Catriona Seth

Basket of peaches with walnuts, knife and a glass of wine, oil on canvas, painted in 1768 by Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779), French painter of tranquil, luminous still-life & genre scenes, admired by Manet, Cézanne, Matisse and Proust.
Musée du Louvre

#BookHistory mutuals, pls do your magic. A student in my seminar is looking for sources on fingerprints in books. Other than Darnton's reference to inky fingerprints left on the plates of the Encyclopedie, & Folger blog posts by @wynkenhimself.bsky.social, I'm short of ideas. Do you have any? THX!

Savour the irony here. For a year the Trump administration have browbeaten Zelensky as a loser with no cards. Now they turn to him for anti-drone defences. Perhaps they will now recognise that Ukraine is a valuable, battle-hardened ally.

Closure of language courses is ‘national catastrophe’, warns VC - Research Professional News Birmingham leader Adam Tickell says “institutional mergers” may be needed to protect “national cultural assets”

Vice Chancellor at the University of Birmingham Adam Tickell warns about a "national catastrophe" unfolding as universities close modern languages courses.

Institutional mergeers may protect our "national cultural assets".
Read the article here:
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Book Group The last Thursday of every month was Book Group,
when the books would gather together to discuss Brian. “It’s no fun here any more,” remarked Bleak House, glumly.
“Why doesn’t he read us?” whined the Grapes of Wrath. “It makes me so angry!” 
“I’m sure he only bought me so he can show me off to his friends,”
complained Ulysses, in a stream of self-consciousness. “I bet he can’t even remember my name, The Idiot,”
muttered a voice from the Russian literature section.
“That’s because he avoids you like The Plague,” said another.
“C’est vrai!” came a cry. “It is like I do not exist.” “Let’s not give up on him yet.” It was Brave New World.
After some Persuasion, they agreed to give him one last chance.
“Be quiet!” cried Waiting for Godot with Great Expectations.
“Here he comes now!” Brian entered the room, with his phone.
He sat down and watched some videos of baby pandas falling over.
After an hour or so, he started googling cats dressed as celebrities. On the shelf, the books waited with uncracked spines,
their silence speaking volumes. Brian Bilston

In celebration of World Book Day, here’s a poem called ‘Book Group’.

Interior of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, showing historic wooden bookcases and a decorated ceiling. In the foreground, a sign displays the traditional Bodleian Oath, which readers must read aloud before being admitted to use the library. The oath reads: 'I hereby undertake not to remove from the Library, or to mark, deface, or injure in any way, any volume, document, or other object belonging to it or in its custody; not to bring into the Library or kindle therein any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library; and I promise to obey all rules of the Library'

The traditional Bodleian Oath, which every reader is required to read aloud on seeking admission to the Bodleian Libraries 📚

#WorldBookDay

📷 | @bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Closure of language courses is 'national catastrophe, warns VC By Fiona Mcintyre Picture of Adam Tickell

There is a “national catastrophe” unfolding as universities close modern languages courses and important “cultural assets” across the humanities more broadly are lost “by stealth”.

Coverage of Adam Tickell’s remarks at our conference yesterday
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Nineteenth-centuryists (#C19th) - I'm looking for novels in the first half of the century where the rural English poor are racialized as "savage", "dark" etc. I know English rural examples from journalism/non-fiction, and fiction about the urban and "Celtic" poor, but fictional examples useful!

Assistant Professor in 18th Century Literature at Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin Discover Assistant Professor in 18th Century Literature jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQS657/a...

Red brick front quad of Oxford College

For Y12 State school pupils interested in Languages and Linguistics, there is a taster session on 22 April at @ox.ac.uk at Lady Margaret Hall bookshelf.mml.ox.ac.uk/2026/03/04/m...

British Academy response to the Department for Education's technical consultation on the Interational Student Levy 18 February 2026 Background The Department for Education is consulting on the proposed levy on international student income, due to be introduced in England in August 2028.

‘We remain deeply concerned that universities will be unable to absorb the cost of the levy’s
introduction. The loss of cross-subsidy for domestic teaching & research will harm
universities’ ability to deliver their core functions’
Our response to the levy
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/60...

