Reposted by Mark ThakkarFelicity Callard @felicitycallard.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Also: Can someone clarify what they are planning to do to history at Edinburgh. Cutting intellectual history, contemporary history and medieval history looks catastrophic 1104
Reposted by Mark ThakkarPieter Beullens @pieterbeullens.bsky.social · 16/09/2026The same MS of Aristotle's Topics, with plenty of annotations, apparently ended up in a bookbinder's workshop. Plenty of bifolia were reused as pastedowns. (@ubleipzig.bsky.social, MS 376) resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/HSP000518E90... 1174
Reposted by Mark ThakkarJo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 14/09/2026The fallacy that University leaders pushing AI are falling into is thinking that the point of undergraduate research is to find things out. It isn't. What students find out is typically already generally known. The point of undergraduate research is to learn how to find things out. 351442411
Reposted by Mark ThakkarPieter Beullens @pieterbeullens.bsky.social · 06/09/2026I am finalizing the yearly update of my Supplementa of Aristoteles Latinus Codices. If you know (or own) manuscripts or fragments of Latin Aristotle texts that were not included before, now is the time to drop me a line! 065
Reposted by Mark ThakkarPeter Gilliver @petermgilliver.bsky.social · 04/09/2026My book ‘The Making of the OED’ was published on 25 Aug 2016, so I have missed the exact 10th anniversary; but I don’t care. I am going to indulge myself by quoting from the wonderful series of reviews I was lucky enough to get ten years ago. (Yes, I kept a file of them, of course I did.) 1/ 1165
Mark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 03/09/2026Poe introducing his Marginalia (1844): “the chance and desultory comments of literary chit-chat … are not unfrequently “talk for talk’s sake,” … while the marginalia are deliberately penciled, because the mind of the reader wishes to unburthen itself of a thought”. 💯 www.google.co.uk/books/editio... 020
Reposted by Mark ThakkarEmilie K. M. Murphy @emiliekmmurphy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Flashback to when I witnessed an 'eminent' Oxbridge Prof give a totally wild lecture in which they presented slides arguing that 'global history' was more popular than 'taylor swift' despite having done google searches without having put these terms in quote marks... IFYKYK. 5406
Reposted by Mark ThakkarMark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 21/07/2026Lexicographer wanted at the TLL! Deadline end of August. Somewhat surprisingly, the advert doesn’t say how good your German needs to be – the TLL is based in Munich, and it’s in the nature of the job that you need to be in the office – but of course the dictionary itself is written in Latin anyway. 035
Reposted by Mark ThakkarAylwyn Scally @aylwyn-scally.bsky.social · 19/08/2026In my experience quite a few colleagues are simply finding it impossible to get their heads around the fact that a written coursework essay, the basis for assessment their entire lives, is no longer any guarantee of effort or engagement by students. 53013
Reposted by Mark ThakkarMark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 06/08/2026I have all the “treat me like an adult” options turned on by default in my browser, but sometimes I do a search directly on the Google website by mistake, and the results are so bad that I don’t understand how people can still use it in “treat me like a fuckwit” mode. Still get offered slop though: 452
Reposted by Mark ThakkarKetan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 03/06/2026A reminder of Joshi's Workslop Postulate 121505524
Mark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 05/08/2026As a fraudulent professor issues a resignation letter that fails to acknowledge even one single mistake, a newly-minted PhD shows the world what it *really* looks like to care about the pursuit of truth, at a level of personal risk that doesn’t bear thinking about given the state of the job market 👏 2130
Reposted by Mark ThakkarRetraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 05/08/2026"Professor Jason Arday has resigned from the University of Cambridge and Jesus College with immediate effect, Black Current News can reveal, saying years of “relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary” have taken a profound toll on him and his loved ones."blackcurrentnews.co.ukExclusive | Professor Jason Arday resigns from Cambridge University, citing toll of ‘public scrutiny and personal attack’The academic, who became the youngest Black professor in Cambridge’s history when appointed, said he had reached “the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure" 2162
