Sign in

John Gallagher

@earlymodernjohn.bsky.social
12K followers 3.1K following 2.3K posts

Irishman between Yorkshire & Addis Ababa. Historian of language, education, migration at the University of Leeds. Editor of Renaissance Studies. Occasional BBC radio presenter. Writing a book about multilingual London. Learning Amharic/አማርኛ እየተማርኩ ነው. Dad!

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by John Gallagher
Matthew Sweet @drmatthewsweet.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Sorry to inform to you that Free Thinking has been axed. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
BBC to cut raft of Radio 4 programmes including You and Yours
The corporation said it would be investing in a new consumer programme, while announcing more cuts.
7616872
Reposted by John Gallagher
James Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Somewhere at the root of this should be the question: what can the BBC do that nobody else can? Instead, the question seems to be: what can the BBC do to offer the same thing as everybody else?
1286
Reposted by John Gallagher
James Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
And, you know, it might be that in a world characterised by mistrust and outright deception, a rediscovery of Reithian virtues now reinforced by a sense of independence from government might actually be a winning news formula.
1244
Reposted by John Gallagher
James Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I dunno man, maybe you could concentrate on producing good and interesting things people want to watch rather than trying to out-banal the lowest common denominator crap hosed at us everywhere else? (And make using BBC Sounds a less excruciating experience?) deadline.com/2026/10/bbc-...
57719
Reposted by John Gallagher
Celeste McNamara @celestemcnamara.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Would you like to learn about the strange and scandalous way some 18th-century Venetians got out of dysfunctional marriages? Read my new article (open access!) about annulments for affinity by fornication! #earlymodern #18thcentury doi.org/10.1017/S073...
doi.org
Keeping It (Too Much) in the Family: Annulment by Reason of Affinity in Eighteenth-Century Venice | Law and History Review | Cambridge Core
Keeping It (Too Much) in the Family: Annulment by Reason of Affinity in Eighteenth-Century Venice
03112
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
No further information provided -- a typically laconic inventory!
110
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
From the inventory of another French widow's home in 1622, I'm not sure I need to translate 'une trape pour prendre des Rats'.
2160
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
These inventories are really great -- I don't think there's been much done on them at all (though I'm still looking), but so far the majority are for women, and mostly poor women, French migrants to London whose goods are sold off by the French church on their deaths.
020
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
A French widow's room, inventoried in 1620, includes a featherbed with two sheets, 'and another sheet that she was saving to be buried in'.
3171
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Today's glimpse into a French household in London: this inventory from 1619 includes a Bible with the Psalms, a knife for cutting herbs, and two birdcages (plus their occupants).
2363
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
There's a great pop global history book right there for someone who wants it
020
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Jill Burke's latest would be great here!
210
Reposted by John Gallagher
Stefan Hanß @stefanhanss.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Truly delighted to see THE MICROSCOPIC MATERIAL RENAISSANCE (@manchesterup.bsky.social, 2027) announced: manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781807076757/ Stay tuned! @uomhums.bsky.social @uomsalc.bsky.social Research generously funded by @britishacademy.bsky.social & @leverhulme.ac.uk
04414
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I feel like I'm the only man of my age in the world who doesn't like those books
110
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Maybe they'll get him to do it like Anne Hathaway in Devil Wears Prada where all the other characters have to pretend he's awful looking until Stanley Tucci (presumably playing Toby Esterhase) loans him a new suit
1382
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Le Carré, consistently: he was short and fat and looked like a frog Casting directors: now the key thing about George Smiley is that he would absolutely get it
35810
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Taking solace in the new George Smiley casting with the idea that maybe one day I, a similarly tubby and unprepossessing character, might one day be played by the handsome and urbane Matthew Macfadyen.
37014
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This looks so good Callan!
010
Reposted by John Gallagher
Callan Davies @callanjd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Cover reveal 💅 Super job by the people @yalebooks.bsky.social @yalepress.bsky.social Out 27 April 2027. yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
55512
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I only came across the Hoover link because I was working on John Florio, whose dad translated it into Italian in the sixteenth century!
010
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Herbert Hoover of course remains ahead of Donald Trump on one key metric: he co-published an English translation of Agricola's De Re Metallica, something Trump has over two terms signally failed even to attempt.
1223
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Let me also just say that even leaving aside some of the exciting announcements we have in the works we are getting some absolutely cracking submissions through very regularly at RS at the moment. Just a great journal to get to work on!
060
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The review comes from Dennis Romano in Archivio Veneto, and it's a reminder that if you have an idea for a field-shaping collection of articles for a broad and interdisciplinary audience of Renaissance studies scholars, you should get in touch with our Special Issues editor Dr Elizabeth Petcu!
020
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Edited by Clémence Revest and Luka Špoljarić, you can read the special issue here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14774658...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Special Issue on Renaissance Humanism and the Venetian Empire: Renaissance Studies: Vol 39, No 4
Click on the title to browse this issue
122
