iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Harry Spillane

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

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

How fitting that my episode on Tyndale with @onthetudortrail.bsky.social arrives on #internationaltranslationday Tyndale's English New Testament was the first to translate from Greek into English, and his Pentateuch the first from Hebrew into English. Listen to learn more about Tyndale's life...

youtube.com

Episode 362 - William Tyndale & the English Bible with Dr Harry Spillane

YouTube video by Talking Tudors

076

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Great to see 'Selling the Word of God: The Early Commercial History of the English Bible' in such great company within @finebooks.bsky.social September roundup of new books

132

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

OUT NOW - Selling the Word of God: The Early Commercial History of the English Bible Pictured here at Emmanuel College beneath the Tyndale window, and with the @newnhamcollege.bsky.social table and pink velvet chaise longue that enabled its writing bodleianshop.co.uk/products/sel...

193

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Faculty of English, University of Oxford @engfac.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Next up in our #Shakespeare webinar series is RICHARD III. Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social will be joined by Susan L. Anderson (Mary Baldwin University) to discuss the new Oxford World's Classics edition of the play. 5 October | 6-7.15pm (BST) This is a free public event & all are welcome!

shakespeare-webinar-richard-iii.eventbrite.co.uk

English Faculty/OWC Shakespeare Webinar: Richard III

In this free webinar, Professor Emma Smith will be discussing the new edition of Richard III from Oxford World's Classics.

02617

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

THEY GOT TO 2000 SUPPORTERS! Now in need of 3000 more in just under a year. LETS GO! #earlymodern #bookhistory #skystorians

14624

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

With just a week until the release of 'Selling the Word of God: The Early Commercial History of the English Bible', the first review is already out. Very grateful to David Smith @camhistory.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

031

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

How to do with books, especially bibles, when you live in a material world? Well, William Hogarth of 18th century fame reminds us of the typical re-using (of bindings). In this case, the leather binding is re-used for a shoe sole. #bookhistory #booksky

A detail from William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress, Plate 1, from around 1735, showing a bound bible and the leather cover with a hole that looks like a shoe. William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress, Plate 1.

714637

Reposted by Harry Spillane

John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

For the last nine months it's been my pleasure & privilege to be the editor of Renaissance Studies, and I think we're well overdue a romp through some fantastic articles we've published this year. See below for some of the finest new research in the interdisciplinary study of the Renaissance! 👇

210337

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

ANTHONY GRAFTON IN THE HOUSE!!! #earlymodern #skystorians In person in the Warburg but with nice online access!

12718

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Delighted to see 'Selling the Word of God' advertised in the Church Times with a generous endorsement from Rev Fergus Butler-Gallie

020

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

With less than two weeks to go until the publication of "Selling the Word of God. The Early Commercial History of the English Bible", I'm delighted to be featured in Oxford University's 'Off the Shelf' for September @ox.ac.uk www.alumni.ox.ac.uk/article/off-...

alumni.ox.ac.uk

OFF THE SHELF: SEPTEMBER 2026

This month Mallory, Mussolini, Markets, AI, sickle cells, bibles, World War Two, Bayeux Tapestry, M.R.James, Ukraine, Universities and Asylum

010

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Cambridge University Library @theul.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Bryan Deighton, Conservator (Books & Paper) at Cambridge University Library, has completed a project to conserve a 19th-century album filled with medieval manuscript fragments. 🔎Learn more about the work, which was made possible by a grant from @thenmct.bsky.social: loom.ly/PkeRIVs

A conservator using a fine brush to repair a hole in a medieval manuscript fragment with a Japanese paper disc.

03613

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Leslie Howsam @lesliehowsam.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Good to see new research on the intersection of #bookhistory and bible history.