Reposted by Mark ThakkarJosh Habgood-Coote @impractknow.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Where should I be looking for solid coverage of AI changing conditions in translation work? 362
Reposted by Mark ThakkarPieter Beullens @pieterbeullens.bsky.social · 03/08/2026If you want to earn a PhD with a study of the medieval readers of the earliest MSS of Aristotle's De anima in Latin, only two days left to apply! 02219
Reposted by Mark ThakkarSamuel Rowe @samdrowe.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Continuing with the "someone made a horrific database of poor AI translations of early medieval letters" thing, I had a good laugh at these entirely hallucinated ones. They aren't even based on existing letters! www.lateromanletters.org/letters/epis... www.lateromanletters.org/letters/epis...lateromanletters.orgArioald to Pope Honorius I (c. 627 AD) | Roman LettersArioald, king, to the most holy Bishop… 498
Reposted by Mark ThakkarRory Waterman @rorywaterman.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Some notes by little me on recent, hugely damaging, shamefully shameless events at Cambridge University. rorywaterman.substack.com/p/notes-on-a-cambridge-debacle If you read only one article about what has happened, try the new piece by Lanre Bakare in the Guardian, linked in my blog post.rorywaterman.substack.comNotes on a Cambridge DebacleI’ve written this very hastily, but there are a few things I’d like to get off my chest and the situation seems to be evolving quickly. Pleze ekscus eny leters getin in the rong plaices etc. 711219
Reposted by Mark ThakkarDr Jo Edge 🏴 @hagenilda.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Anyway, palaeography is essential to medieval studies, as is Latin, and if we lose these from our unis we leave medieval studies to the privately-educated and independently wealthy. Medieval studies is important: everyone deserves to spend their time on this floating rock doing what they love ❤️ /FIN 27012
Reposted by Mark ThakkarRare Book School @rarebookschool.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Rare Book School mourns the loss of medieval manuscripts expert and RBS emeritus faculty member Albert Derolez. "His kindness as much as his brilliance will be remembered by those who knew him," said Director Michael F. Suarez, S.J. rarebookschool.org/resources/2026/07/rbs-mourns-albert-derolezrarebookschool.orgRare Book School Mourns Emeritus Faculty Member Albert Derolez (1934–2026) - Rare Book SchoolIt is with profound sadness that Rare Book School announces the death of RBS emeritus faculty member Albert Derolez on 11 July 2026, at the age of 91. 0107
Reposted by Mark ThakkarMartin Myers @martinmyers.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Martyn Hammersley's comments at the end of this article that Cambridge could have dealt with this from the outset are spot on - it will now be a field day for the right 0103
Reposted by Mark ThakkarNigel Holmes @nigelholmes.bsky.social · 28/07/2026We finished work on the R volume of the Thesaurus months ago. The last two parts are now in print and reached us today. 0124
Mark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 27/07/2026“The actual epistemological crisis [is] better exemplified by the Vanderbilt report’s AI-generated analyses: automated data collection, sloppy analysis, and a growing sprawl of LLM-generated pseudo-evidence. Meanwhile the AI ensloppification of [academic publishing] continues apace” archive.is/6qf0barchive.is 031
Reposted by Mark ThakkarLewis Wade 🗃️ @wadehistory.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Academics who discreetly email journals to inform them of academic malpractice are doing those journals such a big favour. To see those journals shrug their shoulders in response is mystifying and unacceptable. I fear the only solution might be to call those journals out publicly 55514
Reposted by Mark ThakkarDr. Erika Graham-Goering @jeanneologist.bsky.social · 22/07/2026I don't suppose there's anyone here doing some work in the Archives nationales (Paris, not Pierrefitte) right now who wouldn't mind grabbing a couple of photos for me...? 11130
Mark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 21/07/2026Lexicographer wanted at the TLL! Deadline end of August. Somewhat surprisingly, the advert doesn’t say how good your German needs to be – the TLL is based in Munich, and it’s in the nature of the job that you need to be in the office – but of course the dictionary itself is written in Latin anyway. 035
