The Prize Papers team, led by Dr. Amanda Bevan at the UK National Archives, has been finding so many historical treasures and discoveries. Here, a rare Copy of the Declaration of Independence —captured by a British warship from an American privateer off the Coast of Spain in 1776–

Any folk and/or sea singers in my circle? The @navyrecords.bsky.social has a project you might be interested in, to build a set of recordings for sea songs and shantys that they have words for but no audio

I just read through the FCHS Program and, wow, it looks fantastic. So many great panels and papers. Well done @donalh.bsky.social et al. Sorry to miss it. Have fun all. Sláinte!

When reality surpasses fiction! Top: fictional forecast for August 2050, broadcast by French TV in 2014 to warn about the consequences of global warming. Bottom: Real French forecast for yesterday, June 22, 2026.

Critical fabulation requires an intimate knowledge of what is in and what is not in the archives. It means having a deep engagement with scholarship. It is not about making up fictitious histories. I am so tired of people failing to understand that. Lorde, hilfe.

one look at this and you can see why i write about these guys

Definitely a step up. That said, it would be helpful if they made sure there are enough bikes outside the downtown core. I live midtown and so often there are no bikes at all available at the docking stations. And not just one, several.

It's the most radical change in my 26 Toronto years. I hop on & off at my pleasure, total freedom. Walk a while, take toddler/stroller to daycare, the hop on a bike. Off. On. Last evening had an event at Carlu. Ebiked to baby, took him home, change into suit, hoped on ebike, back downtown. 👏

In 1684, mayor of Amsterdam Nicolas Witsen was gifted a Chinese atlas (Guangyu Tu 廣輿圖, 1555) by Jesuit missionary Philippe Couplet. This atlas is now held at @huisvanhetboek.bsky.social, where I had to pleasure to show it to the visitors of its Vriendendag last Saturday!

Are you interested in book history around the globe? Check out the SHARPIES online, global book history festival, taking place July 7th-9th. Free for SHARP members (and membership is between 55–100USD). Time is running out, so register today! events.zoom.us/ev/Ap9iEZwmC...

A supposed 17th-c. model ship turns out to be later. So far, so ordinary. BUT, gloriously, its 20th-c. restoration was modelled on (drumroll please) Captain Haddock’s ancestor’s ship in Tintin. www.ledevoir.com/culture/9886...

#earlymodern #maritimehistory

It's almost time!!! We have less than a week before our Book History Conference. Lots of great panels are planned! If you'd like to join online please contact the organizers, Chloe Akers-Brewers or James Fox. Learn more about the conference program here: www.ustc.ac.uk/conference

A show called WRITING IMPOSSIBLE that follows someone each week as they try to make deadline. They sit at the computer, check a citation, doomscroll, organize their closet, eat a whole bag of Doritos, write a footnote, then at the end of the episode email their editor to ask for more time. Eh??

The Prime Minister isn't listening to us, he's listening to the business idiots. #AI #Carney #environment #Cdnpoli #🇨🇦

🚨ANCIENT WHALE GRAVEYARD🚨 There's a 750-mile stretch of the Indian Ocean that has been home to more than 450 whale skeletons, some of which are recent, and some of which are fossils going back 5 million years! Story by Meghan Bartels @sciam.bsky.social 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/larg...

👀 'Investigating Colonial Port Development through the Lloyd’s Register Archive' 1x paid role (Australia) + volunteer research roles (Australia, Pakistan & UK) Led by @nautarchsoc.bsky.social & Lloyd's Register Archives. Deadline: 20 June 2026 www.nauticalarchaeologysociety.org/colonial-por...

Hi, PM @mark-carney.bsky.social. AI was created from my stolen work. How are you planning to compensate the many Canadian authors like me who have been ripped off by these companies you laud? Technology built on theft is not what any country needs.

Echoing Sarah's thoughts here: what a stimulating gathering of folks from so many corners of the book arts world. A great balance of hands-on workshops and round-table discussions. Here's to convincing more folks to fund these vibrant, multi-disciplinary opportunities at their institutions!

Again, not only did Canadians not vote for ANY of this at all, but they're doing it at the exact moment when all of corporate America is asking hard questions about whether any of this genAI shit is worth it, considering token spend. Does Mark Carney have AI Psychosis?

PM ‪Mark Carney‬: "We just launched Canada’s new AI Strategy: AI For All." For all? Um. How do I opt out!?

Very much looking forward to hearing this on Thursday! #bookhistory

Very much looking forward to hearing this on Thursday! #bookhistory

In memory of the wonderful Raúl.

Spring toe beans! #caturday

Not inevitable. Not something we "just have to accept." Not "the way things are."

