iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Justin on eurostar @eurostarjustin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The 12th European Tram Driver Championship is currently taking place in Warsaw. Think It's A Knockout/Jeux Sans Frontières but on rails... 🚊 🎳 www.youtube.com/live/R1PeT9Z...

youtube.com

12th European TramDriver Championship in Warsaw

YouTube video by TRAM-EM

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Today, after a quarter of a century in London, I am moving to Copenhagen. If anyone wants to let me know of potential pitfalls, too late.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I am reminded that today marks 25 years since I started in the book trade. Innocent times (for a day or so).

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Sitting in an empty house following an airtag in a trunk en route to Copenhagen is not how house moves used to work. But here we are.

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

404 Media @404media.co · 17/08/2026

SCOOP: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it. What did we find? It ended up at an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:

404media.co

We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility

We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

About a third of the way through putting books into storage ahead of a move, and feeling increasingly pro e-reader.

Several piles of brown boxes leaning not too precariously against a metal wall.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Just finished a roll of film I put in about 15 months ago. Picking up the camera this month I had no idea of the film speed, whether it was colour or black and white, or any of the other things one really should know. Mercifully I guessed right. Must take these small victories when one can.

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Josh Spero @joshspero.ft.com · 25/07/2026

Having spent a very happy 18 months sinking into its 3,000 pages, I have written about why reading Proust is essential in the 21st century as.ft.com/r/32995bbf-8...

as.ft.com

Proust in the age of TikTok

The French writer’s seven-volume magnum opus was a challenging choice for a book club — but its evocation of the human psyche makes essential reading for our times

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Honey & Wax Booksellers @honeyandwaxbks.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Six weeks to go to apply for the 2026 Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize, $1000 for an outstanding book collection built by a woman, aged 30 or younger. See details & past winners on our website! This is the tenth and final year of the prize, so if you’ve been holding off on applying, seize the day.

A young woman reads a book under a tree, with the heading: Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize 2026.”

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Leo Cadogan @leocadogan.com · 16/05/2026

In the year 234 of the republican calendar … front cover of joint catalogue from @ebrumfitt.bsky.social, @debscoltham.bsky.social, Amanda Hall and Susanne Schulz-Falster for Firsts London. With the item it draws from.

A 1790 striped (red, white, blue) front cover with the front cover of a small catalogue with same. The small catalogue has label with text “Révolutions par Brumfitt, Coltham, Hall et Schulz-Falster. An ccxxxiv”. Label below the original artefact: “The New France’s First Birthday. [FIRST BASTILLE DAY]. Procès-verbal de la Conféderation des Français. Paris, Lottin, 1790”.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Celebrating the French Revolution (and others) with stand partners at Firsts London.

A catalogue on revolutions, in tricolour wrappers.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Monks doing their bit to convert Protestant prisoners of war in the early stages of the War of the Spanish Succession, all with the support of Philip V, whose accession to the Duchy of Milan gave rise to this collection of 29 sonnets.

A sonnet with the heading SUA MAESTA Mantiene RELIGIOSI NEGLI SPEDALI, Che instruiscano nella FEDE CATTOLICA i Priogioneri di guerrilla Eretici.

Title page of Filippo V. In trono. Sonetti. Milan, Giuseppe Clerici, 1702.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Superb, multi-layered ABA/IES book collecting seminar this evening with @ceebarnacles.bsky.social. When they are good, they are very good.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

It's catalogue time! My new list has lots on language-learning in the long 18th century, plus natural history printed as a children's Christmas gift, poems for new nuns, potatoes, advice on letter-writing and farming, Louis XVI and Napoleon, and more. It's at lists.ebrb.co.uk/list6

The cover of my new catalogue, with a very bulbous fish wondering how it got there.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

California fair list, fresh from the printers and about to head off to San Francisco.