Reposted by Mark ThakkarLukas Licka @scholipeta.bsky.social · 21/07/2026The intricacies of the earliest stage of the mass production of printed books (Flood 2003): 021
Reposted by Mark ThakkarMark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 21/07/2026A dark warning from a search results page with its listings upgraded from stodgy verbatim extracts to predigested robovomit. (Source: “When George Molland died in September 2002, it was a great loss to the history of medieval science and mathematics, especially of the fourteenth century.”) #progress 032
Mark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 21/07/2026A dark warning from a search results page with its listings upgraded from stodgy verbatim extracts to predigested robovomit. (Source: “When George Molland died in September 2002, it was a great loss to the history of medieval science and mathematics, especially of the fourteenth century.”) #progress 032
Reposted by Mark ThakkarSteven Van Impe @svanimpe.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Sad news I've only just heard: Albert Derolez has left us. He was 91, and one of the foremost palaeographers and codicologists in the world. 08835
Reposted by Mark ThakkarColleen Curran @ccurran.bsky.social · 16/07/2026I beg your finest pardon? 36612
Mark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 15/07/2026Last summer I gritted my teeth and paid 20 € postage to buy a 21.58 € paperback from Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura. Today I see they’re charging 50 € to deliver to the UK! Happily I can get the book I want elsewhere, but this isn’t the only ludicrously prohibitive postage fee I’ve seen recently 😠 020
Reposted by Mark ThakkarÈvi Numen @evinumen.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Also, in the age of deepfakes and deliberate history erasure, the only unalienable truth lies in original documents and artefacts. Our last safeguards of authenticity are preserved in museums, libraries, and archives. 2134
Reposted by Mark ThakkarKatie Murphy @manymanyplies.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Going to try to make this accidental 'livelihoo' on the OUP website into a thing: capricious quality of life and lifelikeness, essayistic esprit, careless brilliance. 1111
Reposted by Mark ThakkarMedPhil Journals @medphiljournals.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Franciscan Studies 83 (2025): among other articles, a "total study" of the recently identified Franciscan collection in MS Paris, BNF, NAL 3245; Bonaventure's reception of Avicenna's psychology; and Jean de Roquetaillade's apocalyptic alchemy. buff.ly/YHi1npO 142
Reposted by Mark ThakkarLogeion Greek-Latin @logeiongklat.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Today is as good a day as any other to think about giving back to something in your life that comes free to you. Do you have special skills or interests - for instance, you know Hebrew and are proficient at typing it? The digitized Lewis and Short could use your assistance with a few words. 293
Reposted by Mark ThakkarMedPhil Journals @medphiljournals.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Bulletin de Philosophie Médiévale 67 (2025): Ibn Ḥazm, Ibn Ṭumlūs, Durand on evils, Guy de l'Aumône's Sentences commentary, Jandun's commentaries, new MSS from the Paris arts faculty, Konrad Wimpina's citations, future contingents in Aurifaber. buff.ly/KhDj8Sb 033
Reposted by Mark ThakkarB.S.W. Barootes @barootes.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Are you headed to the @imc-leeds.bsky.social next week? Do you like Lollards and/or rebels? How about historical documents and the people, events, and networks they help us explore? Join us on Monday, July 6 at 4.30 for "Lollards and Rebels." 1135
Reposted by Mark ThakkarDr Naomi Scott @drnaomiscott.bsky.social · 28/06/2026So in summary from today’s unexpectedly viral thread: the methods and the tech here are not AI in the way that’s commonly understood right now. The methods are sound. The findings are important. HOWEVER 1/ 1166
Reposted by Mark ThakkarEduardo Fernández @apocalypsisnova.bsky.social · 29/06/2026Not even rare, old books are safe from AI companies 155
Reposted by Mark ThakkarSonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 26/06/2026I understand the excitement about technology “rediscovering lost texts.” I do, & I get the media hype. But I wish people knew that there are hundreds of thousands of “lost” texts just sitting in manuscripts in libraries, which have never been published outside of those single manuscripts. 1/n 11814236
