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Laura S. DeLuca

@laurasdeluca.bsky.social
969 followers 1.1K following 39 posts

Ancient Queens in Early Modern Drama 👑 📚 | Book History + DH | PhD Candidate @CarnegieMellon

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Reposted by Laura S. DeLuca
Whitney Trettien @whitneytrettien.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In the 1860s, chess player Howard Staunton produced a photo-facsimile of Shakespeare's First Folio. It was one of the earliest attempts to use new technology to reproduce an old book. @folger.edu has Staunton’s proof sheets. I looked at them last week. If you like media/books/history, they're fun.
whitneytrettien.substack.com
“How on earth came the t turned into s?!!!!”
On Howard Staunton’s photozincographic facsimile of Shakespeare’s First Folio
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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 09/09/2026
A cartoon by Mike Twohy. See more toons from this week's issue: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/xodP2u
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Elisa Nury @elinur.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A view of the Sphinx, by a young French soldier in Napoleon's army during the invasion of Egypt and Syria #egyptology #skystorians
A vue of the sphinx, with the Giza pyramids in the background, a flying bridge, the Nile, parts of Giza and Boulaq. The sphinx sort of looks like a sort of giant slug with woman's breasts.
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Professor Peter Matthews @urbaneprofessor.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
This frontispiece in my book just made me laugh a lot. Is this Buddhist reincarnation, or some other form of afterlife?
Bram Stoker
1847-1912
A PENGUIN SINCE 1979
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John Levin @anterotesis.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
An "update" to JSTOR’s free reading program: they're downgrading access from 100 free articles/month to just 10. Access to academic writing is being whittled down, bit by bit. about.jstor.org/blog/an-upda...
about.jstor.org
An update to JSTOR’s free reading program
Beginning September 1, 2026, JSTOR’s free reading program will provide registered readers with access to 10 articles every 30 days.
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Laura S. DeLuca @laurasdeluca.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Today is the day! Baltimore friends, come to the Stern Center tonight at 5:15 to hear about all of the incredible archives I've been working with at the George Peabody Library @jhu.edu!
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Laura S. DeLuca @laurasdeluca.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Cannot even begin to express the wonder of writing a dissertation on ancient queens in early modern drama and getting to see Léonard Limosin's Dido, Queen of Carthage (ca. 1564-1565) at The Walters Art Museum while on fellowship @jhu.edu!
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William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 25/08/2026
[Exit Queen.]
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Laura S. DeLuca @laurasdeluca.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Excited to share that I’ve begun my Virginia Stern Research Fellowship awarded by the @rsaorg.bsky.social, which is supporting my research in the George Peabody Library’s Women of the Book collection @jhu.edu!📚 The fellowship culminates in a talk on Sept. 1 at 5:15pm at the Stern Center!
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Erika Gaffney @erikagaffney.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Call for papers - Women’s Professional Networks in the Early Modern Book Trade University of Edinburgh 6-7 May 2027 Deadline: 20 December This conference also launches a new collaborative database sourcing biographical information about women in the early modern book trade. #earlymodern
Front page of a call for papers, with a b&w engraving of women sitting at a table, and a man apparently just walking into the room. In the bottom half of the page is the title of the conference with the dates.A full page of text about the conference - description, possible topics to explore, etc. At the bottom the text reads "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, the conference will be available to attend online."
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BOO! k HistoriAAAH 🎃 @book-historia.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Little flower wreath pressed in a 1771 edition of the works of William Penn 🌸
A very old circle of pressed flowers, maybe pansies?
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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Terry Belanger would begin his Rare Book School classes by physically destroying/dismantling a (well-chosen) old book. This is NOT the same as what Anthropic is doing! But there is a popular culture of preciousness around books that is belied by the material realities of their circumstances. +
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
How I plan to do my August reading, in the shadows, with an owl on my hat, feeling good.
A small person seated on four books, holding an open parasol against the sun with his right hand, wearing Mercury's petasus; an owl perching on top of the hat. This engraving was published in 1797 London, source: 

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0822-1285
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Carnegie Mellon University Department of English @cmuenglish.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
A new piece by Ph.D. candidate Laura DeLuca in the Pittsburgh Review of Books:
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Laura S. DeLuca @laurasdeluca.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Early modern readers encountered images paired with short captions that created shared ways of seeing the world. Sound familiar? I explore how emblem books shaped social norms, much like today's social media, in my new piece for @pghreviewofbooks.bsky.social: pghrev.com/emblem-or-in...
