iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Suzanne Karr Schmidt @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social · 5h

Wood Pulp Paper (hold the pulp!)

Sample book open to several pages of different wood veneers.

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Karl Bell @karlbell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Tickets are now available for the 'Maritime Histories from the Margins' conference, National Maritime Museum, 11-12 November 2026. Co-hosted by @uopmaritime.bsky.social and Royal Museums Greenwich. For ticket information and the conference programme, see www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/nat...

rmg.co.uk

Conference - Maritime Histories from the Margins: People, Places, and Practices, 1500–Present

A two-day interdisciplinary conference exploring marginalised histories in maritime contexts from c.1500 to the present day

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Suzanne Karr Schmidt @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

ImPRESSed Yet? I am thrilled to announce that Impressive Textiles: Premodern Printing on Fabric will be published October 27 in print and Open Access with @acmrs.bsky.social, thanks to 30 textile and print scholars, and 1 groundbreaking exhibition @newberrylibrary.bsky.social! #CoverReveal 1/5

Cover art for Impressive Textiles: Premodern Printing on Fabric!

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Dr Jennifer Evans @historianjen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I'm a so pleased that the exhibition I co-curated with @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social is now open at the Chelsea Physick Garden. Running until the 15th Nov, it explores the autumnal plants of the garden through the work of pioneering botanical illustrator Anne Pratt.

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Mass Observation Archive @massobsarchive.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Exciting news (well we think so)! We are looking for new people to regularly contribute to our archive! We accept applications from anyone based in the UK who has an interest in sending us their thoughts and opinions about life in the UK. #Skystorians massobs.org.uk/write-for-th...

massobs.org.uk

Write for the archive - Mass Observation Archive

Writing for Mass Observation You can apply to write for the archive here. Current Observers If you are one of our current Observers you may find our handbook for new Observers helpful. This has all th...

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Daniel C. Blight @danielcblight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

***URGENT PLEASE SHARE*** University of Brighton management have announced today that they ‘give notice of termination of all collective agreements’. This is a fundamental erasure of workers' rights. Management have announced the termination of all contractual documents, which includes:

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The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

📢AUTUMN NEWSLETTER OUT TODAY📢 This edition includes an important update on some changes to the team that impact the project's future. Those on our mailing list should have a copy in their inbox, for others see below, or DM your address to receive a pdf. #EarlyModern 🗃️ #DigitalHumanities #HTR

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

That middle of the week feeling "somewhat aged and therefore preparing my self to go the universal way of all flesh” "all which wrongs discomforts and daily vexations imposed on me in my old and aged days”* *spellings modernised

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

they say you shouldn't get too invested in the lives of the people in the documents you study, but how am I supposed to avoid feeling kinship with these elderly testators? “considering how by nature we are born to die and feeling now my self grown aged in my years” so true Thomas, so true

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Donations when charities are under attack, including very small, one-off donations, can have a real impact on volunteers' morale. They face treacherous seas for us. Now they're also endangered at home on land.

rnli.org

Donate to the RNLI and help save lives at sea

Your donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here.

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Best new seventeenth century name I've come across today Launcelot Lovelace the Elder, Gentleman of London

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

🌾🏘️ (acc. to collins, from the old english beretūn, bere barley + tūn stockade/town) or if we're being silly 📊⚖️

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

perhaps the old trade union 🤝 for the community/assembly meaning! "republic governing body" in emojis is still a bit of a headscratcher though

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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

My favourite fingers rings in wills are those with a rebus on them. So Anthony Hearinge bequeathed his son a ring of gold with three fish there engraven ... get it? 🐟🐟🐟

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Richard Wells @slipperyjack.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

During last year's dance I accidentally captured a video in slow mo. This time I made a point of it, got loads of videos like this! Crank up the volume for full effect, the child's triangle rendered a clang of doom...

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Social History Society @socialhistsoc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

📣Applications for SHS funding now open! ⏰Deadline 1 October! 👉Applicants can now apply for either a Small Research Grant or an Event and Activity Grant. Both schemes are limited to SHS members. Read more and apply here: socialhistory.org.uk/funding/

socialhistory.org.uk

Funding

The Social History Society currently administers three funding schemes. Our Small Research Grants provide up to £1000 to support direct research costs incurred by members of the Society. Our Events…

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Aside from all the usual arguments, I would also love people to start including pronouns in the author line of books and articles because you get absolutely no context clues from "A. B. Lastname" and I'd like to not have to dance around not knowing in my discussion of your work please and thank you!

