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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Book historians perennially lament coming across the statement that prior to the advent of the press there were merely 30,000 books in existence. This fake fact is circulated all the time (for non-book historians: this is a comical underestimate). Has anyone identified its origins?

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Dr David Rundle @drdavidrundle.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

This must include the gerundive.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I've waited for years. But (one of the) best thing(s) I ever did!

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Today’s delivery! I’m genuinely proud that the surviving translations from Middle Dutch into French - and there aren’t that many - have been given a place in this wonderful book series on translation, from antiquity up to today. #middledutch #middelnederlands www.bloomsbury.com/uk/cultural-...

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Steven Van Impe @svanimpe.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

A mini-fragment for #FragmentFriday: two small (adjacent) snippets from a glossed Bible from the 13th century, containing Mark 13:3-6. Pictures: MMFC.be; EHC B 255483:fragm.66 a-b. See also fragmentarium.ms/overview/F-m...

A small strip of parchment with gothic text in black. Below is a ruler.

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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

The printer of this fine biblia in 1455 Mainz, Gutenberg was. #skystorians #bookhistory

A detail of a page from a 1455 bible print from Johannes Gutenberg: An illuminated initial of the text shows a man with ass' ears (looking a bit like Yoda from Star Wars). This incunable GW04201 can be found here: http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB0001E0ED00000000

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Zanna Van Loon @zannavanloon.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

☞☞ Hands-on reading ☜☜ The manicules in #rarebooks are fantastically diverse. Some are tiny & discreet, others take up half the margin; some have flowing sleeves, or even little faces. They’re glimpses into the personality of readers/scribes highlighting passages worth reading. #bookhistory 💙📚📜

Detail of a manicure and a little face gesturing towards the handwritten text of a manuscript in gothic script written on parchment. The man depicted seems angry. The manicure has a sleeve

A manicule with a stretched sleeve drawn in red in the margins pointing towards a text in Gothic script written on parchment

A manicule used to highlight a rubricated section title in a medieval manuscript written in gothic script on parchment

A very large vaguely drawn manicule pointing towards text in gothic script written on parchment

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

Bears be bearing Pieter Bruegel | Bears in the woods | c. 1554 London, British Museum, inv./cat.nr. 1872-10-12-3344

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

#FatBearWeek Amiens. Bibliothèques d'Amiens Métropole, Ms. 200 | Amiens, c. 1460.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Hogwash. Merlin transported the stones from Ireland.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Just a tiny 14th-century doodle of a dog. Minimal strokes, but somehow it’s perfect. #InternationalDogDay Torino, Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria, L. II. 14

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Durotriges Dig @durotrigesdig.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Apparently wearing a raspberry beret (the kind you find in a second hand store), this cheeky red-crested, tiny-tongued tessellated serpent features on a mid 4th century #Roman mosaic from Dorchester Found in Durngate Street in 1905, it's now in @dorsetmuseum.bsky.social 📷 Sept 2024 #MosaicMonday

Depiction, from a Roman mosaic, of a red crested snake sticking out its tongue

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Blijkbaar vanaf de zeventiende eeuw. Ik zou zeggen dat wastafels toen in onbruik zijn geraakt, maar zeker ben ik daar niet van. www.literatuurgeschiedenis.org/17e-eeuw/ond...

literatuurgeschiedenis.org

Onderwijs

Rond 1640 konden in de Nederlanden veel meer mannen en vrouwen lezen en hun naam schrijven dan in andere West-Europese gebieden.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Mooi in deze context is ook de bekende Ruusbroecminiatuur. De auteur schrijft met een stilus op een wastablet, een jongere kopiist op een perkamenten blad met pen en inkt. Brussel, KBR, ms. 19295-97 opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/...

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Ja, perkament was kostbaar. Wastafel zijn nog lang in gebruik gebleven en niet zo heel erg lang geleden werden op scholen nog schrijfleien gebruikt (ik denk zelfs nog in de jaren ’50 door mijn ouders).