pghrev.com
Emblem or Instagram? - Pittsburgh Review of Books
Every day, we scroll through Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms, encountering a stream of images paired with captions and comments that
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SHARP News @sharpnews.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
📚📚📚 5/6 Laura DeLuca reviews: Meredith Martin, _Poetry’s Data: Digital Humanities and the History of Prosody_ (Princeton University Press, 2025). Read it here: sharpweb.org/sharpnews/20... #BookHistory #Poetry #DH #DigitalHumanities
sharpweb.org
Meredith Martin. Poetry’s Data: Digital Humanities and the History of Prosody. – SHARP News
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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
How do we calculate loss of written works? A depressing but important new study notes that "the loss was far greater than scholars once thought. Researchers estimate that up to 60% of medieval literary works and more than 95% of the manuscripts that once carried them have disappeared over time." 📜🖋️
archaeologymag.com
Up to 60% of medieval texts and 95% of manuscripts have vanished, study finds | Archaeology News Online Magazine
A new study estimates 60% of medieval texts and over 95% of manuscripts were lost through centuries of copying and destruction.
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John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Alexander the Great's underwater exploration off the building site of Alexandria. I particularly like the lighting arrangements in his submarine. Flemish, c. 1300-1325 (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett / Jörg P. Anders)
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Dr Vanessa @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
"don't cite what you haven't read" remains the basic entry level academic responsibility; & if your discpline "doesn't have that as a norm" then sorry, your discipline needs reforming for this new world. Citations are structural parts of trust and knowledge building, not trinkets or optional extras
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Powernapping was the key to success for an ambitious 🐳 in the 1760s ...
A whale lying on a rock with eyes open, mouth open.
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Zanna Van Loon @zannavanloon.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Christophe Plantin printed a number of school editions, including Virgil’s Aeneid, with wide margins & generous line spacing for students’ notes. This copy is especially remarkable: it belonged to his grandson, the young Balthasar I Moretus. Judging by his aannotations, he was a diligent student!
Detail of two facing pages, on the left handwritten notes, on the right the heavily annotated printed Latin textTitle page of the book, reading ‘Pvbl. Virgilii Maronis Aeneidos Liber VI.’ It contains a woodcut engraving of Plantin’s printer’s mark and his imprint.The first page of the main text with notes in between the lines and margins facing an interleaved page filled with handwritten notes. Detail of het book with an ink stain.
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Meredith Martin @mmvty.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
This should concern all of us. What is your institution doing to preserve collective memory?
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Jesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Cornelis Visscher, The Large Cat, 1657, Engraving on ivory paper, 14.3 × 18.5 cm (5 11/16 × 7 5/16 in.), Art Institute of Chicago
"Cornelis Visscher’s engraving is one of the softest, most tactile renditions of a cat ever printed. The breathless mouse sneaking by the corner grate seems barely present in contrast, so light and ghostly is its fur. In a culture where cats were domestic staples (as dispatchers of vermin) rather than treasured pets, Visscher created a particularly memorable portrait." https://www.artic.edu/artworks/9372/the-large-cat
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Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Finger calculation BL Royal 13 A XI; Miscellany works on computus & astrology; France, N., or Central; f.33v @blmedieval.bsky.social
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Chris Warren @chriswarren.info · 18/05/2026
The Guardian published a list of top 100 novels as voted on by various authors and critics. I turned it into a network to foreground literary tastes and tastemakers. chriswarren.info/novels-worth...
chriswarren.info
684 Novels Worth Arguing About
The Guardian called it a Top 100. But 172 voters named 684 books. Explore the full list and the communities of readers behind it.
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Laura S. DeLuca @laurasdeluca.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
My second book review is officially out! Thrilled to have had the opportunity to review @mmvty.bsky.social's masterful book, Poetry's Data, for @sharpweb.org @sharpnews.bsky.social! sharpweb.org/sharpnews/20....
sharpweb.org
Meredith Martin. Poetry’s Data: Digital Humanities and the History of Prosody. – SHARP News
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Elaine Treharne @etreharne.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The Tremulous Hand of Worcester, and the Romanesque crypt at Worcester Cathedral that was surely known to them
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Jesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
The first thumbs-up I know of in art. Diego Velázquez, Tavern Scene (El Almuerzo), c. 1617, Oil on canvas, 108.5 cm × 102 cm (42.7 in × 40 in), Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.
