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Rebecca Baumann

@arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social
4.5K followers 2.2K following 5.1K posts

rare book librarian, book junkie, devotee of the weird, angry queer, friend to all monsters, nonbinary freak. Free Substack on queer pulps: nympholibrarian.substack.com

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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Go and look for the dejected Once proud idol remembered in stone aloud Then on coins his face was mirrored Take a look it soon hath slithered To a fractured marble slab, renunciation clad His nourishment extract from his subjects, subjects That mass production profile He's a God in an alcove.
Looking up a staircase to see a black cat and a skeleton in an alcoveBlack cat and skeleton in an alcoveBlack cat with reclining Buddha statue
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Agatha likes big slutty historical novels and my dumb embroidered Regency romance chair that I almost didn’t move but am glad I did. She’s clearly a Lady of taste.
Grey and white kitten with Anne Rice’s Cry of Heaven Grey and white kitten on a chair embroidered with a Regency buck and his lady love.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Favorite thing I saw at the fair: archive of gay motorcycle club The Warlocks (from Greg’s Fun Shop)
Shelves of archival objects including photos, flyers and a leather motorcycle cap that says Warlicks
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I’ve never heard of it but it look so up my alley. I’m hoping for the sluttiest gothic
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
And of I did not escape the fair without some pulps. (from Crooked House Books)
Smutty and queer pulps, including Hot Pants HomoHorror pulps: Satan’s Pets and Beware of the CatHorror pulps: The Thing and The Satanists Horror pulps: The Rule of the Page Beasts and Weird Show
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
My favorite thing I got: a Spiritualist ghostwritten text heavily annotated by an ardent reader on a spiritual journey. (from Peruse the Stacks)
Letters from a living dead man by Elsa Barker. Book bound in blue clothInterior of book with annotations Interior of book with annotations Interior of book with annotations
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This incredibly tender and moving 1989 photo book on cross dressing (from Leaves Books)
Transformations: crossdressers and those who love them. Pink book with photo of a woman in a frilly white shirtCaption: “Pete, as Pete and Suzy.” Black and white photos of the same person, one a male person with suit and pipe, one a female person with dress and long hair Black and white photo of a plump, smiling white woman riding a bike in a skirt and cardigan Color photo of a beautiful white person in somewhat androgynous feminine clothes, including a grey cardigan and pink sweater. Her nails are painted pink
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Want to see what I bought at the LA Rare Book Fair?
Stack of books. All titles given in subsequent posts
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I had the best time at the LA Rare Book Fair! I got to see Anne Rice’s goth wedding dress and there was sooo much wonderful queer and weird stuff at this fair—and great people! I’ll post more, including what I bought, as I sort through it
Me standing in awe with Anne Rice’s black gothic wedding dress in a display case
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Reposted by Rebecca Baumann
Sandy Ernest Allen @sandyernestallen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
FIRSTLY as the piece alludes: Loren Rex Cameron’s also-trans and arguably more famous older sister, Cameron, was a I believe fully stealth working model and actress (a la plot of Pose) in the 80s and 90s mostly … I rewatched like I dunno, dozens of TNG episodes, where she appeared as Ensign Kellogg:
A stunning redhead woman in a Star Trek TNG uniform
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Reposted by Rebecca Baumann
Sarah Pyke @sarahpyke.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Extremely excited to share the CFP for the ✨fifth✨ annual #QueerBibliography conference! bit.ly/QB2027CfP When? 2-4 September 2027 Where? Manchester, UK & online Theme: TAKING STOCK Deadline for abstracts: 29 January 2027 Decisions: by 12 March 2027 Submit here: forms.gle/WGjXKA1d6gWm...
Queer Bibliography
Taking Stock
Manchester, UK and online
2-4 September 2027

Call for Proposals

Since the inaugural 2023 conference, queer bibliography has grown from an interesting concept to a burgeoning field. Our 2027 theme, Taking Stock, marks the fifth annual conference and is a chance to pause and reflect on genealogies of the field, the present state of queer bibliographical enquiry, and our senses of the future. How might we trace queer histories of queer bibliography? How can we imagine critical futures for bibliographical enquiry within and beyond its traditional academic locations? Where do we find ourselves and our work? 

Stock also has meaning in bibliography. While “stock” originally referred to a tree trunk or plant stem, and figuratively to the source of a line of descent or even a human torso, it later began to connote an aggregate of goods—in the context of bookmaking, one might own a stock of paper or pasteboard. Towards the mid-nineteenth century, “paper stock” began to connote the raw material of paper itself. “Stock” might refer to the inventories of booksellers, the process of beginning and curating an institutional or personal collection, and the supply and material characteristics of paper. From the raw materials of books to the origins and shapes of personal, commercial, and institutional collections, how does "stock" participate in the production, articulation, and study of queer textuality and textual communities? What is queer about materiality, the ecology of books, and the processes of making and engaging with (collections of) physical textual objects?