051

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

One month until the release of 'Selling the Word of God' on Sep 24th. All at Bodleian Publishing have done a wonderful job in producing a beautifully illustrated book! Available to pre-order now from: bodleianshop.co.uk/products/sel... (10% discount with code: SWG10) 1/3

1227

Reposted by Harry Spillane

John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

7 Aug 1570: d. Margaret [Harleston] Parker wife of Archbishop Matthew Parker 'right Christianly' as her husband recorded it. Parker had lived with her from 1544 and then married her in June 1547. (Lambeth Palace)

043

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Happening this evening - 'Go the extra mile', to hear 'a small still voice' or two describe Tyndale's achievement of 'fighting the good fight' to give the Bible to all. Wine & cheese provided to 'eat drink and be merry' too *just four of Tyndale's wonderful English phrases so subtly worked in there

010

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Happening on Monday - a chance to reflect on what Tyndale's achievement of producing the first English New Testament out of the original Greek means 500 years on. A free event at the Cambridge Round Church, with wine & cheese too. 'Eat, drink and be merry' is appropriately a phrase Tyndale coined!

043

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Tyndale at 500 - 'The Ploughboy Revolution' Join us for an evening at the Round Church, Cambridge, to celebrate 500 years of Tyndale's New Testament. I'll be joined in conversation with the wonderful Tony Watkins from @tyndalehouse.bsky.social More info at: lifeintheround.org

011

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

011

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Excited to have started overseeing the book reviews section of 'The Journal of Ecclesiastical History'. A reminder that suggestions of books and offers to review can be sent to jeh-office@cambridge.org @universitypress.cambridge.org @cambridge.org

183

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

A tremendous range of forthcoming books from @camhistory.bsky.social! Honoured to be in such great company 📚

032

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

For American friends, I am pleased to announce that 'Selling the Word of God' is being distributed by the University of Chicago Press ($40) Do pre-order your copy from: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

press.uchicago.edu

Selling the Word of God

The fascinating commercial history of the Bible’s first English printings.The Bible is the most published text in history, and the story of its publication in the English language is extraordinary. Se...

053

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

A pleasure to talk Tyndale at the 'Big Ideas by the Sea' festival in Scarborough. The festival is a great initiative and allows for a day of talks and music followed by seaside walks and fish & chips...what more could you want! www.bigideasbythesea.com

030

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Today the Church of England recalls the Northumbrian monk and scholar the Venerable Bede. Bede was of special interest to sixteenth-century polemicists and antiquarians, particularly Archbishop Matthew Parker. Read on to see why.... www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.com

“A Matter Newly Seene”: The Bishops’ Bible, Matthew Parker, and Elizabethan Antiquarianism

This essay examines Archbishop Matthew Parker’s prefaces to the 1568 Bishops’ Bible. It illustrates how these prefaces supported the attempts made by Parker (1504-75) to link the fledgling Elizabet...

011

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Dr Liam Sims @liamsims.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

*So* excited to read this. Fascinating research & @harryspillane.bsky.social is a great communicator. I was rapt from the moment he handed out Fry’s Turkish Delight during a lecture (there is a connection to Bibles…).

172

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Suzanne Paul @suzpaul.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Verrry much looking forward to seeing a copy of this from the Most Excellent @harryspillane.bsky.social

1103

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW: 'Selling the Word of God: The Early Commercial History of the English Bible' - £25 A study of how the English Bible became a bestseller, charting the innovations, errors, rivalries and bankruptcies behind the 'book of books' Coming September 2026 tinyurl.com/2p3cdmwp

416623

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

'Every shop hath Bibles of diverse translations', John Boys noted in the 1610s. What was the result of so many English Bible translations circulating in early modern England? How did worship function when the Prayer Book used older translations as newer ones circulated? Join this Friday to see!

020

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Very much looking forward to speaking on whether you can have too many bibles and what this meant for Prayer Book worship in early modern England. Do join the seminar at Emmanuel College, this Friday at 4pm! I can promise lots of pernickety puritan pedantry...

030

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Looking forward to speaking at the Cambridge Early Modern Scholarship and Religion Seminar: 'Too Many Bibles? Religious Uniformity, English Scripture and the Book of Common Prayer, 1549-1662' 4pm, Friday 27th Feb, Emmanuel College, Gulliver Room Lots of pernickety puritan pedantry on offer!

