Via the Photographer’s Lens | Folger Shakespeare Library

Since late 2024, I’ve digitized roughly 50 recipe manuscripts from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s assortment. A big-scale mission like this requires situation surveys, cataloging, page-level metadata creation, page-by-page digitization, high quality assurance checks, and importing pictures to our Digital Collections database. It additionally requires shut collaboration with many colleagues within the Collections division, which is one among my favourite facets. Many of the books I’ll spotlight can be found on-line, however others want extra cataloging work earlier than they are often uploaded (and those which are already on-line solely have minimal descriptions proper now). Rest assured that they are going to be out there for perusal quickly!

We name these manuscripts “recipe books”, although they’re not precisely like fashionable cookbooks. They weren’t written for publication; they have been made to protect what folks discovered vital for his or her each day life. This implies that, along with acquainted recipes, we are able to uncover any variety of surprises in a recipe ebook, like one thing known as “snail water”, or veterinary recommendation, or a spell to remedy fever.

I’ve come throughout some actually great, and typically very bizarre, issues in these books, and I’m excited to share a few of my favourite discoveries with you!