The Collation, and Goran’s posts about V and U in titles and…

Aphorism therapy, or, How to cope with dishonest relatives
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Aphorism therapy, or, How to cope with dishonest relatives

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Author
Heather Wolfe

Poor Walter Bagot (1557-1622). A busy county official in Staffordshire and head of a large extended family with typically complicated financial arrangements, he was on the receiving end of a constant flow of requests, complaints, and excuses. Occasionally, these letters…

From tweet to resource
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From tweet to resource

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Author
Sarah Werner

This is the story of how a tweet can grow into an amazing scholarly resource. (And it ends with a plea for you to help!) Just over a year ago, in January 2013, I was looking through the Folger’s collection…

Extensions of the book
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Extensions of the book

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Author
Daniel Shore

Working in the Folger Shakespeare Library over the past eight months, I’ve felt some dissonance between the rich physical resources of the Library and the digital focus of my book project, Cyberformalism, which explores…

V and U in 17th-century Flemish book imprints
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V and U in 17th-century Flemish book imprints

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Author
Goran Proot

In my last blog post I discussed the use of “V” and “U” in titles on title pages of 17th-century books published in Flanders. For this blog post I surveyed two extra elements which often appear on title pages as…

A print pricked for transfer
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A print pricked for transfer

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Author
Erin Blake

So, what’s up with the crocodile mystery for March? As I said in the comments, Tom Reedy was verrrrry close with “It looks like some sort of device using punctures along a line to allow powder or ink to pass through…

Acquiring and adopting books
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Acquiring and adopting books

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Author
Melissa Cook

Each year around this time, the Folger hosts Acquisitions Night benefiting the Library’s Acquisitions program. Showcasing some of the most interesting, beautiful, and rare items we’ve purchased for the collection in the past year, the event invites donors to “adopt” selected…

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