Borges, it turns out, was not writing fantasy. He was a prophet.

Not a bad place to visit to talk manuscript #fragments.

Times New Roman has been trending. Some thoughts on the resonances it has: bonaelitterae.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/r...

Sometimes you cannot fault medieval logic: sed non omnis bona causalis est bona consequentia, sicut ista causalis est bona “Thomas studet, quia vult esse clericus’, et tamen non est bona consequentia, quia non sequitur 'Thomas vult esse clericus; ergo, Thomas studet’. +

Palaeographers: you definitely should consider applying to this illustrious fund:

I am receiving emails offering 'last minute gift ideas'. I will not give in to buying Christmas presents so ridiculously early.

When a plain old manicula is not sufficient (@magdalenoxford.bsky.social MS. lat. 92).

Congratulations to @emallis.bsky.social on being this year's @memsunikent.bsky.social winner of the Jayne Wackett Dissertation Prize! research.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear...

Final Palaeography session of the term for our @memsunikent.bsky.social MA students and, as a special treat, they are having #fragment fun at their second home, the Archives of @cburycathedral.bsky.social.

The back cover of the new issue of @mediumaevum.bsky.social features my predecessor, the late great Nigel Palmer, with an appeal for the travel fund being established in his name. For more on that, visit mediumaevum.org.uk/donate/palme... .

The latest issue of @mediumaevum.bsky.social in my editorial hands and soon to be in yours. It ranges from Beowulf to Henry VIII, from Sicily to Scandinavia, and includes articles by the likes of @edolmans.bsky.social, plus a review of recent Silk Roads exhibitions by @peterfrankopan.bsky.social.

What an inspiring session that was. As @laurajcleaver.bsky.social says, two highly impressive papers suggestive of great work ahead in late medieval/ Renaissance palaeography and codicology. Thank you to both speakers.

Bookmarks of yesteryear. A leaf between the leaves of this manuscript @magdalenoxford.bsky.social

Yesterday the latest cohort of @memsunikent.bsky.social MA students graduated. Congratulations to all of you on your success. I enjoyed teaching you and wish you all the best for your next adventures! research.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear...

And the news is... We're recruiting! Applications are now open for our 2026 @leverhulme.ac.uk Doctoral Scholarships. So, if you want to study at PhD level pre-modern handwritten cultures and the organisation of knowledge and power within them, do investigate our refreshed website.

These are going from Baden to wurst.

How to tease:

Are you up for some more palaeographical excitement? Then ready yourself for next Tuesday's seminar in London's Senate House where we can offer you not one but two scintillating papers featuring new research from early career scholars. Register here: ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

When you know civilisation is coming to an end:

Are you a scholar of the fifteenth century and have an interest in the British Isles and its wider connections? If so, then you will want to know that @memsunikent.bsky.social will be hosting the 2026 Fifteenth Century Conference in Canterbury and the CfP is now open: www.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear...

It was two months ago now, so a good moment to remember a highlight of our Austrian jaunt: a trip to Weiz, with its taborkirche (fortified church) dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury. That's Becket to us who obey Henry VIII's laws.

Next to Jesus Maria Johannes, another triad: amen amen amen. Unusually, the reason for invoking it thrice is explained: it is in honour of the Trinity as the superscript letters show (p[ater], f[ilius], s[spiritus sanctus]). @magdalenoxford.bsky.social MS. lat. 71.

More evidence of the fun we had at the @memsunikent.bsky.social led and @chase-dtp.bsky.social funded Bookscapes workshop on Traditions of Lettering - from calligraphy to needlework via print, epigraphy and stained glass. Quite a day. Thank you, @cburycathedral.bsky.social Archives for hosting us.

The latest @chase-dtp.bsky.social Bookscapes workshop is about to begin. It is on Traditions of Lettering, run by @memsunikent.bsky.social and hosted by our friends at @cburycathedral.bsky.social Archives.