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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

just take a look at this pig ok

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Brilliant conference! thanks to you all for your hard work organising it

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I'm choosing to believe its our natural vivacity and joyfulness (honestly can't remember but it must've been good!)

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uopmaritime @uopmaritime.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Book your ticket for an exciting & interdisciplinary conference exploring marginalised maritime histories from 1500-present @ National Maritime Museum, 11-12 November 2026. Organised by the Royal Museums Greenwich & University of Portsmouth's @uopmaritime.bsky.social www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/nat...

rmg.co.uk

Conference - Maritime Histories from the Margins: People, Places, and Practices, 1500–Present

A two-day interdisciplinary conference exploring marginalised histories in maritime contexts from c.1500 to the present day

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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

the horrors persist but so does The Museum of English Rural Life

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Doing some assorted digging at the national archives today and I've stumbled on (whilst on a sidequest for a friend) someone who'd just signed on to their first naval voyage. on the list under "trade brought up in" they've listed confectioner 🍬 I love the breadth of people finding their way to sea

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

you know you got an early train when three hours into your journey would be when your normal alarm wakes you

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

those country lanes won't know what hit 'em!

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Elise Watson @ewatson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

#earlymodern #bookhistory Workshop Call for Papers: Women’s Professional Networks in the Early Modern Book Trade, University of Edinburgh 6-7 May 2027 Please feel free to share with anyone who might be interested!

Call for Papers
Women’s Professional Networks in the Early Modern Book Trade
University of Edinburgh
6-7 May 2027

Over the past two decades, women’s book history and feminist bibliography have exploded with renewed interest. Even so, women’s work is still to an extent seen as an exception or curiosity. It examines them from a gender history perspective, asking to what extent their relationships were influenced or determined by constructions of femininity. Proposals should therefore involve a dimension of gender analysis beyond simply the inclusion of female subjects.

This conference will seek to explore (but is not limited to) to the following themes and questions:

*Gendered Networks. To what extent were professional book trade networks gendered? How did these networks intersect with other types of women’s networks, whether they be familial, friendly, religious, political, or intellectual?
*Identity and Representation. Did women express professional solidarity with other women, and how did this manifest? How did women’s self-representation in imprints and paratext differ from men’s?
*Legal and Structural Considerations. In what ways were women’s professional networks dependent on legal structures of inheritance in their region, or participation in guilds? How did these networks stretch across economic and class divisions?
*Digital Approaches. Can digital humanities tools such as network visualisation effectively help document these relationships?

The conference will also host the launch of a new collaborative database sourcing biographical information about women in the early modern book trade.

Contributions will be published in a volume of conference proceedings, to be submitted by the end of 2027.

Proposals for papers of maximum 20 minutes, including title, an abstract of up to 300 words, and a biography of up to 150 words should be sent to Dr Elise Watson, elise.watson@ed.ac.uk, by 20 December 2026. While all papers will be delivered in person, virtual attendance will be available as well.

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

The Book of Children by Thomas Phayer (1544) is a very early paediatrics book includes coral based remedies for teething, vomiting, convulsions, and dysentery, though it's used in cures for adults too. Here's a beautiful example from the @foundlingmuseum.bsky.social left with a child there in 1775!

coral necklace with spanish coin pendant from the Foundling Museum collection, London

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Yes! Plenty of coral adornments to be found in the early modern period (and today). Its got a long history of being considered medical as well as beautiful - rattles, teethers, bracelets, necklaces were all made from it. I've not heard of the seeds before though, something to investigate!

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Early Modern Conflict, War and Violence Network @earlymodernwar.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open for our 2026 conference, Beyond the Battlefield, taking place at the University of Exeter on 1-3 September! See below for more details, and register to attend in person or online here: forms.gle/faYxSdQSzxQ5... Please help us spread the word!

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Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Happy 48th anniversary of the accidental emptying of the Chesterfield Canal...