I got my first of these this morning -- dear Fabrice, it seems particularly ironic that your digital and disembodied "discovery-driven reading community" is allegedly so interested in what I have to say about "human judgment"!

Really great concrete ideas -- mixing both scholarly and creative writing, with reasonable daily goals... Thank you for sharing these, @walshbr.bsky.social ! #amwriting

I’m not either. Why are people just assuming everyone else is using GAI?

It's publication day! This Little World begins with a sixteenth-century refugee writing from Norwich to his wife abroad. It ends in the aftermath of civil war and revolution, asking what belonging and identity might mean in a world shaped by migration, empire and violence. (1/4)

Also your university press, if your institution has one

Faculty: libraries and librarians need your advocacy BEFORE our collections are shuttered and our workers are fired. Whether you think your library is in trouble, and it almost definitely is, write to your provost and tell them how essential the library and library staff are to your work. Right now.

“I write with dismay, grief and sorrow for the permanent closure of MIT Libraries Barker, Dewey and Rotch, and termination of library staff in those libraries. For MIT to be closing three of its four major libraries..." fnl.mit.edu/may-june-202...

But I am also reminded of what Julia Cameron said: "The trick of finding writing time is to make writing time in the life you've already got. That's where you've got leverage. Stop imagining some other life as a "real" writer's life". This is the life I have, and I have to make it work. I can.

It reminded me that I KNOW how to get a book written and completed and submitted and published. I just need the time, clarity of mind and space to get it done. And it's not easy. I remember getting annoyed at Helen Sword and Joli Jensen for suggesting we carve time out of our busy schedules.

Experiencing the challenges of sustaining a writing practice while providing full time care and juggling a full time job has made me substantially more sensitive to the importance of discussing and making care work valued in the academic community. This week, I am missing a global conference.

There's a situation unfolding in the land of online bookselling that I haven't discussed primarily because I have little information to share. An unknown company is making multi-volume purchases, and when I say multi-, I mean some of us have been getting 500 orders a week. For REALLY random books.

France's Code Noir (the Black Code) - a legal instrument that invented categories of people to whom different laws applied - has yet to be formally abolished! Cross-party bill to annul it comes before the Assemblée nationale: 28 May. Essay by French lit prof Andrew S Curran. Gift link. 🗃

A postage box in a village on a small Scottish island that has been yarn bombed with a knitted PS Waverley, the last ocean-going paddle steamer still running (named after the Walter Scott novel.)

Nouveau podcast : 432. Robert Darnton, l'amour des livres et des Lumières Un entretien avec le grand dix-huitiémiste dans lequel on revient sur son œuvre, son rapport à la langue française, et même ses débuts comme reporter au NYT Bon dimanche et bonne écoute ! parolesdhistoire.fr/index.php/20...

Are you kidding me? $4-5 BILLION to expand Billy Bishop Airport?!?! WTF will it take to get @mark-carney.bsky.social & his #LPC government to say #NoJetsTO once and for all? Especially with Pearson undergoing their own improvements. #shame #TOpoli #ONpoli #cdnpoli www.thestar.com/news/ontario...

On Radio-Canada (90.3fm) this morning: YorkU's administration is trying to restructure its bilingual campus, Glendon and sell off land. Faculty are justifiably worried that this threatens the French-language teaching at the Glendon campus. ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/225...

Remarquable exposition "Esclaves en Méditerranée, XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle" à l'Institut du Monde arabe. Documentation centrée sur la France et sur l'Italie, mais un très bon aperçu des conditions de vie des esclaves, chrétiens comme musulmans, à cette époque. Jusqu'au 19 juillet 2026.

Does anyone have recommendations for the best laser cutter settings for making letterpress woodcuts? I am using Lightburn software. I am trying to replicate some 18c woodcuts. #letterpress #bookhistory

#maritimehistory #tacit knowledge #environmentalhist

I did a research deep-dive into whaling and the northern fisheries while writing this poem about systemic human predation & individual ethics: a deck-bombing fulmar looking for offal scraps makes an appearance. www.badlilies.uk/catherine-ro...

To be very clear, I'm not trying to use the AI — I'm just trying to read the court documents. It's clear that the AI is programmed to replace offensive language. But what does that mean when it's being used to summarize historical documents? What happens when people rely on the summary?

Recently, FamilySearch digitized and uploaded tons of microfilmed records, including many from 18th-century Massachsuetts. They're using some sort of AI to transcribe/summarize the handwritten documents. I've noticed that the AI strips out references to race and enslavement in 18thc documents.

I am a human data center, and you are one too. If anything needs more energy, and care, it is us. And not machines.

More than just books and pictures— also globes and nautical instruments! A one-stop shop for #earlymodern #maritime practitioners! #bookhistory :-)