We invite participants to engage in stock-taking or reflect on
bibliographical stock, broadly defined. We welcome meta, theoretical, and historiographical work that takes stock of queer bibliography, and we
welcome proposals that relate to “stock” in bibliography, book history, and reception studies.This three-day hybrid conference will be hosted at the John Rylands
Library, part of the University of Manchester, and online on 2–4 September 2027. The conference will feature two days of panels, conversation, and discussion on 2 and 3 September and will be followed by an optional workshop on 4 September. Conference programming may also include evening receptions, tours of Manchester libraries (including Chetham’s Library, the oldest public library in England), and collection viewings at the Rylands.

The conference welcomes participants from a diverse range of fields and
career stages, including: book arts practitioners, activists, postgraduates,
early career researchers, independent scholars, librarians, archivists, and
booksellers, both in person and via video conference. As in past years, the goal of the broadly articulated theme of “taking stock” is to bring people in and to shape conversation, not to exclude or limit. All submissions that engage with the intertwined relationship between queerness and bibliography are encouraged.

Participants will be invited to submit a 2000-word pre-circulated paper,
before presenting in panels of 10-minute papers. We also welcome
alternative contributions, such as workshops, roundtables, or self-organised seminars and creative presentations, with a pre-circulated submission that provides a grounding for the conference contribution.

Contributors should submit an abstract of 200–300 words, along with a
short bio, by 29 January 2027:

https:/ /forms.gle/WGjXKA1d6gWmtfjZ8

Prospective speakers will be informed of the outcome by 12th March. Pre-circulated papers will be collected and shared in mid-July. 

