Heather Heckman-McKenna

In case you wondering, “A Turd is as good for a sow as a pancake”

#amresearching #18thcentury #acawriting #literature

There are many reasons I love being a parent, not the least of which is that I can buy dinosaur bookshelves and no one looks askance at me.

I mean, it's an excellent sheep.

I use Transkribus as my transcribing tool, and I'm currently training it on Ross' piece. See the before and after shots (i.e. Transkribus' transcription and my fixes).

Today's post is a transcribed page from Katherine Ross's 17th-century spiritual autobiography. I study sensibility, and on this page Ross uses faints and longings, fights troubles and afflictions.

#diary #herstory #history #18thcentury #archives #NLS #scottishhistory #nonconformist

What is the etching in the window?

Talk coming up at 10 am GMT on Friday!

When you learn how to spell “Houyhnhnm” without peeking, they give you a PhD in eighteenth-century studies.

#diary

#herstory

#history

#18thcentury

#archives

#NLS

#scottishhistory

Today's treasure is a page from a small diary written in 1779 by Anne, Lady Stuart. There are lots of decisions to make when transcribing manuscripts, including how best to handle crossed-out words, how to interpret punctuation, how best to separate sections or paragraphs. Lots and lots of decisions

Gorgeous morning maunawili view from the top of our hill.

I don’t know how I made this beautiful creature, but I’m sure glad I did.

Did your child lose their book collection in the Los Angeles fires? Are you a teacher at a school that lost its library or your classroom library? Whether you need one book or a whole library, we can replace your books. 📚

Everyone else, please boost this post so we can connect with those in need. 🙏

#library #amresearching #eighteenthcentury #diaries #diary #oxford

Oh Oxford, how I miss you in the autumn (and your amazing repositories of diaries).

Oofah

#diary #herstory #history #18thcentury #archives

I sit back, stunned. I take a few minutes to gather myself, have to leave to talk a walk, then come back. Open the book with a strong sense of gratitude and rightness. Open it and read the mother's words which were (and are) so precious.

Transcription:
"My Mothers scrap book
previous to
her only child"

Today's post is from Anna Purefoy Jervoise's diary. Imagine: I'm sitting in the Weston library just a few days before what would be the 3rd anniversary of my father's death. I'm sitting in the very town he took me to in which I realized I needed to go back to grad school. I open the book to this:

A seventeenth- or eighteenth-century library interior with 4 skeletons. Source: http://diglib.hab.de?grafik=graph-a1-1762

Nothing to see here, dear #skystorians, except a human skeleton (with a hat and a feather) riding a #unicorn skeleton that is positioned next to two other animal skeletons (of a bear? and a deer?).

Did I mention yet that the 4 skeletons are standing in an #earlymodern library? #LibraryHistory

Correction: this page from 1819, not 1804.

As I start my transcription process, I'll continue posting these every few days to share the beautiful wealth of diaries I'm holding. Hope you enjoy!

While I haven't been able to do much with them yet, my 2021 research trip to the BL, Bodleian, and NLS led me to some absolutely fabulous women's diaries. Here's one page, courtesy of Lady Georgiana North in 1804 (Bodleian Mss. North adds. e. 8).

Irregular Sexuality; or, The Story of a Girl in Three Parts Introduction While Jeremy Bentham predominantly referred to homosexuality and homoeroticism when he wrote of sexual liberty, his thoughtful approach is equally relevant to all ‘sexual irregularitie...

If you're interested in learning more, here's the link to the special issue: journals.openedition.org/etudes-benth...

Queer Utilitarianism Centre Bentham round table conference

1st post on the new platform! On 1/24, I'm giving an online roundtable talk on my essay in the Queer Utilitarianism special issue of "Revue d'études benthamiennes." I doubt many of my colleagues can attend given that it's being held in France at 10 am. Nevertheless: www.sciencespo.fr/ecole-droit/...