iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

One of the things about the eclipse was the strange, strange light, which this captures completely. The outside world like an indoor studio.

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Seeing your wife's pieces issued as part of enduringly important publications never, ever gets old.

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Xander Flatt @xanderflatt.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

It's only now I'm realising how significant vignetting was as a part of all of my childhood holiday photos.

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Forty years after buying the cheapest plastic-lensed 35mm camera in the whole Dixons range, I took it to the Spanish City at Whitley Bay with a roll of Kodak Gold 400.

A red car is parked out in the sun next to a white harled windowless building.

Shadows fall from windows onto the hard floor of a reception area. A car park can be seen outside.

A dustbin with the words "Spanish City" engraved into it stands beside a bench named "The Cyclone".

Cars are parked in bright sunshine outside a Beefeater restaurant.

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The Signet Library @signetlibrary.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

We're delighted to announce the completion of a cataloguing project led by Dr. Kit Baston to remap & record our unique and important collection of pamphlets and ephemera by the great Georgian Edinburgh eccentric William Mitchel, the "Tincklarian Doctor." www.wssociety-heritage.co.uk/tincklariand...

wssociety-heritage.co.uk

The Tincklarian Doctor’s Pamphlets: The William Mitchel Collection at the Signet Library – The WS Society Heritage Portal

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The Signet Library @signetlibrary.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

The entrance hall of the Signet Library from a 1925 Country Life photograph newly donated to the Library. The decoration scheme was put in by architect Robert Rowan Anderson in 1908 - in colour in Patrick Adam's 1920 painting on the right - which would endure into the 1960s.

An entrance hall showing a central staircase, ionic pillars and to the right a tall clock.

A painting in earth tones of a staircase leading up to a wall holding a portrait of a standing man. Three men in legal gowns stand on the staircase framed by ionic columns.

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Jo Hockey @johockey.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

..the work of many early photographers. @kgbaston.bsky.social and I prepared the material for display and thoroughly enjoyed chatting to our lovely guests before they moved on to the www.npg.org.uk to see their fabulous Alfred Buckham exhibition.

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Jo Hockey @johockey.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

A real treat this week, a one-off photographic exhibition at @signetlibrary.bsky.social by @lixmount.bsky.social for @rpshistgroup.bsky.social This selection of our photographic collection featured our Hill & Adamson Album, negatives of Penicuik House, albums from the Roughead Collection plus..

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Drainpipe shadows this morning, Boat Green.

Drain pipes cast thick rectangular shadows onto a brick wall

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

One of the better afternoons of my life was spent in reading the final draft of @kgbaston.bsky.social 's book "Charles Areskine's Library: Lawyers and Their Books at the Dawn of the Scottish Enlightenment". Kit writes about this fantastic book 10 years on: www.kgbaston.co.uk/2026/04/10/h...

kgbaston.co.uk

Happy 10th Birthday, ‘Charles Areskine’s Library’!

A decade ago, on 19 April 2016, my ‘book of the doctoral thesis’, appeared in the distinctive yellow and blue dustjacket of Brill’s Library of the Handpress World series as Charles Areskine’s Libra…

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Two from Trinity, Leith's Victorian coastal suburb

A street corner with a tower house and young trees just out of blossom. A white van looks on from the left.

A sea horizon with a cruise ship at left, an island centre and an oil rig service vessel on the right

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

No one took our "Edinburgh" bait!: it's New York, 1927, the Todhunter Building, designed to ape European late medieval structures, taken from a magnificent vol of pre-1929 American commercial buildings. Well done @ruinista.bsky.social for getting it absolutely spot on.

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Leslie Hills @skylinefilm.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

It feels like Prague to me - and pre 1906 when number plates became mandatory?

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ruinista @ruinista.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

The buildings across the street feel very NYC to me, as does the street itself. I'd guess ... 1910s/early 20s?

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Alex Galt @alexgalt.com · 27/03/2026

It has bit of an Atget vibe. Paris in the 1910s?

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Jo Hockey @johockey.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Looks like the Canongate but I don’t recognise it!

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

@johockey.bsky.social and I were looking at this puzzle picture this morning. Would anyone care to guess the location and the date of the building?

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Dr. David Barber @pressphotoman.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

'Lessay Abbey, Normandy, France' by Ursula Clark (1940-2000). Two of the recently-discovered images by the Newcastle upon Tyne photographer. The full story in my latest Pressphotoman blogpost. Link below.

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Jen 🐾 @felinedoggeous.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

The #BirdOfTheDay theme today is #WinterSurvivors - birds that remain throughout your winter season. The alternative is #corvids - birds from the Corvidae family. My choice today is my Little Egret friend. 🥰 #kentbirding #birdphotography #eastcoastkin

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Dr Robin Douglas @robincdouglas.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

It's actually real now!

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Fantastic piece here; the only things I'd add is to reflect on the gentle, affectionate nature of the satire; & that the accompanying texts (by James T. Callender?) are essential, and contain vast amounts of information and insight about individuals & society just not found anywhere else.

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Jim Ambuske @jimambuske.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Spent part of @inpursuitusa.bsky.social launch @nyhistory.bsky.social with teachers looking at Rev-era documents, including this early 19th c. facsimile copy of the Declaration, set against the 1773 freedom petition by Peter Bestes, Sambo Freeman, Felix Holbrook,& Chester Joie from Massachusetts.

