An optimistic dystopia, a romance of the past, a cautionary tale? thoughts on Ian McEwan's What We Can Know

This reminds me of when I taught undergrads about the practice of history by genre — how to read an article, an encyclopedia entry, a chapter, etc. A #bookhistory approach.

Boosting this reference to Trish Loughran’s important chapter.

📚 New Book Review! Ellen Barth reviews: The Edinburgh Companion to Women in Publishing, 1900-2020, edited by Nicola Wilson et al. (Edinburgh University Press, 2024). Read it here: sharpweb.org/sharpnews/20... #BookHistory #Publishing #WomeninPublishing #WomeninPrint #FeministBookHistory

A #bookhistory academic’s review of @biblioasis.bsky.social bestseller, The Notebook. 📒. 🇨🇦 sharpweb.org/sharpnews/20...

This arrived in the mail today. My essay analyzes Greg’s Bibliography of English Printed Drama and its idiosyncratic taxonomies for “Collections,” which prioritized canonical authors like Shakespeare but completely excluded dramatists like Margaret Cavendish.

Writing about teaching book history:

"Historical analysis is fundamentally different and more complex than producing a mass of visualizations and statistics that are the lifeblood of many A.I. programmes." Gordon McKelvie @gordonmckelvie.bsky.social on the problematic use of A.I. within historical research.

Does anyone in the #bookhistory or #history space know of a good article about the “publishing war” between the Old Farmer’s Almanac and the Farmer’s Almanac?

Have you heard about our new Archie L. Dick Research Grants? If not, take a look and see if you qualify! Even if you don't, maybe someone you know does? Deadline to apply is December 1, 2025. sharpweb.org/grants-prize...

For Remembrance Sunday, a short reflection on the life and death of my great grandfather in the twenty years after his return. botheringmiancestors.substack.com/p/the-trench...

“She spent her spare time studying law”!

"Here is an exciting new way to think about the century that produced Darwinism." Janet Browne's review of Martin Hewitt's Darwinism's Generations: link.springer.com/article/10.1... @vicmanch.bsky.social

I've seen an alternative argument going around that academics should instead step back and essentially see how things play out with AI, having confidence that if it sticks around (and doesn't go the way of the MOOC) it'll be adapted to academic needs and vice versa, like email, the internet +

Are you a social media savvy book historian with a talent for sharing news in the digital sphere? We might have a role for you! SHARP News is looking for a new editor, details below👇🏼

Are you doing #19thC attribution research? Do you have DH skills and nowhere to use them? YOU could be the next editor of the Curran Index! We're still accepting applications thru next week on 15 Oct. Lead this ongoing + fully supported DH project into its next iteration! rs4vp.org/curran-edito...

Knowledge of 19th century women’s lives is the reward of painstaking research.

For 150 years, Africville, sitting right next to Halifax, was a thriving Black Canadian community. Halifax refused to provide city services, and eventually forced residents to move as they bulldozed their homes. This is the story of that community. 🧵1/12

It’s not the same point, but related: our academic advisor looked at the high school records of who did/didn’t do well in their first 2 years as History u’grads. Among the ones doing well, high HS grades in English were a far better predictor of who did well in uni History. They’d learned to write.

This (wonderful, inspiring) 🧵 again makes me think that departments of History should teach skills in non-fiction prose about the past — the way departments of English teach creative writing. #bookhistory #authorship

Influencers of a bygone era: How late Victorian women artists mastered the art of networking

📣 Registration is open for 'The future of research in Bible Society collections' @biblesoccollfuture.bsky.social on 26&27 Sept Become part of a network of scholars and experts in Religious Studies, material culture, and Medieval to Modern collections https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/47443/

Required reading for #bookhistory and “fembib. Collaboration, mentorship, “data intimacy” and research.

#bookhistory and library history. (Although as we’re reading on SHARP-L, the card catalogue is far from obsolete.)

