'The Guardian' view on the Women's Library at 100: a cause of celebration but not complacency www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Such an interesting article. Packed with intriguing details.

And what I find amazing is how little mention is made of this situation. ‘Cos, of course, if available as ebooks, books are only stocked in that form, & ebooks are inaccessible. Catch-22. So it’s impossible to access academic works pub in last decade. The ebook policy is hopeless. We need print

This is, I think, a link to a number of free eprints of my WHR Viewpoint discussing my 4 decades as a bookseller, an occupation that has brought with it the opportunity to research and write. If you're interested, feel free... www.tandfonline.com/eprint/NJZYM...

No surprise here. Alas

Seconded.

This is a potential hostage to fortune, given that I don't yet know what the guests thought of it, but I'm hugely thrilled to say that in tomorrow's episode of 'A Good Read' (BBC Radio4 at 3pm), Harriett Gilbert 's book choice is my novel, 'Small Bomb at Dimperley'.

The British Women's Suffrage Movement in 100 Objects: a material history - FORTHCOMING IN JULY womanandhersphere.com/2026/02/09/t...

100th anniversary of the Women's Library @lselibrary.bsky.social the Women's Library was created in 1926 find out more in this insta reel www.instagram.com/p/DTxRuk6DTLU/ @lsegender.bsky.social @womenshistnet.bsky.social @womenslibrary.bsky.social @scotsuffragette.bsky.social 1 d

Very welcome annoucement for the sector. Recognises the economic impact of cultural venues in our towns and cities, but also our work to reach everyone in communities, inspire young people and improve lives. www.gov.uk/government/n... @artscouncilengland.bsky.social

Wonderful to see #badges feature in @womanssphere.bsky.social forthcoming book British Suffrage Movement in 100 Objects, including for Ireland. #WomensLibrary 💯 @fotwl.bsky.social

@womanssphere.bsky.social is now speaking about her forthcoming book on the British Suffrage Movement in 100 Objects at @fotwl.bsky.social conference today. 49 of the 100 objects come from @lselibrary.bsky.social #WomensLibrary.

Very insightful paper by @carolinederry.bsky.social here at @fotwl.bsky.social event to celebrate 💯 of @lselibrary.bsky.social #WomensLibrary on legal campaigns & debates around the age of consent & equal moral standard. Intersections with class, gender, age & sexuality highlighted are fascinating.

My book about the Actresses’ Franchise League is now £15 in the MUP sale! All good stuff about interactive and innovative suffrage theatre from suffrajitsu to plays to Holloway prison cell installations.(FYI you add it to basket to get the discount) manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526114808/

I'll be telling how the treasures of the Women's Library collections have provided 50 of the objects I discuss in my forthcoming book, 'The British Women's Suffrage Movement in 100 Objects: a material history', forthcoming from Bloomsbury in July (£24.99). No such book could be compiled without TWL

Join us for a free one-day conference on 14 January at the Shaw Library, LSE, to mark 100 years of The Women's Library. Speakers include Sally Alexander, Elizabeth Crawford, Caroline Derry, Clara Jones and Carmen Mangion. Email [email protected] if you'd like to come.

Few things are more enjoyable than taking a Zoom walk through Christmassy Rome in the company of @understandingrome.bsky.social . Do look at the details in her post about how to book for the 21 Dec walk. An hour of pleasure - sights and sounds - without stirring from the sofa

@britishlibrary.bsky.social I made arrangements some time ago to come to BL on 10 Dec and, although I now realise I won't actually be able to look at books (!!), because I'm also meeting people I would like to know if the Members' Room/cafes will be open? There is nothing on the website about this

I hope that the 115th anniversary of Black Friday is a suitable day to say how much I am enjoying reading my third book by @lissakevans.bsky.social.

I don't understand what is meant by 'unsealed' in this story. Since the 1980s Levy's papers were owned by Camellia plc & were open to researchers. Christine Pullen's biography of Levy, The Woman Who Dared (2010) was based on them. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...

Any takers?https://womanandhersphere.com/2025/11/17/closing-down-sale-a-few-more-offerings/

Article updated with wonderful new info from the archives of both Pierre Frey (Paris) and The Women's Library@LSE. wp.me/p2AEiO-245

As it's #newfriendsday, why not think about joining the Friends of the Women's Library? We hold monthly talks on zoom and in-person at LSE Library, sometimes purchase items for the collection and hold an annual essay competition. Find out more here: friendsofthewomenslibrary.org.uk/join-us/

One of my favourite columns on the Palatine this morning, here’s a post about the time I went to where it came from (no paywall) open.substack.com/pub/understa...

