As a once (& future?) library worker and current @ucu.org.uk member, I stand with striking BL staff. Library, and especially special collections, workers are often told they should accept low wages because they get “a dream job:” but any job needs to put food on the table & pay rent.

Bought myself a little treat from the Dorchester Book Fair today

Online and in-person tickets are still left for our upcoming Symposium Organismal Resilience in a Rapidly Changing World. There are reduced prices for students and Linnean Society members. Register now!

Still a few days to apply for this! We’re looking for someone to work on Charles Darwin’s books and offprints. Fixed term for two years. Closes 26 Oct. www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/darwin-...

Weekend plans? Join us this September 20 for crafts, family tours and more at #OpenHouse! Our beautiful building will be open 10am-5pm, a perfect opportunity to catch our Naturalist Notebooks exhibition before it closes. Have a look at the link below for more information: buff.ly/nOc4y4E

The Royal Society's Lisa Jardine Grant Scheme is still open for applications. This scheme offers early-career scholars the opportunity to use history of science collections, including our own, as part of their research. Find out more: #RSGrants https://royalsociety.org/grants/lisa-jardine/

TIL that people used to use bread as erasers! From an annotation by Margaret Keynes, one of Darwin’s granddaughters, in Gwen Raverat’s copy of the first edition of Period Piece (MS Add.8209.3: 374)

There be dragons here @theul.bsky.social

Catch you next time, Canada 🇨🇦

Rhys Darby at Alexandra Palace was an absolute joy of an evening. He’s just starting his U.K. tour so there’s lots of chances to catch him!

Come and hear me talk about the Cook voyages, natural history and Indigenous knowledge on 30th May!

Fascinating bound herbarium at the Linnean Society - probably early 19th c. I’ve never seen an iris laid out like that before!

In love with this gorgeous sundew collected in Norfolk in 1872 - with thanks to @cuherb.bsky.social

Only a few days left to apply for this - come work with me, @jontopham.bsky.social @hpsleeds.bsky.social and @lizsmith.bsky.social and Katrina Dean @theul.bsky.social

Two more weeks to apply!

Book launch tickets on sale today at 10! Absolutely delighted to be in conversation with David Olusoga at Manchester Museum on 6 June, 6-8:30pm. Join us for a launch celebration among amazing ways of being! Free, but limited places so register here. Pls share. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sadiah-qur...

Charmed by this publisher’s ad at the back of “The Poisoned Cup: a tale of Weymouth and Sandsfoot Castle” by Joseph Drew (1954).

*EARLY BIRD REMINDER!* Book before 18 April www.dhoxss.net This year, enhance your knowledge of #digitalhumanities tools, techniques and research methods at #DHOxSS2025. @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social @david.deroure.org @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social @discoxford.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk

New obsession unlocked. Not usually particularly into tapestries but was absolutely fascinated by the natural history specimens pictured in this 18th c tapestry woven at the Gobelins factory in Paris.

Very much on holiday. Have barrelled through Kaliane Bradley’s Ministry of Time (supplied by the wonderful The Book Shop in Bridport) in something like 24 hours. Bliss.

Join us and our hunt for bats with exclusive access to Crystal Palace after hours! There's still time to book tickets.

🚨Are you a professor from overseas, interested in working with Cambridge collections to bring expertise, skills & knowledge in an underrepresented area? We would love to hear from you! Check the latest Visiting Professorships scheme @leverhulme.bsky.social www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/news-events/... #GLAM

We are delighted to announce another fully-funded collaborative PhD studentship, this time in conjunction with @theul.bsky.social. "The Hidden Gender of Collections: Women and the Curation of Scientific Heritage". Deadline 30 April. See here for full details: phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/2233... #histsci

Newest accessory

It is #TaxonomistAppreciationDay today! A big day for Carl Linnaeus, who we happen to care about (just a little.) 100 years before Darwin's evolutionary theory was published, Linnaeus was classifying animals based on shared traits. He created #SystemaNaturae in 1735, and we still use it to this day!

Still finding fun new (to me) things in the Darwin Archive (MS DAR 225: 179)

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit 🇮🇪 💚☘️ Whilst it’s shamrock ☘️ not clover 🍀 that St Patrick is said to have used as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity, the confusion between this family of plants means both often appear on St Patrick’s Day. @theul.bsky.social @nlireland.bsky.social @rothweeee.bsky.social

Happy St Patrick’s Day! Here’s a fantastic medieval map of Ireland from a 15th-century navigational chart, now @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social MS. Ashmole 1352, f. 3r ☘️🎉

🚨NEW🚨: Donald Trump is attempting to strip away federal support for libraries. We will NOT let that happen. Last night the President signed an order to gut the Institute of Museum & Library Services. But together, we know we can show up & defeat it. Full EO: www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

This is new: “A source with direct knowledge of the discussions told NBC News that Trump is heavily focused on Canada in conversations with aides, who believe he is completely serious about making the country the 51st state—even with Trudeau out of power” www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...

Things are dire. But the Royal Historical Society is still funding postgraduate research. Next deadline is 6 June 2025. Grants of £500 or £1,000 available. Details: royalhistsoc.org/research_fun...

Placename delight: T'other Side the Hill, near Binegar, Somerset. 1815 OS Old Series Sheet XIX. Happily the name is still in use.

Pleasantly surprised by this beauty while changing trains in Crewe

Many thanks to @linneansociety.bsky.social and @zibaldoni.bsky.social for a fascinating evening thinking about naturalists’ notebooks (and a chance to see some of Linnaeus’!)

Pieris season begins 🥰

French astronomer and writer Camille Flammarion was born on this day in 1842! A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get to visit the observatory in his house thanks to Projet Archiflamm who will be making a digital edition of his papers. Can’t wait to see what they come up with!

Lovely dinner and exciting theatre. Perfect Friday evening in London!

Several weeks later and I’m still thinking about Woven Histories: textiles and modern abstraction at @nationalgallerycan.bsky.social - especially struck by the work of Marilou Schultz and Jeffrey Gibson. It’s on til 2 March, so check it out if you’re in Ottawa!

Got the last bag of frozen morello cherries at the grocery store. Is everyone else also making cherry pie in honour of David Lynch?

RIP David Lynch. Thank you for making life feel weirder.

what if Nosferatu's Count Orlok didn't obsess over Rose Hutter and instead got hooked on the history of rural England and its people

My real estate sign is raising a lot of questions that are answered by my real estate sign.

I love that Edison thought that anyone would actually want a 30,000 page book.

Archives are precious, but most of the stuff I work with hasn't even been collected by archives! Defend your local archives. Expand them. Donate things to them. Preserve the things others haven't!

Christmas in Canada - walking in a winter wonderland

You do not need to be an academic to visit an archive. You do not need a degree to visit an archive. There is no terrifying Don at the door grilling potential visitors. If it's your first time, a nice archivist will help you. It's our shared history, our preserved records. Go explore it.

A witch riding a snowball from a selection of stories and drawings made by and for the Darwin family (CUL MS DAR 185: 109/9)

oh no

Tomorrow! Come hear some of your favourite CUL librarians singing festive songs in the entrance hall at noon. There might even be a song-along number this year…

✨Job Opportunity: Assistant Professor in Indigenous Publishing (in my program)! It is pretty remarkable we can have this role. No PhD required. I hope you can help us find the best candidate: www.sfu.ca/publishing/n...