Fully funded PhD studentship: ‘Recording nature and writing the self: time, entomology and the archive in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries’. Closes 3 May.
With Ruth Abbott, Staffan Müller-Wille, Ed Turner & me. @theul.bsky.social @zoologymuseum.bsky.social
www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/initiatives/...
Upcoming talk: Take a fresh look at the art of the artist's book with Helen Cammock and Jane Rolo at Tate Liverpool, 12 March 2026, 18.30–20.00, tickets £5 | £3. The conversation is related to the ARTIST ROOMS: Ed Ruscha display at Tate Liverpool + RIBA North: www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tat...
The face of the punch of Baskerville’s 16pt roman capital S
The digitisation of the Baskerville punches is a really great resource. John Dreyfus’s account of their history is well worth a read too! They travelled all over France before ending up back in England.
#typography #bookhistory
cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...
A close-up of a person wearing teal gloves holding a small metal type punch engraved with an ampersand symbol. In the background, part of the person’s face is softly out of focus.
A bearded man wearing teal gloves uses a green rubber air blower to clean a small metal type punch. He sits at a desk with an open wooden case filled with neatly arranged metal punches, while a computer monitor displaying a magnified image is visible in the background.
🔎 Rare 18th-century punches used to create the original Baskerville typeface have been digitised and released online.
Designers, historians and the wider public now have the opportunity to study the physical tools that shaped modern typography.
🔗https://loom.ly/1ulLaFI
Others will be able to advise better than me. We’ve had some success with using AI to correct OCR, although yours looks pretty good already
CFP: VPR will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2027. We’re taking this historic occasion to capture the state of our field in a “KEYWORDS” special issue guest edited by Fionnuala Dillane, @jimmussell.bsky.social & @mdamkjaer.bsky.social. Proposals due March 30. Details: rs4vp.org/vpr-cfp-spec...
On left, black-and-white illustration of a woman in profile reading a book. On right, text says: Interested in reviewing for VPR? Visit rs4vp.org/vpr to message our new Book Reviews Editor, Lauren Ottaviani.
We’re delighted to announce that @laurenottaviani.bsky.social (KU Leuven) has joined VPR's staff as Associate Editor. Lauren will oversee book reviews, and she welcomes suggestions for special features. Visit rs4vp.org/vpr/ to message the editors or volunteer to review a book. #VictorianStudies
2 books about fossils from 1836 written by Reverend William Buckland borrowed from Leeds Central Library in 1976 have been found in a charity shop in Beverley, East Yorks & have now been returned to Leeds after 50 years. 👇
Overdue library books returned 50 years late
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Excited to see the publication of Flüchtigkeit fixieren / Capturing Ephemerality. The book cones out of a workshop held in Marburg in 2022. Some wonderful contributions (and one from me!): www.wehrhahn-verlag.de/public/index...
Our new exhibition The English Print Revolution: Caxton and Beyond is now open!
Co-curated by Karen Attar (SHL) and @michaelwdurrant.bsky.social (IES, SAS) the display celebrates the 550th anniversary of William Caxton’s first printing press!
A very necessary amenity was provided in 1832. Smirke was instructed to build a sufficient number of water-closets for the readers. His first plans did not win approval: several objections were made regarding their situation and the access to them. His amended plans were acceptable and an expenditure of £250 was approved. The cleanliness and ventilation of the Reading Rooms themselves gave cause for concern. J. Winter Jones, writing in 1859, had unhappy memories of the smell which pervaded them. Ellis requested permission to remove the matting which harboured dirt and thus make it possible to sweep the Rooms each evening. Together with constant ventilation, this would ease the minds of those who used the Rooms and were concerned about the poor hygiene. He was authorised to do what was necessary.
pleased to see that PR Harris's monumental A History of the British Museum Library, 1753-1973 is now digitised. Everything within... bl.iro.bl.uk/concern/book...
"Impolite Periodicals: Reading for Rudeness in the Eighteenth Century" Edited by Emrys D. Jones, Adam James Smith and Katarina Stenke
www.rutgersuniversit...
Published by Bucknell University Press.
#BucknellUniversityPress #Periodicals #18thCenturyStudies #LiteratureStudies
reposting as this will be such a valuable book for PhD students, postdocs, and really anyone who wonders how to combine humanities & technology in the workplace - abstracts due March 15!
Edited by an amazing team - @kallewesterling.bsky.social @lisaironcutter.bsky.social & Jeanelle Horcasitas
To celebrate the BNA reaching 100 million pages, my colleague Claire O'Halloran has written a blog sharing some of our highlights. A huge achievement-well done to everyone involved at @britishlibrary.bsky.social & @findmypast.bsky.social Here’s to the next 100 million! www.bl.uk/stories/blog...
Call for papers!
INSCRIPTION 7 (out 2027) will be all about BLANKS. It will be (as ever) a BEAUTIFUL and MAXIMAL object.
Send us your ideas!
Historical / theoretical / creative / creative-critical -- or some strange blend.
First step: 400-word proposal + brief CV by 1 April 2026.
CFP attached.
Happy to pre-announce my upcoming book, Flong Time, No See! www.kickstarter.com/projects/gle... I’ve gathered my most interesting reported stories and essays of the last seven years, and will revise and expand them for this print and ebook collection!
The first episode of Bagpuss was originally broadcast on this day in 1974. Created by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate, the series ran for just 13 episodes (with voices provided by Postgate, Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner).
We are thrilled to announce that applications for our 1st round of Microgrant funding are now open! These small seed grants of up to $300 USD support exploratory research or new projects in periodical studies. Applications for this first round of funds are due March 1!
Save the dates for our upcoming #RSVPDigiEvents! More details will be shared as dates approach (so watch this space!). Registration links for each of these events can be found by scanning the QR code or visiting our website: rs4vp.org/digital-even... Hope to "see" you there!
I'm giving the Leicester Victorian Studies Annual Lecture next week!
Come along and explore fame, race, and disability in the 19th c
@bavs-uk.bsky.social @ukdishisthub.bsky.social @bars.bsky.social @leverhulmetrust.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social @araukie.bsky.social
le.ac.uk/victorian-st...
New publication!
New Directions in Digital Textual Studies, expertly edited by Christopher Ohge and Kristen Schuster.
My chapter on "Unlocking Literary Heritage: From Cabinets of Curiosity to Digital Storytelling" is surrounded by some really terrific work by a bunch of great scholars.
I really appreciate that the article Matthew is referring to aims to make a start at the difficult job of defining slop. I've been working on a project that grows out of an article I published a while ago on a nineteenth-century category with some striking similarities +
muse.jhu.edu/article/910951
Sad news in the UK #histSTM community - my former University of Kent colleague and admired historian of 19thC energy physics and steam ocean navigation, Crosbie Smith, died at the weekend following a short illness. We owe him a great deal.
www.kent.ac.uk/history/peop...
Angled image of metal type form showing buildings made from ornaments.
New Chi skyline on press. Especially pleased with a Bean made of parentheses. #letterpress
It's official! I've been 'doctored'. So many folks to thank - for now, fab supervisors @digivictorian.bsky.social, @bethgaskell.bsky.social, @drbeard79.bsky.social, @miaout.bsky.social, great examiners @jimmussell.bsky.social, @sarahfoxhistory.bsky.social and many friends/colleagues @rs4vp.org.
Congratulations Matthew. It’s a terrific thesis!
The British Library’s PhD placement scheme for 26/27 is now open. My team are offering an exciting placement aiming to raise the profile of our illustrated newspaper collection: www.bl.uk/services/res...
I hadn't realised that Burn's 'Address to a Haggice' first appeared as front-page news!