The @memsunikent.bsky.social MA team are back in their second home, the Archives @cburycathedral.bsky.social for their first session of the term close up with manuscripts.

A meeting @cburycathedral.bsky.social to discuss the next @chase-dtp.bsky.social Bookscapes workshop on traditions of lettering, and had a few minutes to enjoy some of the new (and relevant) temporary display. Timeless questions in present dress. I found it thought-provoking. Thank you.

Louvre Treasure hunt latest ... #Paris #France

Medieval Latin teachers, help! Disaster for our @memsunikent.bsky.social Latin learners: the Memrise pages for Collins's Primer have disappeared. Do you know where they might be now and, crucially, what substitutes there are. I have seen pages on Quizlet and Brainscape. Recommendations?

A reminder that this is on this very afternoon, 21st instant:

That was quick (and suggests the Paper holds few surprises). Good on value of humanities; wise to be concerned about the International Student Levy; disappointing in not pointing out the fundamental flaws in a policy tied to tuition fees.

Quite so. But also: if this is the most the White Paper has to announce on HE, it speaks of a paucity of ambition. If there is nothing on how to attract more international students, nothing on how to ensure ongoing provision across all regions, it will be less use than a wet sticking plaster.

An opportunity next Tuesday at 5:30pm to enjoy some palaeography without moving from the comfort of your own chair:

So true - but the humanities provides so much more than preparation for the economy: it is a training for the whole of life, not just the job. Every well-functioning civil society needs a critically attuned citizenry.

Back in Guersney for some #fragment fun with @tamarajatkin.bsky.social hosted by the Island Archives's Callum Tostevin-Hall.

Scotney not-so-much-a-Castle (and looking good on it). @nationaltrust.org.uk

I'm sure all manuscript scholars want to second that vote of thanks. MLGB3 goes beyond what the hardcopy Medieval Libraries of GB could provide. It was a sad day when it had to be taken down; it is great to see it back and functioning well. And it is going to get better! Congratulations to the team.

Have you been bereft without MLGB3? It was the essential and much-used online listing of extant books from British medieval libraries. Those good people @bodleian.ox.ac.uk have been working away and have just re-launched it, with the promise of more in the year ahead: mlgb.bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Back in Christ Church for a day to reflect on where it began, with the change from St Frideswide's Priory to Thomas Wolsey's Cardimal College five hundred years ago this year.

Come and join our friendly community @memsunikent.bsky.social:

TODAY TODAY TODAY

I'm not edgy. This is my happy face (@magdalenoxford.bsky.social MS. lat. 186).

I would have thought a better question would be how many 'i's there are in 'artificial intelligence' - but then we know AI is all about superego.

And our FIVE YEAR teaching and research position in Early Modern Europe and the World is now live..... Please do circulate and/or think about applying. I truly love our department! @kingshistory.bsky.social

Having returned from my travels, I am catching up with news and am very sorry to hear of the death of the former librarian of Oxford's Christ Church, John Wing. He was a quietly supportive and shrewd presence, with a prodigious memory. And a penchant for chocolate chchconnections.org/news/the-hou...

Here's a treat for manuscript- and fragment-lovers everywhere: @manuelmunoz.bsky.social will speak at Senate House Library @ies-sas.bsky.social Tuesday, 30th September, 5:30pm on his research into fragments at Keio University. To attend in-person or online, register at ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

Heiligenkreuz.

A bit modern but not a bad location for a palaeography conference. Thanks to our hosts in Vienna, @oeaw.bsky.social, for 23rd CIPL congress.

A day of papers to mark the 500th anniversary of the foundation of 'Cardinal College' College on Oxford: 4 October 10-5 with @dunning.bsky.social @drdavidrundle.bsky.social Sarah Foot, Mishtooni Bose among others. www.chch.ox.ac.uk/events/saint...

I am always impressed with the number of photographs I took before the twentieth century had dawned. Quite with it, I was, and (though I say it myself) impressively precocious too.

Sometimes you simply can't get the quality of parchment you might have liked.