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Something personal here, a repaying of a debt to an Edinburgh photographer of the pre-1939 era whose work helped me attempt my own projects and acclimatise to Edinburgh when I was first here. The (melancholy in places) story of Francis Maxwell Chrystal: lixmount.substack.com/p/francis-ma...

lixmount.substack.com

Francis Maxwell Chrystal 1882-1944

Edinburgh Photography's Last Edwardian

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AlternativePhotography.com @alternativephotography.com · 13/02/2026

Curious to see what’s inside our new Anthotype book by @malinfabbri.bsky.social ? 🌿 It takes you step by step through the process – and a lot more! Ready to learn? See: 👉 www.alternativephotography.com/anthotypes-c... #anthotype #anthotypes #altprocess

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Jo Hockey @johockey.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Some recent nonsense.

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Pete S @bogglington.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Aston Expressway, Birmingham. My photo 1980.

Night-time photo of a main road in Birmingham. The road here is in a steep sided cutting. There is an indicator showing which lanes are available for traffic, and the lights of the cars become streaks from the long exposure. Lights from buildings in the upper distance.

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

For Henry Fox Talbot's birthday, my favourite of his prints - this magical glimpse through curtains out onto ships in the harbour at Rouen, 1843. To go with it, @roseteanby.bsky.social 's article on Talbot's Rouen for the Talbot Catalogue Raisonné blog - talbot.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/2018/03/09/t...

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Also called in on McNaughton's Bookshop on Elm Row, who are currently offering 40% off any purchase of three books. So: Francis Bedford's glass plates of the Middle East; Mike Weaver on photographical portrait tradition, and a charming album of one woman's life in an English farming community.

Three books: Francis Bedford "Cairo to Constantinople", Mike Weaver "The Photographic Art" and Vera Punter's "Whitsunday's Child: A Country Life in Pictures".

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Popped into the Scottish National Gallery to see David Wilkie's fine preparatory drawings for one of my favourite Scottish paintings, 1813's "The Letter of Introduction". Exhibition closes today, as do the Francis Cadell war drawings and Burns in art exhibs.

Ink drawing of a young man standing next to a desk where an elderly man reads a letter. The old man's dog sniffs at the young man.

An old man by a fire contemplates a standing figure carrying a letter who has just entered the room.

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Kit Baston @kgbaston.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

New on the blog: 'The Curious Case of the Missing Curling Stone' - a Tale from the Session Papers of @signetlibrary.bsky.social: www.kgbaston.co.uk/2026/02/05/t... #TalesFromTheSessionPapers A curling stone has been missing for three years, but now it's been found. Or has it?

llustration from 'The Channel-Stane or Sweepings from the Rinks (Edinburgh: Richard Cameron, 1883)' showing curling stones and a curling broom in a winter landscape with a church in the background on a snow-covered hill. The sun is low in the sky showing that the day's play has ended. The title, 'The Roaring Game' is written in a fancy script

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Kit Baston @kgbaston.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Lovely to see this review of @books-borrowing.bsky.social! I'm so proud to have been a part of this amazing project. 📖 borrowing.stir.ac.uk

borrowing.stir.ac.uk

Books and Borrowing 1750-1830

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books-borrowing.bsky.social @books-borrowing.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

And a DELIGHT to read this review of us! Thank you, @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social ! 😍

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The Signet Library @signetlibrary.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

We recently finished the research phase of our project on the archive of John Watson's Institution funded by the @oldedinburghclub.bsky.social Jean Guild awards. Dive in here: www.wssociety-heritage.co.uk/2026/02/02/t... Research by @kgbaston.bsky.social and @johockey.bsky.social

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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Over on ‘All Old Strange Things’, in my first free post of the year I offer some reflections on @benmachell.bsky.social’s extraordinary book ‘Chasing the Dark’ open.substack.com/pub/drfranci...

open.substack.com

The new (para)normal

Reflections on ‘Chasing the Dark’ by Ben Machell

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Andy Arthur💃🏰⚓🦌 Threadinburgh 🧵 @threadinburgh.scot · 27/11/2025

Planning to try organise a public screening for the 75th anniversary of the première, which I put in February 2027

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Absolutely tremendous piece here. "Incidental sound for the transition scenes was provided by the poet Norman MacCaig, who whistled refrains of a variety of the songs.." MacCaig was a teacher back then, but it's other (Norton Park) teachers, Jim Ritchie in particular, who brought this all about.

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Two of a group of albumen prints I've acquired with Bunyan/Elstow associations. Internal dating indicates 1874 to 1881. No photographer, but the likelihood is that these are the work of George Downes d. 1879. (1)

A three-quarters sepia view of a country cottage with harled walls and a tiled roof. The cottage stands on an unmetalled road and has a sign over the door reading "Bunyan's Cottage". Two boys, one wearing a bowler hat, are visible in the garden to the left.

A statue of John Bunyan with people sitting on a fence immediately to the rear. In the background can be seen the square clock tower of Bedford's St. Peter's Church and the neighbouring Bury House.

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Dr. David Barber @pressphotoman.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

'Miss Ward, the greatest of all Lady Divers' from an 1889 stereo by Underwood & Underwood. A Pressphotoman piece about where it was taken and how it became a big seller. pressphotoman.com/2025/08/25/m...

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Caroline Street, Saltaire, on a dark wet day in 2023

A white car is parked outside a row of nineteenth century stone-built end of terrace houses on a dark wet day.

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

The Dunbar Street Fire Tower in clean modern brick, and, on the other side of the street, three shots of the paraphanalia and graffiti pertaining to the rear entrancrs to shops. Fountainbridge, Edinburgh.

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James Hamilton @lixmount.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

As Bluesky's image posting is having difficulties today, even to the extent of site thumbnails, here are some photographs of Leeds taken last week on my image site: www.lixmount.com/England/A-Ne...