One month left to submit an abstract for our conference 'Bound for Devotion: The Prayer Book as Object and Practice, 1300–1800', 1-3 July 2026 in Leiden: www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/20... #medieval #earlymodern #bookhistory

"The Tooth Worm as Hell's Demon,” 18th century. The two halves open up to reveal a scene about the infernal torments of a tooth worms which people believed caused cavities in the past. Complete with mini skulls, hellfire, and naked people wielding clubs.

📣 #CfP: "Death and Bereavement in Early Modern Britain, 1520–1689" Join us for a one-day conference at the University of St Andrews on 26 June 2026. The keynote speaker is Professor Alec Ryrie. The deadline for proposals is 11 December 2025. #EarlyModernHistory #skystorians

One of my students has been featured on the university special collections blog for their work from my Material Bibliography class. It's a fascinating book with tons of manuscript additions. Check it out! 📖

#cfp for the 2026 Conference of the History of Women Religious of Britain and Ireland, ‘Women Religious: Patronage & Networks from Medieval to Modern’ taking place at Queen Mary University of London on 11/12 June. Please share widely #nuntastic historyofwomenreligious.org/call-for-pap...

'Well, sir, learn to jest in good time; there's time for all things'-William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors ☛ New on the blog: ‘By a Lover of Ha, Ha, He’: Jest Books in a Cambridge Auction Catalogue by Anna Grace Gragg (MLitt student @standrewshist.bsky.social) 🃏📖😆 ustc.ac.uk/news/by-a-lo...

‼️Next year, the REBPAF Final Conference will be held in Dublin.‼️ We invite submissions of papers & posters; the deadline is 15 Dec 2025. We look forward to your contributions and to welcoming you to Ireland!📚 #REBPAF #MSCA #REBPAFConference #CfP #BookHistory [See images for details & how to apply.]

This is for people who are familiar with Italian sixteenth-century handwriting and/or who are clever at manipulating images. I think someone wrote their name on this frontispiece to a beauty manual in 1571 then the later owner, Girolamo Garofano, wrote over it. Can anyone make the first name out?

3 countries, 3 US states, 6 cities, and 6 jobs (between academia, teaching, and museums), then mix in a global pandemic, no wonder I'm tired after 7 years of this ... An oddly comforting read, even though it's sad things haven't improved in the last ten years.

Ahoy there! New blog post! Demi van Breukelen, master's student @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social & visiting researcher @standrewshist.bsky.social explores: 🌊'A Sea of Print: Printed Treasures in the Dutch Prize Papers Collection' ustc.ac.uk/news/a-sea-o... #printhistory #earlymodern #maritimehistory

A woman's touch in an #earlymodern handwritten book? This 17th-century manuscript belonged to M. Josephine, a woman who seems to have left her mark in a unique way, by pasting in 28 different engravings, that speak to individual expression within the pages of the book. #bookhistory #rarebooks 💙📚📜

A contributor has had to withdraw from something I'm editing, late in the day. I'm looking for a sprightly 10,000 book historical words on the broad theme of 'consumers/consumption' and the period 1450-1650 (not necessarily all of it).

My research into early modern conclave ballots and tally sheets in the @natlibscot.bsky.social was featured in the @heraldscotland.bsky.social this weekend! #Conclave2025 #Conclave1655 #printedforms #earlymodern #bookhistory #papalprint #conclave #emthings

Per @washingtonpost.com: 'President Donald Trump on Thursday fired Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress — the first woman and first African American to hold the position. She was informed of the decision in a terse, two-sentence email'. #DrCarlaHayden #LibraryofCongress.

This is both lovely and important.

It's #WorldDonkeyDay 🫏 To celebrate here's a delightful little donkey trotting through the pages of Historia Animalium (c.1602) by Conrad Gesner.

Wrote a little blog about some fascinating printed conclave documents I came across in the @natlibscot.bsky.social! 🗝️ Many thanks to the cataloguers of their Special Collections for documenting these objects so diligently!

The giant page of Gutenberg fame can now be seen for a while in the Mainz Cathedral. #booksky

Just in case if you missed this printing event in #Mainz: they publically printed a giant page of the Gutenberg bible in the format 5 x 7,20 meter. #bookhistory #skystorians

Congratulations to Joshua Rushton, whose article 'The Emotional Dimension of Shrine Formation in Early Modern Catholicism' is now out in Cultural and Social History. Read more about this fascinating work here: sites.manchester.ac.uk/bodies-emoti...

🎺HEAR YE, HEAR YE: We are happy announce our latest post, 'The Fabric of Everyday Life: Sumptuary Laws in Early Modern France', written by @cmfgillain.bsky.social, a postdoctoral researcher on the Communicating the Law in Europe, 1500-1750 project! Read all about it: ustc.ac.uk/news/the-fab...

Ancient Acrostic Action! It may look like highlighter havoc, but the red stripes in each edition of this 1595 letterpress book mark out 4th century poems in a Panegyric of Constantine! #WordSearch #GraphicDesignIsMyPassion 1/? #NewberryLibrary i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...

Fantastic news for all #earlymodern #skystorians: Next week, the Natalie Zemon Davis Memorial Lectures 2025 will take place in Vienna with Prof. Lorraine Daston, hosted by the CEU. The leitmotiv of the lecture series: Diversity. And the best: you can also attend online. www.ceu.edu/article/2025...

