Gown in aqua green, gros adorned with lace and embroidery at the neckline 1780 c. Pitti Palace, Museum of Costume and Fashion (www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/...)

Really excited to be on the judging panel for the 2026 BARS First Book Prize - details of eligibility, nomination, and submission can be found on @bars.bsky.social’s blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6174 Do share widely!

Each year we will make a hornier Frankenstein adaptation until morale improves

Regency-era Lord Byron fangirls (& boys): 'That beautiful pale face is my fate' 'the sweetest countenance I ever beheld' 'Byron's countenance is a thing to dream of' 'Lord Byron's head is, without doubt, the finest in our time' Victorian memorabilia:

🚨NEW SERIES ALERT 🚨 What was the Paris Commune of 1871? Join @sarahchurchwell.bsky.social and @davidolusoga.bsky.social as they look at the days leading up to The Paris Commune, the working class revolution that shook the world! LINK IN THE REPLIES BELOW 👇

I am beyond thrilled that my @universitypress.cambridge.org book, Music & Musicians in Late Mughal India: Histories of the Ephemeral, has won the 2025 Otto Kinkeldey Award of the American Musicological Society for the best book written by "a scholar past the early stages of their career" 🙏♥️ #AMSMT25

BARS 2026 First Book Prize: Calls for Nominations Awarded biennially for the best first monograph in Romantic Studies, this prize is open to first monographs published between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2025. Deadline: 12th January 2026. More info: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6174

The most incredible library in the world, @bodleian.ox.ac.uk opened to OTD 1602, through the energy, money & commitment of Sir Thomas Bodley. It began with 5k books, & now more than 22m, with 2m+reader visits a year, & multi-million online users across the globe. Privilged to be its 25th librarian!

Many thanks to autocorrect, which has decreed that the heir to the French throne was not in fact handed over 'aux hommes' – i.e. to the care & education of men rather than women – in 1787 No, he was handed over to 'his homies' If you find this wild misprint in my book, please blame Microsoft Word

Lovely to see Lisa Eldridge's hugely fun history of makeup now available to watch on her youtube channel 💄💋 I pop up to talk about 18th-century beauty, namely the iconic Georgiana, duchess of Devonshire, & how the Gunning sisters took London by storm in the 1750s www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfPl...

It's Byron family birthday season 🥳🍻 Born OTD, 1722: William, 5th Lord Byron, now known as 'the Wicked Lord' According to myth, the poet's great-uncle was a villainous, cheating, wife-beating, cousin-murdering, Abbey-wrecking, devil-worshipping orgy enthusiast (I've yet to confirm the last two)

Really pleased to announce the launch of the all-new, all-dancing, London Lives website - www.londonlives.org It has been thoroughly re-engineered to facilitate more types of search, and redesigned for phones and tablets. The team very much hopes peope like it. 1/

It's Byron family birthday season 🥳🍻 Born OTD, 1722: William, 5th Lord Byron, now known as 'the Wicked Lord' According to myth, the poet's great-uncle was a villainous, cheating, wife-beating, cousin-murdering, Abbey-wrecking, devil-worshipping orgy enthusiast (I've yet to confirm the last two)

Timeline cleanse: the happiest dolphin in history? 🐬

I want to include some bottom up perspective on women's political power in #earlymodern Europe. I have some sources, but am looking for some visual representations of women's action, involvement in political uprisings, etc. Can you help me?

Beautiful portrait miniature by George Engleheart, 1788 Something tells me Mrs Courtney would have EXCELLED on instagram 📸 www.portraitminiature.com/artwork-deta...

Halloween horror story: missing some super exciting filming opportunities because they were sat in my junk mail for three days for no reason whatsoever Thanks a lot outlook

Sex scene with Mr Collins, anyone? It's the perfect time for some Austen-inspired fiction & I hugely enjoyed this heartfelt, romantic & v. funny imagining of the life of Charlotte Lucas from @rachelparris.bsky.social (Honestly, don’t let the sex thing put you off, it’s lovely) Out 6 Nov 📚 🌟

Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.

ARCHIVAL FUNDING: Ann Ball Bodley Visiting Fellowship in Women’s History, to use Bodleian Libraries collections to advance scholarship in women’s history, of any geographical area and historical period. Deadline 28th Nov. www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/csb/fellowsh...