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The Renaissance Studies special issue 'Renaissance Humanism and the Venetian Empire' has been reviewed as 'a splendid collection that vastly expands the definition and understanding of Venetian humanism' & 'a precious new tool for evaluating the construction and maintenance of the Venetian empire'.
172
Reposted by John Gallagher
Dr. Nick Posegay @nposegay.northsky.social · 05/10/2026
This is the oldest sample of Hebrew text with European musical notation. It's an autograph manuscript of Obadiah the Proselyte, a Norman-Italian priest who converted to Judaism in 1102. He traveled to Egypt and Syria, using his knowledge of Gregorian Chant to record Hebrew poetry. @theul.bsky.social
Torn brown paper manuscript with about 20 red-ruled lines with sporadic musical notes and Hebrew text. The background is a blue and a yellow label reads T-S K5.41 (https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-TS-K-00005-00041/2).Torn brown paper manuscript with 6 lines of Hebrew text and musical notation. The background is blue and a yellow label reads T-S K5.41 (https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-TS-K-00005-00041/1)
721976
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Fantastic news Maurice, bravo!
020
Reposted by John Gallagher
Edward's Boys @edwardsboys.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The next production by Edward’s Boys will be Your Five Gallants by Thomas Middleton, a playwright with whom we have had some dealings. Mid-March 2027. Tour is a work in process - although Stratford-upon-Avon, London and Paris (France) are confirmed. Please spread the word. More details to follow.
1209
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It equally feels potentially @jonnelledge.bsky.social coded? Truly it's like it appeared to me once in a dream
010
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Somebody (I think Natasha Hodgson?) once posted on Twitter about a game which I think was called 'Guy Chapman', and was about finding people's names where the elements of the name are synonyms of each other. I only remember this vaguely but it's too clever for me to have come up with it
250
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Deeply pleased to learn that at its foundation the University of Edinburgh was led by a man named Bob Rollock.
0130
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Dreadful to see. I'm so sorry.
010
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This looks fantastic, can't wait to read it!
110
Reposted by John Gallagher
Richard Bell @richardbell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
My new book, Imprisonment in Early Modern England: Politics, Debt and the Origins of a Carceral Society, is (sort of) out now! Currently available online for anyone with institutional access: www.cambridge.org/core/books/i...
Book cover of Richard Thomas Bell, Imprisonment in Early Modern England: Politics, Debt and the Origins of a Carceral Society
510240
Reposted by John Gallagher
Rory Naismith @rorynaismith.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Very pleased to have worked on this fascinating group of finds with the wonderful @francescatinti.bsky.social , and thanks to the comms team @cam.ac.uk for putting together the release. www.cam.ac.uk/stories/angl...
cam.ac.uk
Anglo-Saxon expats got special treatment in Rome’s 'Little England'
The first material evidence of the Schola Saxonum suggests the Anglo-Saxons in Rome were a thriving and valued expat community.
29934
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Will dig around! Have a fab source on French church auctions of (mostly poor, mostly female) congregants' belongings so trying to make sure I have all the context.
100
Reposted by John Gallagher
Devin Fitzgerald, bibliothot @devinfitz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My brain is already melting with doing work on holdings in Manila. Here is a chart with places of publication for 16th century books. I have some major news for you about the reading habits of Iberian colonial worlds.
2244
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I am contractually obliged to urge you to please consider Renaissance Studies for these fascinating new findings!
030
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Maybe a question for @starcrossed2018.bsky.social or @lsangha.bsky.social?
330
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Think I asked this a while back but it anyone has any reading on auctioning the goods of the dead in 16th- and 17th-century London, and/or the role of bellmen and criers around deaths and auctions, I'd be very grateful for recommendations!
22024
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Annoyingly Cotgrave has an entry for Gauffre but just says to see Gaffre, which... isn't there.
120
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Though the fer à gauffre does seem to exist for cooking at that moment too...
010
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In which case I will hold off my certainty! I did have Cotgrave on the textile usage but maybe jumped to the culinary too quickly...
110
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
An inventory of the goods of Barbe Hecquet, a French woman who died in London in 1612, lists "ung fer a faire gauffre" — a waffle iron!
2231
Reposted by John Gallagher
University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 30/09/2026
Nottingham today. Everywhere tomorrow. 2,700 staff put at risk. 600+ jobs targeted. At least 48 courses facing closure. What happens here sets the template for the sector. Stand with Nottingham.
16746
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Now I would defer to almost anyone else but just struck me as I've strolled through Mount Jerome in the not too distant and know it was a Protestant cemetery originally.
010
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Can't see from the map but it wouldn't be in Mount Jerome cemetery by some chance?
110
Reposted by John Gallagher
Marsh's Library @marshslibrary.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Happy #InternationalTranslationDay! To celebrate, we're sharing an image of Brian Walton's Polyglot Bible. The impressive six volume work presents the Old Testament in nine languages: Hebrew, Aramaic (Targum), Samaritan, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Ethiopic, Greek, and Latin.
02713
Reposted by John Gallagher
Pavel Iosad @anghyflawn.net · 30/09/2026
Fantastic bookshop find: a Latin textbook in Welsh, complete with glossary and a guide to spotting Latin borrowings in the modern language.
Cover of Llyfr Dysgu Lladin — Latin TextbookExplanations of Latin grammar in Welsh. Examples include Insula Mōna - Ynys Môn and Urbs Dēva - Dinas CaerA classic Latin glossary with principal parts and everything, but the translations are into WelshTable showing the outcomes of various Latin consonants in Modern Welsh, with examples
26918
John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I love Funnybones but it really drags around the zoo section
020