Three men and a waiter gathered around a table in what appears to be a rustic tavern with a white tablecloth with a still life on the table. The man on the right looks at the view and makes a thumbs-up gesture
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Dr Kate Farrant Shaw @katefarrantshaw.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Amazing treasures of medieval legal history to distract one briefly from current news and marking - the Catslechta ˙ (or Cat-sections) - an old Irish legal text on cats (the Senchas Már) which even sets out various categories of cats based on various characteristics or talents. #medievalsky
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
This was both a powerful and artful memento mori: an elegant woman looking into the mirror, and rapidly aging with the paper flap. This was printed in 1510 Germany, #skystorians
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Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal @emwjournal.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Our spring 2026 issue is out! Featuring four articles, the annual Conversations on Early Modern Women and Race, three exhibition reviews, and twenty-five book reviews www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/emw/curr... #EarlyModern
journals.uchicago.edu
Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal | Vol 20, No 2
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Jordan @jordanpfot.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Might be the greatest opening paragraph of anything ever.
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Sasha Handley @sashahandley.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Delighted that my new article in @historyworkshop.org.uk, co-authored with @drhollyfletcher.bsky.social, is now published! Thanks to all who read and heard earlier versions of this @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded research :) academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-... [track.smtpsendmail.com]
academic.oup.com
Sleep, Scent, and Household Medical Care in Early Modern England
Abstract. Sleep loss was a vital health concern for early modern people, and inducing sleep was essential to healthcare practices. This article traces how
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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Richard Roach, writing in 1725 about the great female authors and spiritual leaders of his era. He assumed that when the history books were written they would all be put on the public stage “with applause and admiration”. 300 yrs later and we’re only just learning their names #earlymodern
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Kate Ozment @grubstreetwomen.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
I added more imprints to a corpus with enough going on, and I found another woman in the London book trades that has been assumed to be a man. Meet Sarah Surman Cliff Cruttenden. She trades as S. Cliff and S. Cruttenden. Sources assume man, so no one caught a woman as the same person with 3 names.
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Megan L. Cook @meganlcook.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
I taught a session in my digital manuscripts class yesterday on the BL ransomware attack, and it yielded probably the most engaged discussion we’ve had so far, about cultural heritage, remediation, labor, and access. The word “ontology” was used correctly, and not by me!
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Entering the weekend like this angry-fish riding, mirrow and comb holding, slightly smiling merwoman in 1530 on a printer's mark from the Zurich-based Augustin Frieß... #bookhistory
A merwoman holding a comb and a mirror, riding a big fish. This is the colophon from this book: https://www.e-rara.ch/zuz/content/zoom/8532285
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Staring with his mouth agape since 1557.
A human skull positioned on a sundial with the inscription "INEVITABILE FATUM" (inevitable fate) staring into the void, avoiding eye contact to you, the reader, since 1557.
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Suzanne Karr Schmidt @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
KNEW I'd Seen That Somewhere Bought a 1657 pamphlet with this little man telling you to be be quiet a while back... Looks like I saw it first in this album of mostly devotional prints at #artinstitutechi assembled in 1798! 1/? #NewberryLibrary i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
Circular engraving with man with long hair and a finger raised to his lips.Slightly browned version of same print, no surrounding letterpress.
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John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Italian-made and one French-made cameo depictions of African women and men, mid-16th century to early 17th century (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien)
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
A putto blowing soap bubbles, sitting on a type case full of type, and the letters in the bubbles read as: VANITAS (vanity). A beautiful reflection of human writing and publishing, #skystorians 1/2
A putto is sitting on an early modern type case, a box made for the different types during the hand-press era. One needed to pick up each type for a letter or symbol etc. and compose each word, text, and page. The putto blows also soap bubbles: in each bubble is a letter, and the word formed is VANITAS, meaning "vanity". This detail was published in a German speaking newspaper, "Monatliche Nachrichten einicher Merkwürdigkeiten" in 1751. VD18 90722892.
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John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
That cult of Elizabeth I was really something else. The frontispiece to the 1593 edition of John Case's Sphaera Civitatis. (Royal Collection Trust, HM CIII)
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Laura S. DeLuca @laurasdeluca.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Presented at @rsaorg.bsky.social on Lucretia and Cleopatra in early modern printing emblems. #RSA26, you were so good to me! #rensa26
Me presenting my research on Lucretia and Cleopatra in early modern printing emblems!
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
They said, why not start the new book with a spectacular detail like a screaming skull or something, then enter a placeholder text, and wait for the inspiration to finally kick in...
A human skull in the ornament of a book printd in 1717 Stuttgart. Under the ornament the text passage starts with a "TEXT." headline. Source: VD18 13976346
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Kristin Grogan @kristingrogan.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
teaching Whitman tomorrow, thinking about
I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the  
 rivers of America, and along the shores of the  
 great lakes, and all over the prairies;
I will make inseparable cities, with their arms about  
 each other's necks;
By the love of comrades,
By the manly love of comrades.
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Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Nice and specific, cheers.
'VARIOUS ANCIENT PAPERS' written on an old envelope. The envelope is being held above a wooden table with a box on it.
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