Any transcription help, please, lovely bluesky? My language skills don't extend beyond the place and date 🙏

I see the ghost of Lord Byron has been rearranging bookshop shelves again ... (I know Lady Caro tends to divide the room, but this feels harsh 🧙‍♀️)

Still always open to 18th-century chat and/or news about ridiculous Parisian heists ❤️

'He serv'd in the glorious Battle of Traffalgar' The 1837 headstone of Lieutenant Hugh Montgomery RN at Nacton, Suffolk. Today is Trafalgar Day, the anniversary of the battle. #TrafalgarDay

I take my eye off the ball for THREE DAYS because I have an actual newborn child So of course NOW the French casually decide to commit an actual broad-daylight HEIST of royal jewellery at the LOUVRE

Maurice Quentin de la Tour, portrait of Elisabeth Ferrand meditating on Newton (c1752), Alte Pinakothek #c18th #c18 #18thc

There have always been exceptions to expected fashion norms. This is a hand corded linen jacket that has a tailored fake waistcoat front but a robe à la française sacque back. Early 1780s, it was presumably a personal preference, evidence of the individual #KelvingroveArt #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Alright period drama lovers 📺 I'm coming up to an extended period of recuperation stuck in bed, probably without *too* much brain power at my disposal. I've previously enjoyed The Great, Outlander, Wolf Hall, Bridgerton, War & Peace, The Crown. What do I need on my list?

What a brilliant title! Courting Disaster by @thezhm.bsky.social 📚🌷 A fascinating, feminist dive into 18C literature – from Richardson to Austen – shedding light on ‘courtship’, consent, & the power of literature 📖 manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526188854/ (TY @manchesterup.bsky.social 🤓)

V. exciting to see new Marie Antoinette research by @catrionaseth.bsky.social in the news: hugely looking forward to reading the new book about her portraits www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

V. excited to have found a child's diary from 1789, covering the period he & his family fled the French Revolution ... So far it has mostly been 'I am very annoyed about running away!', accompanied with detailed blow by blow accounts of his tutor's unfortunate bouts of diarrhoea #18c

Can’t decide what to buy on Prime Day? Try: absolutely nothing, and then go support indie bookstores instead 📚

🎩 King James VI and I Hat Appreciation post 🎩 🎨 (artist unknown, c.1590) www.npg.org.uk/collections/...

🎩 King James VI and I Hat Appreciation post 🎩 🎨 (artist unknown, c.1590) www.npg.org.uk/collections/...

'The North Wing...built in 1732 to help run the hospital and raise money for it, but fell into decline as the hospital prioritised clinical areas. Sharing Historic Barts project, external has prepared the building for a new life as a visitor attraction, cultural venue, and commercial events space.'

piss off the racists, make the English kofte kebab from 1660

Weird flex but ok dude 👀

Feels a bit early in the day to be posting this, but if I'm spending the morning with 18th-century sex therapist & supposed 'Prince of the Quacks' Dr James Graham then so can you 🍆

It's RIDICULOUS that I've not come across these Listes des Etrangers in Spa before 😍 Lovely to learn where my Byrons stayed in 1765: 🍻Isabella, Lady Carlisle, & two of her daughters ⚔️Elizabeth, Lady Byron & William, 5th Lord Byron, who visited after his murder trial & promptly bought a pet wolf

👗 Fabric samples from Marie Antoinette’s court gowns (grand habits), 1784, preserved by her dame d’atour Geneviève d’Ossun Mme d’Ossun was charged with bringing the budget for the queen’s wardrobe into line following some seriously extravagant spending by her predecessor in the 1770s 👗

Is there anything more tantalising than the promise of an early 19th-century letter with the postscript "Burn this immediately"?

I’m honoured that my book, MULTICULTURAL BRITAIN: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY has been shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize. Hugely grateful to the judges and the many people who have supported this work along the way @wolfsonhistory.bsky.social www.wolfsonhistoryprize.org.uk/2025-wolfson...

Interested in letter-writing in early medieval Britain? A three-year postdoc on @francescatinti.bsky.social’s and my project is now available. Apps close on 17th Oct. Let me know if you have any questions and please circulate! 🙂 jobs.kent.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

I've been keeping a little lid on it in case it didn't get accepted but... Just signed a contract on a new book! I'm going to be writing 'Byron and Newstead: A Poetic History' for Cambridge University Press!

Just a reminder that if you enjoy a book, please leave a quick review on Amazon or Bookshop dot org, or wherever. Even if it's only a sentence, it really, really helps get the word out to other readers.

What did #18thcentury women wear when they were pregnant? What did a ‘good’ mother look like? Which fashion was both patriotic and recommended by midwives? For the answers to all these questions join me at the #IHR on 7th Oct archive.history.ac.uk/events/good-...

Frances Howard: I'm looking for a portrait of myself to really grab people's attention Artist: No problem, how about a glittering coronet, plus dripping with pearls & lace? FH: Great, anything else? Artist: ... well there is one more thing 👀 (is that a nipple piercing?)

Behold this 18th-century cure for both excessive tea drinking AND enthusiastic teenage masturbation ... Also, childbirth and "grief", because why not 🫖🍆😭

MAYOR: Did you do that sculpture solemnly honouring our civil war dead SCULPTOR: Sure thing boss, real sexy just like you asked MAYOR: What

Catching my eye this morning: Portrait of a midshipman, c. 1770 (English School) ⚓️ www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4...