iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

*chef's kiss* Happy book launch to the exquisite @stephhoward-smith.bsky.social 🥂🐾 And for those who have not had the pleasure of holding 'Yap!' in their own paws, you can find it in all good (UK) bookshops on Thursday!! #skystorians #dogs #18thcentury

020 2

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Friends! Historians! What is this word?? I have a guess but will keep it to myself so as not to cloud your reading of it. #skystorians #18thc #historians

12121 12

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Haven't been on in a while, so in case you missed it...Masquerade is out now and you can find her in a good bookshop near you (or online!) 💖✨ #18thC #history #nonfiction @yalepress.bsky.social @yalebooks.bsky.social

0143 14

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

This Author has the privilege of sharing the tale of Mrs Catherine Perceval with avid readers & riotous revellers alike. The Author hopes this will satiate the ton's boundless appetite for gossip. For now. yalebooks.co.uk/the-real-mas...

032 3

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

I have fallen victim to the craze.

030 3

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

These lovely new books are for work. I promise. #18thc

040 4

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

It's not Masquerade Monday, BUT! 'The Masquerade: A History of Extravagance and Intrigue' is now available for pre-order & you can get 25% off through Friday! www.waterstones.com/book/the-mas... If you think Bridgerton will be juicy, just wait til you get your hands on this 😏🤫 #18thc

02710 27

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Nothing says Christmas like a pair of pyjamas decked in chains. Now, for low price of £13, you too can be Jacob Marley.

040 4

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Running & revising in equal measure. I got my reader reports back & I'm here to myth-bust. Reviewer 2 can be nice! Reviewer 1 AND Reviewer 2 were encouraging, generous, & constructive. I'm so grateful to them, sharing their summertime w/my drafty mss and giving helpful, thoughtful feedback. #18thc

070 7

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

That time my four-year-old's potty humour showed up in my research. This #18thc poem reads alot like 'Who Pooed in My Loo' 💩

030 3

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

York York York York York. Doesn't have the same ring as Rihanna's song, does it?

030 3

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Afternoon spent in the company of a cute lil flat white, some donuts, & @rachelbynoth.bsky.social chapter on the Bath marriage mart & emotions.

161 6

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Feeling like I should do some sort of reel thing on insta as I read through this, the tropiest of tropey troperism that ever troped.

020 2

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

First trip to the @holburnemuseumbath.bsky.social was a treat. And since it doubles as Lady Danbury's house in #Bridgerton I couldn't not grab a copy of 'An Offer from a Gentleman.' Purely for research purposes, of course. #18thc

140 4

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

When your @bsecs.bsky.social PGR/ECR roundtable contribution turns into a playlist.

020 2

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Mondays are for masquerade manuscript submission. #18thc

1100 10

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Tell me you have a writing deadline without telling me you have a writing deadline.

030 3

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Just barely two weeks until the dread of waiting for peer review begins. #masquerade #18thc

051 5

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Respite from three exceptionally long days. (Am loving this book, btw @frazermartin.bsky.social)

110 1

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

After some time away bc of a nasty stomach bug, my dread about finishing this chapter is shifting into a small sense of optimism.

040 4

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

I love how much he loves to read (as much as any three-year-old can read, of course) 🥰📚

010 1

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

A silent disco at the @nationaltrust.bsky.social Bath Assembly Rooms...seems counterintuitive given the history of the space & nature of assembly. But it was loads of fun. Cheers to a year (give or take) of great heritage & community activities at BAR! Can't wait to see what 2027 brings 🤩

030 3

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Enjoying the idea of spice drawers in place of a spice rack. Except mine would be would be garlic, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, and cinnamon.

030 3

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I would like to own this outrageous piece of porcelain please.

171 7

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

The snow has arrived ❄️☺️

060 6

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

The chocolate seemed a reasonable size in the shop...

360 6

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

I am outnumbered. I cannot fight the rising wave of Yuletide in my house. Tree was put up while I was away on research a week and a half ago; small human was adamant about watching Muppet Xmas Carol on Friday🎄

180 8

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Is there anything more exciting than a stack of new books?

040 4

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 22/04/2024

3/ [For the record, it isn’t exactly easy to run a marathon, let alone do it in fancy dress. I tried it once and while it was loads of fun, I will not be doing it again anytime soon…brownie points if you can figure out my costume.]

100 1

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 22/04/2024

2/ I was not disappointed. Among the marathoning masses were 100s of participants sporting fancy dress in support of charitable or political causes or, in some cases, simply to have a bit of a laugh. Sharks, bananas, rhinos, pirañas, a DJ w/his deck…I tried to snap them all.

100 1

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 22/04/2024

1/ Happy marathon Monday! Yesterday runners took to the streets of London, winding 26.2 miles through the capital. I haven’t run it yet, missing out on the lottery & best for age in equal measure, but I spectated & was on the lookout for fancy dress. #MasqueradeMondays

100 1

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 16/04/2024

3/ While permitted in England, popping up at #masquerades in the 1740s/50s, it carried tones of insult & bad taste—esp when worn by Jacobite supporters. ‘The Highlander’ became a popular choice of masq habit in the 1770s & appeared in masq reports & prints through the 1840s.

110 1

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 16/04/2024

2/ The kilt & tartan were representations of loyalty to the Jacobite cause & Bonnie Prince Charlie, making them politically charged and treasonous. Following the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Dress Act forbade men and boys from wearing ‘Highland Dress’ in Scotland. #18thc

131 3

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 16/04/2024

1/ Did the masquerade ever get ‘too political’? It’s a tricky question. Because the answer is yes and no. Dressing as ‘a Highlander’ was one of the more contentious choices of masquerade costume—especially during the 1740s. #18thc

151 5

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 15/04/2024

1/ Masquerade? Fancy dress? What’s the difference? It might seem fairly obvious that wearing a mask would distinguish one from the other, but is there more to it than just a concealing face cover? #18thc #19thc #FancyDress

130 3

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 08/04/2024

Finally back to writing. And oh boy, is this masquerade a hoot. Everybody who was anybody showed up for the King of Denmark. Except one person 👀👀👀 #MasqueradeMondays #18thc

050 5

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 01/04/2024

4/ Some venues, like the Lowther Rooms, hosted all their masquerades on Monday, establishing themselves within the social calendar & putting them in a prime position to claim Easter Monday each year (& giving me inspiration for a hashtag, thanks Mr Blake!)

📷 Lowther Rooms ad, unknown newspaper, 1837, Westminster Archives

010 1

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 01/04/2024

3/ As soon as Easter Monday hit, these venues welcomed the entertainment back into metropolitan leisure culture—competing to be the first to claim the popular date for their own purposes. 📷 Advertisement, George Scharf, c1825 (I think this is dated incorrectly…), British Museum

120 2

Dr Meg Kobza @fancyhistorian.bsky.social · 01/04/2024

2/ Shrove Tuesday was the last chance for revelry before 40 days of fasting & penitence made the country’s leisure & pleasure sites into toned-down spaces of sociability. Among those in observance were the Bath Theatre (Bath), & the Argyll Rooms & the Lowther Rooms (London).

📷 Ticket to Masked Fete, 1826, Bath Record Office

📷 Lowther Room poster, 1838, Westminster Archives

110 1