Reposted by Mark ThakkarLaura Cleaver @laurajcleaver.bsky.social · 24/06/2026It’s not too late to book your place for the Palaeography Summer School in Birmingham in July! 📖✏️👨🎓👇 #MedievalSky #Skystorians #Latin palaeography.uk/study/short-...palaeography.ukThe 49th Latin and Palaeography Summer School, 27-31 July 2026The School, formerly the Keele Latin and Palaeography Summer School, returns for its 49th year. In 2025 The Ranulf Higden Society took over the organisation of the Latin and Palaeography Summer Sch… 01513
Reposted by Mark ThakkarCarin Ruff @carinr.bsky.social · 14/06/2026This looks very interesting, with a strong review from Drew Jones. We don't often get new literary studies of Medieval Latin poetry these days. Plus: Baudri! I love Baudri. www.brepols.net/products/IS-...brepols.netBrepols - Loire PoeticsBrepols is an international academic publisher of works in the humanities, with a particular focus in history, archaeology, history of the arts, language and literature, and critical editions of histo... 082
Reposted by Mark ThakkarMark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 11/06/2026The 25th European Symposium on Medieval Logic & Semantics will be held in the Netherlands on 23–25 June. Please email esmls25@proton.me if you’d like to attend online. The programme is as follows (on Central European Summer Time, with some titles trimmed and names omitted to fit): #medievalSky 144
Mark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 11/06/2026The 25th European Symposium on Medieval Logic & Semantics will be held in the Netherlands on 23–25 June. Please email esmls25@proton.me if you’d like to attend online. The programme is as follows (on Central European Summer Time, with some titles trimmed and names omitted to fit): #medievalSky 144
Reposted by Mark Thakkarphilologistgrc.bsky.social @philologistgrc.bsky.social · 04/06/2026thanks to Riccardo Strobino we now have the Abu Bishr Matta Arabic source for the poetics aligned at the section level to the Greek as well as the Moerbeke's Latin -- and a Greek treebank. 084
Reposted by Mark ThakkarRoyal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 29/05/2026Ministers and university managers "have to recognise that it is in everyone’s interests to replace the current individualistic practice of lopping off random branches of the tree whenever a wind blows with a collective long-term concern for the balance and shape of the tree overall." 3/3 1169
Reposted by Mark ThakkarDumbarton Oaks @dumbartonoaks.bsky.social · 19/05/2026Anthony Kaldellis just posted his latest Byzantium & Friends podcast episode, where he interviews Charles Kuper, the translator of The Menologion of Basil II, on that manuscript. He also discusses Kuper’s translation for DOML.byzantiumandfriends.podbean.comByzantium & Friends | Byzantium & FriendsConversations with experts in the history of Byzantium and surrounding fields, hosted by Anthony Kaldellis. 262
Reposted by Mark ThakkarLaura Cleaver @laurajcleaver.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Do you want to learn to read old documents? Do you need to learn some Latin? The 49th Palaeography Summer School is for you! 👇 Tell all your friends. #palaeography #Skystorians #MedievalSky palaeography.uk/study/short-...palaeography.ukThe 49th Latin and Palaeography Summer School, 27-31 July 2026The School, formerly the Keele Latin and Palaeography Summer School, returns for its 49th year. In 2025 The Ranulf Higden Society took over the organisation of the Latin and Palaeography Summer Sch… 08357
Reposted by Mark ThakkarMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 22/05/2026The 'stinging rebuke' is open access here. You don't need to be an historian to applaud it. #Skystorians 2/2royalhistsoc.orgHistory and the humanities at the University of Hertfordshire – a statement from the Royal Historical Society - RHSEven for those familiar with bleak times, this has been a particularly bad few weeks in UK higher education. Confirmed job losses at the University of Essex were followed by further bad news from Hert... 27847
Reposted by Mark ThakkarMark Thakkar @brunellus.com · 21/05/2026PSA: Titivillus was *not* associated with scribal error in the Middle Ages. This was dismissed as a chortlemuffin in 1958 by André Vernet, who pointed the finger at the entry on scribes in Franklin’s Dictionnaire historique des arts, métiers et professions (1905): archive.org/details/dict... (1/5) 142