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Esme (she/her) @esmegrace31.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

📣BROADSIDE BALLAD USERS!📣 If you use online databases of early modern English broadside ballads for any sort of research, please fill out my dissertation survey: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/TQrAhSLXkK I’m looking at the databases people use and the impact of Bodleian Ballads Online closing - thanks!

forms.cloud.microsoft

Microsoft Forms

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Kerry L @kerrymlove.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

If you're involved with a society or group (not listed on the @royalhistsoc.org's list) with members who may be ECRs who've completed a PhD in a History related subject, or a GLAM org who support / connect with ECRs regularly - could you email Kerry. Love@northampton.ac.uk saying hello?

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Jack Cox @jackandrewcox.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Please share: I am working on the History Lab + & History UK ECR Survey with @kerrymlove.bsky.social . We collating contacts to disseminate the survey to later this year. The survey examines support received by ECRs post-PhD in history or related subjects (such as archaeology and art history). (1/3)

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Seva @seva.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

the ideal academic life is being an eccentric Victorian lord. Invent a stamp licking machine at 22. Get elected to the Royal Academy for counting the beetles on your estate. Die in an arsenic explosion. The perfect life.

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

final total was +13 1 borrowed 4 bought as gifts for other people 6 academic titles (for me, thanks conference book fairs) 2 fun fiction finds (also for me) hashtag no regrets

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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Professor Whittle is one of four colleagues in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty at the University of Exeter elected to Fellowship of the British Academy this year. 🗃️ ALL FOUR of these outstanding scholars were placed at risk of redundancy last month. Here's their statement:

A written statement from from University of Exeter scholars just elected to the British Academy Fellowship 2026. There are photos of each scholar at the side of the text.

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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

🥳 Enormous congratulations to my outstanding colleague & friend Prof. Jane Whittle, on her election to the Fellowship of the British Academy. Jane is a world renowned scholar of the history of work & gender in preindustrial Europe. She currently leads The Material Culture of Wills project. 🗃️

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Absolutely gorgeous work! The colours you've used are so beautiful

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

That's so fascinating! The shiny coated ones must be extra special then, someone really loved that music book!

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Here's my two favourites from the V&A collection for your visual enjoyment. 1. French (made 1300-1400) 2. Iran (made 1665) It's incredible to think this technology is first referenced in documents from classical antiquity, and still showing up in wills from the 16th and 17thC in England.

Photo from the V&A catalogue, Astrolobe 1300-1400 (made), M.128-1923

photo from the V&A catalogue, Astrolabe 1665 (made), IM.408-1924

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Astrolabes are beautiful clever pieces of technology. Have you ever wanted a star chart, a analogue calculator, an inclinometer, to find out your latitude or triangulate your position? Do I have the disk for you!

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

"my little astrolibre where my name is graven" 📀🕰️🪐 From the 1552 will of William Bukley, a schoolmaster in Greenwich. I've tripped and fallen into the V&A's catalogue again, this time looking at all the beautiful examples of astronomic instruments!

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Very beautiful! I'd never heard of fore-edge tabs before, what a fun little shiny material culture thing to learn about

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Anna-Lujz Gilbert @annalujz.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Feels a bit weird to post book history when the world (literally) and academia (metaphorically) are on fire, but here are some some nice shiny coated fore-edge tabs from a set of sixteenth-century music part books. British Library K.3.c.2., Heinrich Isaac, Coralis Constantini (Nuremberg, 1550+).

Photograph of printed 16th-century music book showing fore edge with shiny red leather tabs protruding.

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Mass Observation Archive @massobsarchive.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

We've been a bit quiet recently whilst we've been busy cataloguing all the wonderful 12th May diaries we received! We're pleased to say we've finished cataloguing all 287 diaries that were submitted via our online form 😅 If you're interested in viewing them, drop us an email! 💻

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Kit Barton @kmbarton.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Herman Melville got so many of his (whale) facts wrong but on this count I can't argue with him, there are some fascinating sailors wills out there

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 13/07/2026

We have the following 3 calls for research funding for RHS Fellows & Members: bit.ly/4wwSMGu > 'Open Research Grants', for mid & later career historians > 'Early Career Fellowship Grants', for postdocs > Martin Lynn Scholarship', for PhD research in African history Closing 4 September #Skystorians

bit.ly

Calls for research funding from the Royal Historical Society: September 2026 deadlines - RHS

The Society invites applications for the following three schemes — open to historians at a range of career stages — with closing dates of 4 September 2026. Early Career Fellowship Grants, 2026-27* off...

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