by Hillary Nunn
Starting in 2019, the Folger Shakespeare Library made its transcriptions available via the LUNA interface, which is no longer in service. But no worries: the transcriptions are still there, and accessible in multiple ways. Here are two:
If you know what Folger recipe book you want to work with:
Click https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/Recipe_books_at_the_Folger_Shakespeare_Library to locate your manuscript on the List of recipe books at the Folger Shakespeare Library. From there, users can download fully searchable, vetted transcriptions of most manuscripts as PDF and DOCX files; image files are downloadable from linked catalog records.
If you want to search the Folger manuscript collections more broadly, click https://digitalcollections.folger.edu/transcribed_manuscripts Then, search under “Transcribed Manuscripts” and enter your search terms. For extra precision, click “Search for pages” in the dropdown menu.
You’ll see that the results can include items other than recipe books. That may change with an upcoming software update. Click an image, and you’ll see a screen like this, an opening from V.a. 429, Cookery and medicinal recipes, ca. 1675-ca. 1750. [manuscript]:
From there, you can click to see the transcription of the page, or see other pages in the manuscript:
![]() |
![]() |
View of Transcription options, with transcription underneath the page image. | “Full View”, with navigation to other pages of the manuscript. |