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Ook in de 14-eeuwse Lancelotcompilatie zijn er later nog wijzigingen aangebracht, maar dat is dan weer het produkt van meerdere kopiisten die samenwerkten aan dit project van Maerlants literaire erfgenaam Lodewijk van Velthem (die de werken overzag?)

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Die autograaf is dan weer (met nog meer tussenstadia?) gebruikt voor meerdere netversies, geschreven door professionele kopiisten. Het dedicatie-exemplaar van de 15de-eeuwse Voortzetting werd bijvoorbeeld niet gemaakt door de auteur, maar door kopiist Heinricus van den Damme.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Ja, dicteren is een mogelijkheid, maar er werden ook schrijftabletten uit was gebruikt. Autografen en kladboeken waarin de dichter zichtbaar worstelt met de tekst zijn (alvast in het Middelnederlands) pas later bewaard, bijvoorbeeld van heraut Beyeren en de Voortzetter van de Brabantsche yeesten.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Ja, dat klopt wel min of meer, maar niet voor Alexanders geesten. Daar kiest hij bewust voor een brontekst in het Latijn. Ook in de Merlijn is hij erg kritisch voor zijn Franse bronnen. Maar Maerlants kritische ingesteldheid gaat toch herder over inhoud dan over taal.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Proofs! (even if my hunch is unconfirmed).

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Misschien sloeg Maerlant het stukje over de menselijke anatomie over omdat het mogelijk al in het Middelnederlands beschikbaar was in 'Van smeinscen lede'. Dat Maerlant Der Naturen Bloeme rechtstreeks met pen en inkt 'in nette verzen' op perkament componeerde lijkt me ook niet erg waarschijnlijk.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Ja, maar misschien had je het wel nog kunnen laten nalezen. Ik lees in de inleiding bij Der Naturen Bloeme nu dat Alexanders Geesten naar een Frans voorbeeld vertaald zou zijn 😬. Dat klopt natuurlijk niet. Maerlant trekt juist van leer tegen de Franse leugens over Alexander.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

1/3 old-fashioned & forgotten (e.g. Chartreuse, bonus for monastic provenance) 1/3 made from leftover skins (e.g. grappa) 1/3 plain & discarded (e.g. cold coffee) Enjoy! 🍸

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Pieter Beullens @pieterbeullens.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

If you like browsing unexpected collections of medieval MSS, have a look at the Auckland Council Libraries (NZ). The collection includes images of Aristoteles Latinus MS no. 1936 (Metaphysica, Physica, Meteora, transl. William of Moerbeke)! #medievalsky kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/coll...

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Pieter Beullens @pieterbeullens.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Western Medieval Manuscripts (and fragments) @keiouniversity.bsky.social (Japan)! Enjoy a few spare minutes and browse this remarkable collection! Something for everyone's taste and interest! dcollections.lib.keio.ac.jp/en/western-m...

Thumbnails of manuscripts images of the Keio university collection of Medieval Western Manuscripts! Including fragments of Aristotelica and Dutch books of hours.

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Steven Van Impe @svanimpe.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

I killed an 18th century printer (and I didn’t even have to use a time machine). An #EarlyModern #BookHistory 🧵 📚💙 📜

A title page of a book, 'Poësies diverses', printed in Brussels by François Foppens in 1750.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

On this feast of the Belgians, let's recall Belgis, mighty capital of the 'realme des belges', founded by Bavo, cousin of Priam, five winters after Troy’s burning, when Abdon judged Israel. 🏰🇧🇪 #NationaleFeestdag #FêteNationale #Nationalfeiertag Brussels, KBR, ms 9242 | Chroniques de Hainaut