010

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

🚨Not Bibles!🚨 In a surprising turn of events I have published with Peter Elliott on looted art and the remarkable life of Gaston Lévy (1893-1977) Looted art, fraud, criminal trials, and some delightful paintings along the way. It is a gripping story... tinyurl.com/2weja52s

130

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Do join us @crasshlive.bsky.social on 26th & 27th September for an event showcasing research into the Bible Society Collections and discussing its future @theul.bsky.social @biblesoccollfuture.bsky.social Papers can be submitted until August 25th and registration opens shortly

043

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

A write up of our wonderful 'Great Bible Exhibition' and the scientific analysis carried out on the two stunning presentation copies for Henry VIII and Cromwell @hips-project.bsky.social @theul.bsky.social @qmul.bsky.social and National Library of Wales Such a joy to spend time with these books!

1101

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

A printed ❤️ symbol from a 1702 text about the Holy Trinity.

A page from a 1702 German publication with the title "Reimb Dich, Oder Ich Liß Dich, Das ist: Allerley Materien, Discurs, Concept, und Predigen, welche bißhero in underschiedlichen Tractätlein gedruckt worden" (vd18 10307974). The author explains on this page, and on pages before and after the Holy Trinity. Part of the detailed explanation if a human heart, made of a V (in German printing a "U") and a three as a cap. In the text, the "V" stands for the Latin "unum" (meaning: one, as in: together as one) and the number 3 is of course the Holy Trinity.

919048

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

On this day in 1509, Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon were married #tilldeathdouspart HOW IT STARTED HOW IT ENDED

020

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Happy International Heraldry Day! Why not celebrate by reading all about Archbishop Matthew Parker's uses of heraldry in Elizabethan England in this short piece of mine for @parkerlibcccc.bsky.social @corpuscambridge.bsky.social #coatsofarms #heraldry @theheraldrysociety.bsky.social

1123

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

With Whitsunday approaching, here is a lovely depiction of Pentecost from Coverdale's 1538 English New Testament, with some lovely flames/Mohican haircuts on the heads of figures.... @theulspeccoll.bsky.social @theul.bsky.social CUL, BSS.201.B38.7 (STC 2836), sig. R2r

012

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

012

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

On Ascension Day, here is one of my favourite illustrations from the series of English New Testaments printed by Richard Jugge in the 1550s, depicting some lovely dangling feet and Christ's sandals left behind on the ground...🦶🦶 @theulspeccoll.bsky.social @theul.bsky.social, BSS.201.B52.3, sig. L3v

1236

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Dr Mark Purcell @camlibresearch.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Listening to @harryspillane.bsky.social giving a fascinating talk on the Victorian Bible collector Francis Fry (1803-86) @theul.bsky.social. Bibles and chocolate!

2193

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Dr Liam Sims @liamsims.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Absolutely brilliantly informative & entertaining talk @theul.bsky.social by @harryspillane.bsky.social on Francis Fry: maker of chocolate and collector of Bibles.

1194

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Happening today! Looking forward to sharing all things Francis Fry @theul.bsky.social 📖🍫📖🍫📖🍫📖🍫📖🍫

141

Reposted by Harry Spillane

Darwin College, University of Cambridge @darwincollegecam.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Join Darwin Fellow @harryspillane.bsky.social at 5pm today at the UL, as he explores how Francis Fry, Victorian collector and heir to J.S Fry & Sons, combined two of life’s greatest pleasures: chocolate and bibliography. Book here if you plan to attend: www.lib.cam.ac.uk/rese.../even...

031

Harry Spillane @harryspillane.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

In advance of my Munby talk next week, my digitization of Francis Fry's magnum opus, his 'Description of the Great Bible', is available now It has bonkers fold-outs and stunning illustrations! @camdiglib.bsky.social @theul.bsky.social @theulspeccoll.bsky.social cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PR-SSS-...

cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk

Christian Works : Francis Fry, A description of the Great Bible (1865)

SSS.3.17 is a copy of Francis Fry's A description of the Great Bible, which was first printed in 1865. Fry (1803-1886) was

043