iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Very kind of you to say! It’s a truly wild show.

Reposted by Aaron T. Pratt

Nicolaus De Missuria @deromaaliisque.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Another great exhibition at the @ransomcenter.bsky.social From early biblical fragments, to a huge Book of the Dead, this is something you need to see. Excellent, as always, @aarontpratt.bsky.social

241

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

And do a Vander Muelen style watermarkless fingerprint

020

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Haha I wish! No watermarks, sadly. Should get some transmitted light photos of whole leaves with measurements so compare with other samples

220

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Gearing up to teach Evidence in Handpress-Era Books, 1450–1830, @ransomcenter.bsky.social for @rarebookschool.bsky.social next week. It’s gonna be hardcore, as all good bibliography is.

Group of ten syllabuses for Evidence in Handpress-Era Books, 1450–1830. All in stab-stitched “pamphlet” form.

Group of seven full library carts in front of glass-door fronted built-in bookcases.

1456

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Yikes—glad you guys seem to be OK. Hadn’t yet seen that there’s a wildfire in the panhandle.

010

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

I don't post much these days, but if you have any chance of being in Austin through Aug. 2, you should come see Lives and Literacy in Ancient Egypt at the Ransom Center. Most of the materials in the show have never been exhibited outside of Manchester—if ever. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XMd...

youtube.com

Lives and Literacy in Ancient Egypt - Curatorial Panel Discussion

YouTube video by Harry Ransom Center

061

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

We have a blue-paper copy of the 1514 Aldine De re rustica, which includes the Columella. It's wild.

110

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Have heard of it but not played. Sad to say that I've had a very hard time getting into video games in adulthood. Any good?

000

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Priority applications came in, and it looks like Evidence in Handpress-Era Books, 1450–1830, will be nice and full. BUT, I was willing to raise the cap to fifteen, meaning that I now have a couple of open spots, even without any attrition. Join me in Austin this June!

043

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Didn't know that last bit—very cool!

010

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Based on the Chippendale style, the George Kenyon who had the plate made would appear to be the 1702-1780 one. The boards, though, with their "Cambridge panel" design and chunky thistle cornerpieces look before 1740 or 50.

110

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Very interesting. I think I'd need to see it in person to be sure, but it looks like an oversewing method along these lines. What's most interesting to me is that the board style & the bookplate point to a date much more toward the middle of the 18th century than the late.

Two diagrams of oversewing methods. From Bernard Middleton, A History of English Craft Bookbinding Technique (London: Holland Press, 1988), p.24.

100

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

I’m curious when in the 18th century in particular this was done. Any chance you have a photo or two of the binding exterior?

110

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

What do the covers look like? And endleaves with watermarks that might (also) help with dating.

210

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Oh wait, contemporary bindings. Not looked super carefully at more than a couple. But I recall stubs and, separately, the use of the left margin for a fold.

120

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Creating folds by gluing into stubs or using a whipstitching/oversewing technique. The latter was used by fancy 19th/early 20th-c binders for all kinds of early books, better permitting copies with damaged/rebuilt inner margins and supplied leaves.

310

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Very kind! Really appreciate you watching.

020

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Thanks for the assist. Am terrible about tagging.

010

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

If you missed Ann Blair’s @ransomcenter.bsky.social Pforzheimer Lecture last night, you can check it out on YouTube: www.youtube.com/live/u16QHaI... I think you’ll agree that it’s both sharp and a lot of fun.

youtube.com

Dr. Ann Blair - How Renaissance Scholars and Printers Decided on the Size of Books

YouTube video by Harry Ransom Center

211656

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Awesome—will be sure to introduce myself if/when I see you.

010

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Will be at the Grolier Annual Meeting and all things @bibsocamer.bsky.social. Unfortunately can’t come out until Thursday AM so am missing the showcase the previous day.

120

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Haha—thanks! This one isn’t quite as evil as my DesBib one, but it has some tricks up its sleeve.

030

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Tomorrow’s the first day of my grad seminar for @utaustin.bsky.social English, How to Read an Old Book, 1450–1830. Just finished stitching up my syllabuses, which we’ll spend quite a bit of time with—as bibliographical objects—for the first half or so of the term.

A somewhat spread out stack of stab-stitched (pamphlet-sewn) syllabuses for the course, How to Read an Old Book, 1450–1830. Viewed from above, on a wood table.

6968

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

(Also, I have no idea how I botched that first post so badly; gonna have to blame my phone.)

000

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Because I'm a lunatic, I'll also be reprising my @calrbs.bsky.social seminar for the 3rd time in the summer, August 10–14: www.calrbs.org/descriptive-...

calrbs.org

Descriptive Bibliography (2026) – CalRBS

Aaron T. Pratt

101

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

For the first time ever, @ransomcenter.bsky.social host @rarebookschool.bsky.social courses this summer, June 7–12: L-165: Literary Manuscripts w/ Stephen Enniss & Megan Barnard (this will be excellent) G-60: Evidence in Handpress-Era Books, 1450–1830 w/ yours truly rarebookschool.org/schedule/

rarebookschool.org

Schedules | Rare Book School

13812

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

So grateful we didn’t have a damn written exam.

020

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

I feel like I have seen that symbol before in a ye olde book but not as a signature. I wonder what other book Grapheus printed that might have called for it.

020

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Not in person, alas! (At least not to my knowledge.)

020

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

In this article rebooting the @ransomcenter.bsky.social's series on Not Even Past, @utaustin.bsky.social English Ph.D. student Kōan Brink writes about a surprising find in the gutters of a new acquisition: "The Chopped-Up Second Life of a Coverdale Bible." notevenpast.org/primary-sour...

notevenpast.org

Primary Source: The Chopped-Up Second Life of a Coverdale Bible - Not Even Past

This and other articles in Primary Source: History from the Ransom Center Stacks represent an ongoing partnership between Not Even Past and the Harry Ransom Center, a world-renowned humanities researc...

0102

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Thanks so much for bringing the group—was a blast!

010

Reposted by Aaron T. Pratt

claire m. l. bourne @roaringgirle.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

a tiny bit of good news is that we have secured funding to digitize john milton's copy of holinshed's CHRONICLES (1587). the images will form part of MILTON'S LIBRARY, an open-access site featuring the 10 books positively identified as milton's w/ transcriptions/translations of his marginal notes.

A close-up image of a handwritten note in a sixteenth-century book. The note reads: 'Spenser repor / teth otherwise / [o]f this Knight / [D]ialogue of Ire- / [la]nd / [p]. 76.

923954

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Oh fun. So analogous to what's happening at the front.

010

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Oh wait—looked at your pagination statement. Looks like it's just 1 leaf and not an 11-leaf monstrosity.

010

Aaron T. Pratt @aarontpratt.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Oh, incidentally—I'd avoid superscripted 1s. For those single-leaf deals, just so a regular ole "1". Tell me about that final gathering? 11 leaves? What is the actual structure of it? Where does the non-conjugate leaf fall?

200