Well, the sale stock is flying off the shelves. So I am adding new items. Do have a look. wp.me/p2AEiO-2j5

After 41 years of selling books etc by & about women - here is my closing-down catalogue - Number 214. womanandhersphere.com/2025/10/16/f... More books will be added - so do check. Writing continues - new book from Bloomsbury in 2026 - The British Women's Suffrage Movement in 100 Objects

I'm giving an online talk tomorrow at 7pm for BALH - offering some ideas about how to research the women's suffrage movement in your locality. You've until 6.30 pm tomorrow to sign up for it. Have a look - www.balh.org.uk/event-balh-v...

September's (free) Postcard from Rome: a beach day at the tail end of summer, and a rediscovered Mantegna lost for five centuries and rediscovered lurking in Pompei

August's (free) monthly newsletter is out. Grotteschi and Grande Torino, after all one is never far from Rome! understandingrome.substack.com/p/augusts-mo...

We are excited to share a new opportunity to research with our unique archive collections. Our 3 Library Fellowships offer up to 6 weeks to conduct original research that will provide new perspectives on our collections. Applications open until 22 September. Read more www.lse.ac.uk/library/what...

(8) A Podcast about Rome. Episode 26: The Baths of Caracalla understandingrome.substack.com/p/a-podcast-...

And will the 1928 commemorations be decked in purple, white and green? An historian asks

📢 Just announced! The programme & booking is now live for our Annual Conference 2025. 🗓️ Join us online & free on 4–5 Sept for Hidden in Plain Sight: Women in Archives, Libraries, Museums & Personal Collections. 🔗 womenshistorynetwork.org/the-womens-h... #WHN2025 #WomensHistory #Archives #Heritage

If you’re in Rome on 27 July @rachelaliceroddy.bsky.social and I will be reprising our Film Jaunt, shade, refreshments & a gentle wander through favourite quartieri discussing Roman movies & ending with a slap up fishy lunch a là Pranzo di Ferragosto. understandingrome.substack.com/p/julys-mont...

Little did I think when, in 1999, I bought a letter from Millicent Fawcett introducing her friend Fanny Wilkinson to Dorothea Beale, & intrigued, then uncovered Fanny's working life in 'Enterprising Women: the Garretts & their circle' that 25 yrs later she'd be statued www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Harriet Grote in 1792. As @martinspychal.bsky.social has explored in his series, now available on the #HistParl site, she was able to establish herself as one of Westminster’s leading radical politicians. (1/8)🧵

My latest newsletter is about the extraordinary life of perhaps the finest intact Greek vase in existence, the heartbreaking depiction of the death of a young hero, and why a two-room museum in northern Lazio is exactly where it should be understandingrome.substack.com/p/from-troy-...

#OTD, 11 June 1847, Millicent Fawcett was born. Fawcett was involved with numerous suffrage societies before becoming president of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) in 1907.

So amazing to see a review of my book about Hannah Beswick, the Manchester Mummy in the Fortean Times! Apparently there are just 8 tickets left for tonight's launch event at the Manchester Museum. Do come along if you can!

My latest (free) newsletter is about sirens and Aeneas, mozzarella and sea bream, and a coast dense with the all-pervasive tentacles of mythology

After a couple of hours of being unreachable, I can now access the BL site. Can't believe it was just me who was having this problem???

@britishlibrary.bsky.social Has anybody else found it impossible to reach the BL website at the moment? 'Too many redirects' is the message I get....

#OTD 1913 - Derby Day - Emily Wilding Davison met her fate. What is the significance of that return ticket? Here's one view wp.me/p2AEiO-oe

I have 2 books by her - and one about Charmain and George - in stock, if anyone's interested...

“Cerco l'estate tutto l'anno, e all'improvviso eccola qua” The air is heavy with the scent of jasmine, oleander in bloom & summer around the corner. The best Italian song (probably) captures summer perfectly (post now liberated from its paywall) understandingrome.substack.com/p/vespa-tune...

& that means most academic books pub. since ?2015 - or earlier? Because BL only takes e-books, as academic books invariably are. Noted the breezy way the latest email suggested I should just travel to another copyright library. Surely they must buy hard copies of all the books we are being denied?

With thanks to @lizgloyn.bsky.social for tracking down and sharing the publicly available update and @themedievaldrk.bsky.social for flagging it on BlueSky, confirmation that "non print legal deposit" sources are gone for foreseeable future at the British Library 😐 bl.libguides.com/electronic-l...

It's 111 years today since Mrs Pankhurst made a last stand at the gates of Buckingham Palace. Diarist Kate Frye was there to observe and you can read what she saw here wp.me/p2AEiO-DB

Oh, I see it's International Tea Day..and with tea you're never far from a suffragette. There are a number of related articles on my website, but, at random, here's one wp.me/p2AEiO-8l

@donnalferguson.bsky.social Hello ~ following yr Guardian piece @ Fanny Wilkinson, you might be interested in how I 'discovered' her -for all info comes from my book 'Enterprising Women: the Garretts and their circle'. There's a story in how this group is now being recognized wp.me/p2AEiO-2hn