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Belgian Associality (Morrege), Magnapop (Lay it down), Supergrass, Sloy (Pop), K's Choice, Levellers, Korn, The Blue Boy (Remember me), Ashbury Faith, Veruca Salt (Seether), Soulwax, Guano Apes, Basement Jaxx, Heideroosjes, Praga Khan, Pixies (Debaser), Fun Lovin' Criminals, Zita Swoon

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Presidents of the U.S.A. (Lump, Peaches), Cake (The Distance), Evil Superstars (Satan is in my ass), Blur (Song 2), The Romans (Someday Cindy), Skunk Anansie, De Mens, Garbage (Queer, Only happy...), Tool (Stinkfist), Eden (My Boat), Body Count (Born Dead),

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Oh yeah, looked at loads and loads of (virtual) stuff for our list of digitized Middle Dutch manuscripts and printed books and - it - is - definitely - worth - it! (no colleagues were harmed in this experiment) #lookingatstuff

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De Gruyter Brill Medieval & Early Modern Studies @dgb-mem.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

We’re proud to announce that "The Medieval Chronicle" is now a journal, and has just published its first issue! We’ve freshened up the look and with this issue we welcome our new editorial team. brill.com/view/journals/mch/17/1/mch.17.issue-1.xml #medievalhistory #MedievalSky

Cover of the book "The Medieval Chronicle", featuring a medieval illumination of Jean Gerson writing at a desk, wearing a red robe. The 15th-century illustration comes from a French manuscript held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, and is also known from editions of "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas à Kempis. The book appears to float in a dimly lit stone hallway with arched walls and a paved floor.

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Rutger K. 🟥 @anotheraspirin.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Found the cutest little Holy Family in Utrecht Hs. 1 M 5, fol. 26r (15c) #MedievalSky utrechtuniversity.on.worldcat.org/oclc/965428966

Cute pastel-y Holy Family scene in a manuscript.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Which #Maerlant are you today? MS Bremen SUB 39 | Jacob van Maerlant, Der naturen bloeme

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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Medieval carving of a minstrel playing the bagpipes at Beverley Minster in East Yorkshire. The carving is one of over 70 depicting minstrels and musical instruments. 📸 My own. #StoneworkSunday #Medieval #Beverley

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Liz Grumbach @emgrumbach.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

On the "three mantras of Long DH" (Futurebuilding DH) from Johannes Burgers: 1) "go slow and build things", 2) "teamwork makes the dreamwork, but nagging helps" (people-first proj management), 3) "love your data like you love yourself" (tech changes, data doesn't; set your data free!). #ACH2025

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

A Middle Dutch text, copied as an appendix to Boendale's chronicle, describes how #Mechelen requested aid fromJan III of Brabant and nearby cities, which appeals went largely unfulfilled. Despite the setbacks, the poem hopefully emphasizes the need for unity and resilience in the face of disaster.

Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Abdij der Norbertijnen van Averbode, Archief, Sectie IV, hs. 29, f. 356v.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

#OTD in 1342 a devastating fire broke out in #Mechelen, raging for two days. Over 800 houses were lost and some 400 people perished. Ironically, centuries later, the Mechelaars earned the nickname 'Maneblussers' ('moon extinguishers') after mistaking moonlight on the cathedral for another blaze.

Douai, Bibliothèque municipale, 1183 (tome III), f. 59v-60r. Recueil des antiquités de Valenciennes. City fire in Valenciennes in 1522.

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Dirk Schoenaers @dirkschoenaers.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

Parasol et parapluie Sciapode | 'Beatus' dit de Navarre | Spain, late 12th c. | Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France. NAL 1366, f. 24v-25r archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/c... gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...

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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

One of only two English medieval crowns still in existence is the coronet of Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy. She was the daughter of the Duke of York, Richard Plantagenet and sister of Kings Edward IV and Richard III.

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Boze Herrington, Library Owl @sketchesbyboze.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

one thing I respect about medieval beekeepers is their total commitment to looking like Doctor Who villains

[image of real-life beekeeper costume and a detail from a painting by Peter Brueghel the Elder]

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