In Kate’s contribution to our “Research in Reflection Series” she reflects on how the WPHP (delightfully, inevitably) shaped her her PhD work—and provided her with the opportunity to drop books in the British Library. Oops. Read about her ongoing love story with the WPHP here: tinyurl.com/5k55cpxm

#bookhistory Yvan Lamonde was co-general editor of the History of the Book in Canada. 📕

A marvelous thread about the ethical framework within which practicing historians operate. It is so second nature to us that it usually goes unsaid so it’s bracing to see it laid out so clearly here—a necessity in these times when there are so many deeply dishonest appeals to “history.”

🗃️Open-Access Alert #3: The ENTIRE Spring 2024 Issue of the JWH is open access. See Bonnie G. Smith's remembrance of Natalie Z. Davis, articles by Mytheli Sreenivas, Iris Berger, Michelle Arrow, Mary Louise Roberts, Tamika Nunley, María Martín Gómez, and Frances Luttikhuizen: muse.jhu.edu/issue/52077

Clever "title page" design is all Kate!

📣 Curran Fellowships are now OPEN! Per our most recent newsletter, we've moved up our Curran awards to allow recipients time to plan summer travel. Applications due Oct. 15. As always, guidelines and more info are on our website! rs4vp.org/awards/curra...

Reposting the podcast news as I finally appreciate the clever design of the “title page”. But it’s also worth listening to. womensprinthistoryproject.com/blog/post/147

I had forgotten quite how long I’ve been doing #fembib #bookhistory till this lovely podcast opportunity with @thewphp.bsky.social .

descriptive bibliography can be a wild ride

A Q&A with our organising committee is now up at the @crasshlive.bsky.social blog: www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/blog/the-fut...

Nice to see the archive behind my first book being celebrated. #CheapBibles #bookhistory

Why no printing presses for girls?! #fembib #bookhistory

Eliza Orme, first woman in England with a law degree (and much else) featured on the program at the National Theatre in London.

This whole thread is full of compressed wisdom (and some justified anger) - and this particular nugget is the one I'll be following up first...

Revised #CFP for the annual meeting of the Atlantic Medieval and Early Modern Group (AMEMG), October 24-25, 2025, in Moncton, NB. Jointly hosted by the Université de Moncton and Crandall University. Propose a paper, poster, or panel! Please help spread the word! amemg.digitalearlymodern.com

Andrew Hobbs is right. And not only were there dedicated periodicals, historical knowledge was disseminated in magazines, newspapers, & reviews.

🏆 We'd like to officially congratulate @eve.gd, whose *Theses on the Metaphors of Digital-Textual History* (Stanford University Press, 2024) won our 2025 SHARP Book History Book Prize! www.sup.org/books/media-...

The #bookhistory part of yesterday’s delivery; honorarium for a review job for CUP. @sarahebull.bsky.social @corinnanorue.bsky.social @sharpnews.bsky.social

In his guest blog, Micah True gives us some fascinating backstory about the writing of his book, The Jesuit "Relations": A Biography. buff.ly/z3Dc4GU

#sharp2025. Wonderful to be a zoom presence at the AGM this morning. I am reflecting on SHARP’s resilience. Back around 2009 we instituted prizes for best conference tweeters. Thankfully replaced by AGM door prizes (thanks very much!).

#fembib #bookhistory

🚨Call for Papers: The 18th St Andrews/USTC Book History Conference on 'Print and Education' will take place 18–20 June 2026. 👉 Further details here: www.ustc.ac.uk/conference 📅 Application deadline: 12 December 2025 📖 We look forward to receiving your proposals! #CfP #bookhistory #skystorians

A useful radio program on the history of copyright (focusing on UK and US), featuring Will Slauter, Katie McGettigan, and Lionel Bently: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Eliza Orme, late-Victorian lawyer, Liberal, and suffragist, died #otd in 1937 aged 88. Her story in my pinned post, though I only recently learned she is buried at West Norwood cemetery. #Streatham @fownc1837.bsky.social , @womenofsouthlondon.bsky.social