Today Bethany and I leave Phase 1 of the @punchspocketbook.bsky.social project. Thanks to Sonja and Françoise, fingers crossed you secure funding for Phase 2 🤞 Do read Bethany's blog, it's fascinating!

Read more about the fantastic work we've been doing with outreach as part of the Punch's Pocket Book Archive project! Beta address following soon . . .

As @drhorrocks.bsky.social @vicmanch.bsky.social noted, Victorianists have the opportunity of back-to-back conferences with #RSVP2026 held in Dublin, 23-25 July & #BAVS2026 held in Liverpool, 27-29 July Too late to apply to RSVP, but submissions still open for BAVS! #BookHistory #PeriodicalStudies

📽️ The recording from our widely popular #RSVPDigiEvent "How to Get Published in an Academic Journal" is now live. We had a record-breaking 101 registrants for this panel! Since we did not quite hit that number in attendance, we know many will be interested to watch/re-watch: youtu.be/sP5Y1iicKJ0

BAVS2026 has a shiny new website! www.ljmu.ac.uk/bavs2026! To celebrate, we are extending our CFP to December 12th. Do come and join us

Fantastic Long Service celebration lunch for JMU staff who have worked there for 25 years or more. Lovely to get chance to catch up with old friends and new

Are you a community group with a passion for heritage? Or a museum, library, gallery or archive with a bold idea for community-led research? The Spaces, Places and Belonging Community Hub is accepting applications for seed corn grants: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/community-hu... (1/2)

📖 Colby Book Prize nominations open today! We're accepting nominations from now until 31 Jan. 2026. The Colby Prize recognizes original book-length scholarship published in 2025 that most advances our understanding of the long #19thC British press. More info: buff.ly/LIi76WJ

Does anyone in our orbit know?

Challenging AI to create a Punch Pocket Book. We still rely on keywords for tagging as the most effective method for training data sets. Julia Thomas Pictorial Punch Study Day @britishlibrary.bsky.social @punchspocketbook.bsky.social @rs4vp.org @l19cmanmet.bsky.social

Second keynote at our Pictorial Punch Study Day @britishlibrary.bsky.social. Julia Thomas, Cardiff, on A Digital Treasure Hunt @punchspocketbook.bsky.social

Fascinating discussion of the Almanacks and Pocket Books as depicted in the Silver Diary with @patrickleary.bsky.social for the Pictorial Punch Study Day @britishlibrary.bsky.social @punchspocketbook.bsky.social @rs4vp.org

Panel 2 on Decadence, Celebrity and Social Networks at Pictorial Punch @britishlibrary.bsky.social @punchspocketbook.bsky.social Bethany Dahlstrom, myself and Jane Harrison

First keynote at Pictorial Punch @britishlibrary.bsky.social from @patrickleary.bsky.social on The Education of Henry Silver @punchspocketbook.bsky.social

Panel 1 at Pictorial Punch on Illustrators, Engravers and the Sensational @britishlibrary.bsky.social @punchspocketbook.bsky.social @l19cmanmet.bsky.social With Emma Liggins, Anne Anderson and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra

And we are off. Pictorial Punch Study Day at @britishlibrary.bsky.social @punchspocketbook.bsky.social

Pre conference dinner at the Punch Tavern with our keynote speakers @patrickleary.bsky.social and Julia Thomas ahead of our @britishlibrary.bsky.social Study Day tomorrow @punchspocketbook.bsky.social @fbaillet.bsky.social @l19cmanmet.bsky.social

Pater Punch, aka @patrickleary.bsky.social outside the old Punch Tavern, Fleet Street, just down from where the Punch offices were at Bouverie Street @punchspocketbook.bsky.social

To celebrate Digital Preservation Day, we are delighted to see the first pages of the Beta @punchspocketbook.bsky.social being released. Huge thanks to the Technical team, Julia and Subha, for pushing against time to release this. More to come at our Pictorial Punch day tomorrow #unlockingarchives

Do come and join us in Liverpool next July, we look forward to welcoming you!

The official CFP is a few days off, but I can't wait that long to announce that #BAVS2026 will be held in Liverpool, 27-29 July. We hope that some of the @rs4vp.org crowd will be able to make the trip over from #RSVP2026 and join @bavs-uk.bsky.social for more Victorian stuff. Details to follow.

Nearly time for our @punchspocketbook.bsky.social Pictorial Punch Study Day at @britishlibrary.bsky.social. See you Friday 7 November with @patrickleary.bsky.social, Sonja Lawrenson, Francoise Baillet and others for a stimulating day of frivolity and japes!

Our first bit of business? Registration for #RSVP2025 is now live! You can register and find out more details about travel, accommodations, and a bird's eye view of the program, and more at our conference website! Share your enthusiasm via #VoicesandVisions conference.rs4vp.org

The advert for our Research Associate post in Victorian Cultural and Material History is now up on jobs.ac.uk - www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKS158/r... Please spread the word!!!!

Warm welcome to all new followers! To my fellow Victorianists: the VICTORIA discussion group remains a generous, welcoming space, supportive without at all overwhelming your inbox. And the archives are a great resource. If you’re not already a member, check it out: list.iu.edu/sympa/info/v...

Thanks, Beth! This is enormously useful, particularly to independent researchers, and a welcome complement to the much more modest but also helpful Open Access 19th-c. Periodicals list: www.victorianresearch.org/openaccesspe...

It’s time, friends! We welcome submissions for #batw2025 in Liverpool, UK. Join us at John Moores University 25-27 June 2025 for another great conference! We can’t wait to see you there! Watch here for more info. britainandtheworld.org/2025