Any questions should be directed to: queerbibliography@gmail.com

http://queerbibliography.org
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Grossman’s discussion of the history of Merlin is also brilliant: levgrossman.substack.com/p/dark-merli...
levgrossman.substack.com
Dark Merlin
Everybody's second-favorite avuncular wizard has a few skeletons in his closet
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my favorite Arthurian character: Nimue, the sorceress who put her beloved master Merlin in a tree. Finding out my preferred name for her is probably a printer’s error just makes me love her more. levgrossman.substack.com/p/on-the-enc...
levgrossman.substack.com
On the Enchantress Nimue
She's hugely overpowered, and she basically doesn't make sense as a character. But that is why we will always love her
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Just an Agatha update
Gray and white kitten Gray and white kitten Grey and white kitten and adult black cat resting on bed together Gray and white kitten rolling around and harassing two adult black cats
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Just a donkey in my campus parking lot.
Donkey!Donkey
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
And picking your battles and knowing all the information before you go after someone. There’s a lot more to this story that the people involved are not choosing to share but I will DM you.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Tomato/tomato. I’m seeing a lot of people use “boundaries” as ways to divide communities. The lesbian bar masking debacle is very much on my mind, and I’m tired of people who want to hang *their own* in the public square for minor infractions because they feel powerless in the face of bigger evils.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A matter of opinion, but it’s certainly unnecessary shit stirring. I just think we should be working together against big enemies instead of passive-aggressively vague-posting about our colleagues. I don’t find this complaint to be in good faith, but to be fair, I know all the players personally.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I’m not advocating for AI art here. I’m advocating for people to embrace nuance. AI shortcuts are often taken for very human reasons which may not be apparent to the “customer” and sitting behind a social media account clucking at the smallest infractions is the kind of nonsense that divides us.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Most antiquarian booksellers operate on the thinnest of profits margins. These are not corporate fat cats rolling in money. With institutional budget cuts, they are very much in danger of disappearing, which will do irrevocable damage to our ability to preserve books and manuscripts.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I think I’m out of cautious and polite things to say. This is why I am working with other librarians and booksellers to foster better understanding between our communities. There are sadly many librarians who fail to recognize their positions of privilege who end up harming bookseller colleagues.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Ah their 24/7 on call customer service rep didn’t get back to you fast enough? Got it. Again, this isn’t Amazon dot com. This is our community, our colleagues, our friends.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Funny because I trust this firm a billion times more than I trust the very few ultra wealthy firms that can hire graphic designers every time. This is community, not commerce.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Lmao this isn’t Target Allie. It’s a couple of nerds trying to barely scrape some kind of living out of preserving cultural heritage. We’re literally in the same field as they are. We should be having dialogue, not publicly shaming.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I knew who you meant. It’s a tiny community. It reads as performative public scolding.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Is a bookseller using AI in lieu of Photoshop when short staffed for a quick announcement really on par with the Bodleian using it for a major exhibition? Maybe pick and choose who your huge account puts on blast.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I’m sorry but this kind of purity testing will rip our field apart much faster than the right wing. Go protest data centers and leave the independent bookseller who relentlessly supports queer and bipoc communities alone. These are not the people to be attacking right now. 😑 indeed.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
More views of my beautiful new home. We went to the farmers market and got 8 pounds of oranges and tons of veg and an iced Mexican coffee to die for.
Detail of mural with a blue monster’s face that says “always there”Padlocks on a sculpture Orange and red flowers (sorry no idea what kind!)Crow on top of a bell/lamppost with palm tree
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I 🖤 Riverside
Statue of Eliza Tibbets, one of the founders of Riverside, an activist, abolitionist, Spiritualist medium and horticulturalist Ramen shop with banner of black cat eating ramenDetail of Cesar Chavez statue showing a fierce woman with a hoe Mural of a buffalo reading a book that says “all things grow all things go”
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Thurston, mountains, moon. My evening view is beautiful.
View of roofs, palm trees and mountains with black cat on windowsill Black cat in window with rising full moon visible in pink sky
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Yes! Just been here one week—had to get out of Indiana.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I had to honk at them. This is now a rare book and donkey account.
Donkeys crossing a road, mountains in the background
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
That’s awesome!! I will say hi to Andrew—I am so excited to have such cool new colleagues! He’s been doing great things with the comic collections here and they’re getting a ton of student use.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thurston and Columbo love her and are very good babysitters with endless patience for pouncing practice.
Two adult black cats and a gray and white kitten Two adult black cats and a gray and white kitten
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
That looks like it might be carnival themed! Need!
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I have not yet introduced Bluesky to Agatha. We found her abandoned by our house about two weeks before we left Indiana. She’s traveled 2000 miles to become a California cat and is absolutely ruling over our new household like a tiny hellion.
Grey and white fluffy kitten Grey and white fluffy kitten on blanket Grey and white fluffy kitten with mouth openGrey and white fluffy kitten batting at camera
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Reposted by Rebecca Baumann
Rare Book School @rarebookschool.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
RBS is currently accepting applications for the following funding opportunities: —𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗕𝗦-𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 —𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠. 𝗖. 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗕𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 Details at: rarebookschool.org/scholarships-fellowships #BookSky #RareBooks
A graphic topped by a horizontal black bar features a photo of a group of people standing amongst library stacks full of books bound in bright reds, oranges, yellows, and blues. In the upper right corner is the RBS logo. The man in the foreground holds a large book with a gilded leather binding in his hands. Text reads, “Applications are now open for the following RBS scholarships & fellowships: All RBS-awarded scholarships for both first-time and returning RBS students. Applications due by Sunday, 1 November 2026. The M. C. Lang Fellowship in Book History, Bibliography, and Humanities Teaching with Historical Sources, a two-year fellowship for faculty, librarians, and curators at U.S. liberal arts colleges and small universities. Applications due by Sunday, 6 December 2026. Learn more about these and other RBS funding opportunities at rarebookschool.org/scholarships-fellowships.”
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
My first Riverside donkey sighting!!! (I won’t say that I took this job just because there are wild donkeys here but I won’t say it wasn’t a consideration). Having an amazing first week and loving UCR and the the Inland Empire.
Donkeys grazing on a hillside
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It was exhausting but very fun!
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I brought 2 humans, a Great Pyrenees, 2 cats, and a tiny sassy kitten 2,000 miles across the country to start a new life. You can’t tell me shit. I can do ANYTHING.
Rebecca & her spouse Ryder with an alien, somewhere on Route 66 in Oklahoma Fire Walk With Me on a hotel TV. Turning on the hotel TV to this was AN INSANE SIGN FROM OUR GOD OF THE INLAND EMPIRE DAVID LYNCHOur beloved dog Hazel With a dinosaur statue in New MexicoGraffiti saying Be Somebody at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Scenes of departure. The best thing about moving is that you get to decide what to take with you and what to leave behind.
A restaurant booth covered in sharpie notes.
A burning Hand of GloryAn open suitcase with two black cats in itA praying mantis on a light
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I cannot figure out how to pack a skeleton. My fantasy that I would be a very clever murderer is swiftly dissolving.
Skeleton model upside down in a large box. It does not fit. Skeleton leg sticking out of a box.
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Oh I cannot wait!
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Yessss!!! I can’t wait to dig into all the science fiction treasures!
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Thank you! This means so much to me! I am leaving the Lilly for UC Riverside. It’s been very difficult to leave and it’s nice to be reminded that I did some good there!
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
🖤🖤🖤🖤
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Wonderful find! I can’t think of any others where the cutouts are eyeballs except for Stephen King’s Night Shift
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Reposted by Rebecca Baumann
Steven Sheil @scsheil.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
@arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social I know you enjoy a good stepback - have you come across this one before?
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
No! I think I’ve ever seen a stepback from Pan
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Rebecca Baumann @arkhamlibrarian.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I love Creepy Bits! What a perfect pose!
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