A pile of lists for the California Book Fair sit on a table

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Oxford Bibliographical Society @obs1922.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Our next talk! Francesca Galligan on 'Sir Christopher Hatton and his books: reconstructing an Elizabethan library.' How and why do we reconstruct historic libraries? Thurs 12th February, 5:15 pm T.S. Eliot Theatre, Merton College, Oxford (+ online via Zoom - register secretary@oxbibsoc.org.uk)

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Picked up a couple of these last week - New Year greetings from the bellringers of, in this case, the church of St Mary Magdalen, in 1805. But where? Any thoughts gratefully received.

A broadside with a German poem at the foot and a coloured woodcut of a bell, within which is shown a scene of the crucifixion.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

In Naples. It feels full of metaphors.

A large, dark, malevolent landmass (Vesuvius) hovers over little white ship.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Reading through the instructions for a new boiler timer, I came across this dire warning.

From instructions for a Vaillant boiler timer: "Caution! It may not be possible to operate the timer if the wrong language is selected. If you select a language that you do not understand, you can no longer read the text in the timer's display and you can no longer operate it. Only select a language that you understand."

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Voltaire Foundation @voltaire.ox.ac.uk · 24/10/2025

📣📣📣 Opportunity: Director of the Voltaire Foundation 📣📣📣 We are seeking a Director to lead the Voltaire Foundation, to succeed Professor Nicholas Cronk, and warmly invite applications. www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk/news-item/op...

voltaire.ox.ac.uk

Opportunity: Director of the Voltaire Foundation

We are seeking a Director to lead the Voltaire Foundation, to succeed Professor Nicholas Cronk, and warmly invite applications. The Voltaire Foundation, originally established thanks to the…

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Current state: being wowed by Detroit.

The Guardian Building in the sunshine, trying and failing to hide behind a lamp-post.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Casting this out into the void: if you are ever tempted to use FedEx for anything, think carefully about the choices you have made in your life to get you to that point.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Always fun to be let in on Amtrak's inner monologue.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

A puzzle. This was printed in 1740, for the 'ceremony battesimali' of the 'Secondigenito' of Francesco III, Duke of Modena. He had had four children (of whom the first two died in infancy, by 1727. So it seems unlikely that any would be being baptised in 1740. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Title page: L'ESTRO SACRO AL PANARO componimento per musica da cantarsi nella ducal corte di Modena In occasione, che, sostenendo le veci della santita’ di nostro signore Benedetto XIV, L’Eminentissimo, e Reverendissimo signor cardinale Armando di Rohan Vescovo, e Principe d’Argentina, assiste alle ceremonie battesimali del serenissimo Principe d’Este Secondogenito di Sui Altezza Serenissima Francesco Terzo Duca di Modena, Reggio, Mirandola, ec. (printed in Modena by Soliani, 1740)

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Getting ready for this weekend's Chelsea Book Fair. A list of some of what I am taking is at lists.ebrb.co.uk/chelsea2025

A collage of views of 9 18th-century books.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Bluesky is full of coincidences. The author of this guide to rural domestic economy, now on my desk, was entirely unknown to me until this week. And now a new edition has just appeared of a 1788 novel of hers.

Title page of Manuel des Habitans de la Campagne, by Mme Gacon-Dufour, Paris 1825.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

My next little list of recent acquisitions has bits and pieces of Italian theatre in it, including this: Metastasio's Siroe was very popular as an opera libretto, serving as the basis for operas by at least 35 known composers, including Handel and Vivaldi.

Two pages of an 18th-century opera libretto, the left detailing those responsible: the music by Filippo Finazzi, the set by Marco Bianchi, the 'Balli' by Antonio Bianchi, and the costumes by Natale Canziani.

Gilt brocade patterns on orange wrappers containing an 18th-century Italian opera libretto.

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Andrew Griffiths @colla-voce.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Really looking forward to tomorrow night's crazy @londiniumchoir.bsky.social Bosch extravaganza. Our fabulous programme booklet is now online for a little light reading... I may have got a bit carried away! www.londinium-voices.org.uk/programme

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Feels like a week to think about constitutions. One of these was put into effect. The other was not put to a vote, and its proposer was arrested.

Two constitutions: Nouvelle Constitution de la Republique Française, printed in Toulouse by Citoyen Brouhlier, and the Constitution de la Republique Française printed in Macon by J. Galand.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Step aside Mozart: this is Austria's greatest contribution to humanity.