Brilliant recycling of the decor!

Calls for Romanian to become an option for GCSE students Romanian is the most widely spoken foreign first language in London with 159,000 speakers.

Campaign from @tessadunlop.bsky.social for the introduction of Romanian GCSE.

In the 2021 census in response to the question of what their "main" language was, the second most-listed language in London was Romanian (after English obviously), with 159,000 speakers
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ah yes, or how about this *Salumeria* in Piacenza...

And the decision to teach a foreign language is an act of commitment, generosity and mediation."

"The decision to learn a foreign language is to me an act of friendship. It is indeed a holding out of the hand. It’s not just a route to negotiation. It’s also to get to know you better, to draw closer to you and your culture, your social manners and your way of thinking... 1/2

I have just read Adam Thirlwell's brilliant The Future Future (recommended by Marina Warner)

Cremona Cathedral with a tall tower to the left, against a background of blue sky

Cremona yesterday

The British Academy - Head of Communications and Marketing - £70,000 (London, ENG) OUR CLIENT:The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social...

Come work with me! We are recruiting for a Head of Comms and Marketing to help us communicate the work of @britishacademy.bsky.social and the power of the humanities and social sciences in making sense of our changing world
app.loxo.co/job/MzM2MzQt...

Why we should learn German | John le Carré To help make the European debate decent and civilised, it is now more important than ever to value the skills of the linguist

A piece from the archives @theguardian.com which is a wonderful read in more ways than one.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...

1 à 2 bourses de début de thèse sont mises au concours par le Programme doctoral de littérature de Bâle.

dslw.philhist.unibas.ch/en/doctoral-...

A Decade of Dangerous Women Join us to celebrate 10 years of the Dangerous Women Project, and to hear about some new women who dared throughout history!

"A Decade of Dangerous Women"
Friday 6 March, 13:00 at IASH & online

Join us to celebrate 10 years of the Dangerous Women Project, and to hear about women who dared throughout history! #IWD2026

Register free at decadeofdangerouswomen.eventbrite.co.uk or online via Teams (link on Eventbrite).

Universität Basel: Professor in English linguistics (open-rank) A position as Professor in English linguistics with a focus on English as a lingua franca in the digital age is to be filled at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Basel...

Job opening : Professor in English linguistics (open-rank) @unibas.ch – come and join us !
jobs.unibas.ch/offene-stell...

Le discours du Secrétaire d’État américain à Munich était plus aimable dans le ton que celui de JD. Vance l’an dernier mais peu différent sur le fond.

Il est donc clair que nous, Européens, devons gagner en puissance et en autonomie, dans la fidélité à nos valeurs. Résolument.

I'm not sure I could ever forgive this government if it allows the BBC World Service to die

Aberdeen Artworlds: The Linklater Collection The new exhibition from University Collections is Aberdeen Artworlds, marking 50 years of the Linklater Collection of works by some of the most important Scottish artists of the 20th century.

If you are in or near Aberdeen, this is an exhibition featuring ten important Scottish modernist paintings. It draws on research we have funded, & celebrates both the 50th anniversary of the collection as well as the 200th anniversary of @royalscottishacad.bsky.social
www.abdn.ac.uk/collections/...

18TH CENTURY BRITISH HISTORY PHD LIGHTNING TALKS CFP

Are you at the start of your PhD? Want to tell an eager and engaged audience about it in 5 mins? We want to hear the best PGR research about 18th Britain at our #LightningTalks event 29 April 2026.

Please see the poster for further information!

Exactly. This is not a lot of money. And once destroyed you don’t get to rebuild it.

BBC warns Russia is taking over World Service radio frequencies Russian propaganda is filling the void where the BBC has closed World Service radio services due to cuts

BBC's Arabic radio service in Lebanon closed after 85 years as part of a £28.5m savings drive. 'Just months later, in October 2023, the Russian state-owned Sputnik news agency took over the frequency. Its news bulletin opened with “This is Moscow”, replacing the previous “This is London” intro.' 🙄