Learn more about the relationship between Polish print and the Latin language in the early modern period in our latest blog ‘We are Poles, so, of course, we print in Latin’ by COMLAWEU PhD student in @standrewshist.bsky.social, Paweł Pietrowcew! www.ustc.ac.uk/news/we-are-...

We're excited to reach 1,000 followers (and counting) on Bluesky! In honour of this milestone, we'd like to share our catalogued edition with the USTC no. 1000: Les illustrations de Gaule et singularitez de Troye Lyon, Etienne Baland et Jean Rocher, 1510 www.ustc.ac.uk/editions/1000

As Spring approaches, it's the perfect time to plan this year's garden.🌳🌹🪴🌷 In our latest blog post, Book History MLitt student, William Lewis, offers Scottish garden inspiration in ‘A Scottish Country Garden: Horticultural Handbooks in a 1700 Edinburgh Book Auction’ ustc.ac.uk/news/a-scott...

I'm organising a series of flash talks on 26th March for Print Exchanges: a global research network for anyone working on early(ish) print culture, broadly conceived. If you'd like to join the network, come to the event, or share your work do get in touch at [email protected]

Since we’re new to the BlueSky we’ll be revisiting more posts from blog archives over the next few months with some #FlashbackFriday posts. Stay tuned for more!

Learn about the sole known surviving copy of the 1600 edition published in Rouen by Abraham Cousturier, now in Vassar College’s (@vassar.bsky.social) special collections, which is documented here in the USTC: www.ustc.ac.uk/editions/75815 We wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day from the USTC! ❤️

In need of a love poem for your amour today? 💌 Look no further - this blog from the USTC archives explores a book of romantic poetry by Jean Bouchet, Les angoisses et remeds d’amours (The agonies and remedies of love), which was popular in sixteenth-century France. ustc.ac.uk/news/valenti...

Love the cat-themed device of the Venetian printer Marchio (or Melchiorre) Sessa, in an Italian edition of Pliny’s Natural History (#Venice, 1516). @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Norton.a.44.

Teaching Associate in Early Modern European History (Temporary Cover) University of Cambridge - Faculty of History #skystorians 🗃️www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DLU965/t...

The latest issue of USTC Library Quarterly is here! We’ve got an update on our matching from @apettegree.bsky.social, and a fascinating article on female printers from @ewatson.bsky.social. You can read it here: www.ustc.ac.uk/news/ustc-li... #BookHistory #RareBooks #HerBook

Are your teeth killing you? St Apollonia of Alexandria (d. 249) knows your pain! A leader of local Christians,she was grabbed & had her teeth torn out w/pincers.With a choice of renouncing her beliefs or being burned, she leapt into the fire.She takes care of tooth ailments & watches over dentists.

Burato (1532): an illustrated embroidery pattern book “Il Rinscimento a #Brescia”, Museo di Santa Giulia

Curiosity cabinet of Ferrante Imperato in the Palazzo Gravina, Naples, from Dell'historia Naturale (Venice, 1599). Imperato was a Neapolitan apothecary and collector who commissioned a book of woodcuts illustrating his famed collection of curiosities. #skystorians #earlymodern #historyofscience

Do you work on #earlymodern English women and religion (c.1500-1800)? Would you like to join a community of scholars asking questions, sharing research, and disseminating news of upcoming events related to the field? Please subscribe to our new mailing list: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/EMEW-R 🗃️

A white cat LEAPS in the top margin of f. 300r, Ms. Codex 724, a 13th century illuminated Bible #DrolleryDonnerstag 🔗: https://bit.ly/4juaOUf

Keyhole surgery on old books leads to discovery of medieval fragments 📜 phys.org/news/2025-01...

#EarlyModern #HerBook

Nothing better than a good old incunable bible printed by Koberger to brighten this cloudy day! #earlymodern #rarebooks #bookhistory #printhistory 📜📚💙

Can universities stop sending job rejection emails on Christmas Eve? Please and thank you.

🚨TOADSTONE KLAXON🚨 Our amazing Zooniverse volunteers are finding so many great rings (the subject of my @srsrensoc.bsky.social paper), including this one set with a toadstone, a gem believed to be an antidote to poison. 🐸💎 #EarlyModern 🗃️

Friends, please help me spreading the word about this Postdoctoral Fellowship opportunity at Penn for a scholar to work at the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies. More info here: apply.interfolio.com/160769

Alert: great opportunity if you are interested in doing a PhD around early book. Salaried (!) Marie Curie Doctoral Research position advertised by the U of Bristol within the exciting “Remediating the Early Book: Pasts and Futures” project (@rebpaf.bsky.social). uk.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=c...

PhD studentship: The hidden voices of early printed books (c. 1450-1750): A data-driven approach to social justice in library catalogues of small and medium heritage collections Chetham Library, Manchester Apply by January 24, 2025 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

THREAD on the practice of "SIN-EATING" 🧵 In 19th-century Britain, it was customary during a funeral to provide biscuits for mourners to take away. They were often wrapped and sealed in black wax. Here you see an example of a funeral biscuit wrapper from 1828. 1/9

The Universal Short Title Catalogue has joined Bluesky! @universalstc.bsky.social

In our latest blog, Laura Incollingo examines how the Italian authorities used print to regulate that most important of commodities: #wine. Check it out here: www.ustc.ac.uk/news/in-vino...

A book of anagrams based on the names of Neapolitan noblewomen by Giambattista Basile. Making a living as a poet is tough! #earlymodern