Schnitzelsemmel, a sachet of mayonnaise and a small bottle of Austrian Sekt on a train tray table.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

British Airways to the rescue with this phrase: any missed deadline will now be explained by requiring additional time to do it as quickly as possible.

Screenshot of an email: A technical issue was identified during boarding and our engineers required additional time to resolve this as quickly as possible. Etc

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

All set for a slightly unexpected jaunt to the York Book Fair.

The boot of a blue hatchback with a black case, rucksack, duffel bag, and a Blackwell's Rare Books tote bag, as a reminder that the photographer should get some of his own.

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Jonathan Main @booksellercrow.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

ANNOUNCEMENT

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

A lovely fresh copy in pink wrappers with original printed labels of Demoustier's Lettres à Émilie, sur la mythologie, tthrough which generations of French children learned the Greek myths, here printed by Renouard in 1803 Judging from the condition, I doubt this has gone anywhere near a child.

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Voltaire Foundation @voltaire.ox.ac.uk · 19/08/2025

Exciting news about the recent acquisition of a 1791 edition of Voltaire’s Candide. The edition is recorded – there are copies in Geneva and Louvain – but it is certainly rare. A Voltaire Foundation (voltairefoundation.wordpress.com) and @tayoxford.bsky.social blog coming soon!

A book opened on the title page of the 1791 edition of Voltaire’s Candide. The book lies on supports and a book snake is holding the page down.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

A propos of nothing in particular, I do like DC.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

New arrival for any lovers of Mots d'Heures: Mousses, Rames. A 1784 method of learning English through a phonetic presentation of an English translation of Fénelon's Les Aventures de Télémaque. Bound to work.

The opening of The Aventures of Telemachus, with English and French texts on alternate lines and, at the foot, a phonetic version of the E glass for the French reader. "ZHI EDVENTIEURZ OF TELEMACOSS, SONNE OF YOULISSES. Kélipso coude note bi commfortedd for zhi dipartieurr of Youlissess. Inn herr griffe chi faounnde hercelf ounnhapy bahi biing immortall. Herr groto no lannguer icôde ouiss zhi source miouzic of herr vohice". And so on.

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Reposted by Edmund Brumfitt

Caroline Fiennes @carolinefiennes.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

!!! A church will be moved down the road on Tuesday! It'll be live-streamed. It's wild. It's in Kiruna, Sweden's most northern town (I've been there): the whole town is being moved to get to iron ore under it. The church is wooden and square, inspired by Sami tents. lkab.com/en/events/th...

lkab.com

The moving of Kiruna Church - LKAB

The move of Kiruna Church is a world-unique event and will take place over two days between 19-20 August 2025.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Going through bits of paper and reminded how impressed I was that in Nancy they let people into the museum for free during the heat wave.

Entrance ticket for the Musée Beaux-Arts de Nancy, specifying "CANICULE Gratuit".

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Finding all sorts of delights in a box I am going through. Duckling! Liebfraumilch! Potatoes in TWO forms!

Menu of the dinner to celebrate the 50th meeting of the St Andrews University Linguistic Circle. 27th February 1959. Smoked trout, roast duckling and orange salad, fillet steak garni, cauliflower, green peas, roast and boiled potatoes, endive salad, fresh fruit salad and cream, biscuits and cheese. All washed down with Liebfraumilch, Alone Corton, and Port.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Local celebrity cat has taken to basking on a different car roof each day. Not, it must be said, elegantly.

A tabby sprawls over a black suv on a South London terraced street.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Time to dig these out of storage.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

It's time for a new list, of 25 books and manuscripts covering 150 years around the 18th century, including graphology, French protestants, Montesquieu, cosmology for children, the divine office, and more. Link in bio!

A collage of title-pages and bindings of 18th- and early 19th-century books.

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Edmund Brumfitt @ebrumfitt.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Never really got French gothic until today.

Wall, and windows, of the nave of Metz cathedral, bathed in sunlight.

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