Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Thanks. That figures. See what she says in MS Eng 1778 27b (www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/EX-HOUG...), provisional transcription below. 120
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 07/07/2026When Elizabeth Carter wittily attacks 'La metaphysique', is she commenting on a specific work or on a whole strand of French scholarship in general? Does anyone happen to know? (Editor out of his comfort zone here.) See www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/EX-HOUG... #18thC 332
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Elizabeth Carter's 'turn Chartreuse' suggests the idea of leaving the bustle of Court for the quiet life of a nun (MS Eng 1778 9, www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/EX-HOUG..., transcription not yet published). Are reading and interpretation correct? Is this a one-off? #18thC #langsky 150
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 08/06/2026The Mary Hamilton Papers links: blog (www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/refreshment-...), project website (www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk), letter HAM/1/9/116 (www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/AR-HAM-...) #18thC #langskymaryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.ukRefreshment as a dish best served cold - Unlocking the Mary Hamilton papersAfter July 2024 we'd planned the next refreshing of The Mary Hamilton Papers for summer 2025, and when that didn't happen, rescheduled it at several points in late 2025 and early 2026. Each time, some... 021
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 07/06/2026The Mary Hamilton Papers is much refreshed: full details & blog on our project website. New transcriptions, improved personography, more x-refs, many corrections. A striking example is the letter HAM/1/9/116, whose interpretation, authors, recipients and places have all been revised! #18thC #langsky 054
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 21/05/2026The online edition of the Mary Hamilton Papers is finally getting its long-expected major refresh on 5 June: numerous corrections to transcriptions and mark-up, revisions to person identifications and improved tooltips, plus about 100 items newly transcribed. Watch for announcement! #18thC #langsky 0123
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 14/05/2026Please help us spread awareness of these free resources far & wide. Re-skeet, share with teacher contacts, re-post to other forms of social media - we'd really appreciate it. On behalf of whole @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social, thank you! (/end) 075
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 14/05/2026Want to hear from an A-level student who has direct experience of these materials (f/ Uni of York summer school 'taster' session used to pilot them)? "Absolutely wonderful, kept me so engaged throughout the entire session... I was captivated. It made me excited for university-style teaching!" 153
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 14/05/2026Calling A-level English teachers! Do you teach Austen, Brontë, or other 18thc stuff? Could you use a set of free research-informed teaching materials, which support students' historical, literary, & linguistic understanding, & foster debate about misogyny, consent, & healthy relationships? (1/?) 24958
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 03/04/2026(in reply to Genny G) Indeed: at least 3 errors, at least one of which no human would make. (In fact this letter was transcribed for us by a student as long ago as 2012.) That's why we won't post AI transcriptions without first correcting them, quite apart from our need to add TEI mark-up. 010
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 02/04/2026Indeed: at least 3 errors, at least one of which no human would make. (In fact this letter was transcribed for us by a student as long ago as 2012.) That's why we won't post AI transcriptions without first correcting them, quite apart from our need to add TEI mark-up. 000
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 31/03/2026119 new transcriptions in the Mary Hamilton Papers, many AI-generated, all corrected and marked up by two human editors. David and Nuria are now checking the much-delayed refresh. See 'Converting Conversations' from the MHP, Pete Morris's blogpost(aiiamanchester.com/2025/10/09/c...). #18thC #langsky 184
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 21/01/2026Another go: ... Dissolve 2 Oz of Salt of tarter or peirl ash well in the beer though one[?] of peirl ash is said to be Enough make this Dough as soft or softer than Cake is made and should be uset[??] Emediately after being mixt 010
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 20/01/2026of peirl ash [pearl ash] is said to be Enough make this Dough as fast or faster than Cake is made [?] should be set[??] Emediately [immediately] after being mixt [mixed] Sorry: not doing well with 1st and 4th words in penult line. David D 010
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 20/01/2026I'll have a quick go: To one Gallon of molasses one quart of Beer one Pound of Butter 4 Oz of ginger See that the butter and ginger be well Rubed[?] in the flour. Dissolve 2 Oz of Salt of tarter (ed: now baking powder) or peirl [pearl] ash well in the beer (?) through one[?] [i.e. 1 oz.?] 110
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Closing up this v interdisciplinary special issue is Yoko Iyeiri, with an analysis of how Hamilton's enormous archive shows linguistic change, specifically in relation to the development of the adverb. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 123
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Now Anne-Christine Gardner w/ 'Self-Corrections as Indexes of Social Relationships: Observations From Mary Hamilton's Correspondence With Frances Burney (1783–1789)'. Anne & I take complementary approaches to the same material: IMHO it's a fun conversation! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 124
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Then, we have @voloshkova.bsky.social with 'Mary Hamilton, Manuscript Poetry, and the Bluestocking Network: Promoting Hannah More, Ann Yearsley, and Anne Hunter', investigating Hamilton as promoter of poetry. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 133
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Next, it's Mascha Hansen with 'The Literary Court: Reading Queen Charlotte'. This article investigates the literary cultures revolving around Queen Charlotte, in some of which Mary Hamilton took part. It's our last gold OPEN ACCESS contribution! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 143
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025(Sadly 'A generous Rival' is not published in gold OA format, BUT after an embargo period a pre-print will be available on my institutional respository. And if you want to read it before then but don't have access to JECS, just message me - we can sort something out.) 111
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Then, er, it's me again! In 'A ‘generous Rival’? Mary Hamilton and Frances Burney', I use archival & digital approaches to solve the mystery of why Hamilton loved Burney but Burney loathed Hamilton. The answer is one to which many novelists may relate. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 134
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025In '‘I was so ill, and so low…’: Women, Mental Health, & Strategies of Care in The Mary Hamilton Papers', @annafranjam.bsky.social explores how space, sociability & letter-writing were understood as strategies of self care by female correspondents in the Hamilton archive. Another OPEN ACCESS baby! 263
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Next up is 'Franks & Friendship: Eighteenth-Century Postal Practices in The Mary Hamilton Papers' by Christine Wallis, who uses evidence from TMHP to explore how postage and franking aided correspondents' politeness and identity work. It is also OPEN ACCESS! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 164
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025(Sadly 'The Tip of the Iceberg' is not published in gold OA format, BUT after an embargo period a pre-print will be available on my institutional respository. And if you want to read it before then but don't have access to JECS, just message me - we can sort something out.) 111
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Next is 'The Tip of the Iceberg: Reading Practices in Mary Hamilton's Archive, 1783–1784', by @crulph.bsky.social & I. A data-driven dive into what, how, where, when & with whom Mary Hamilton read, & reflection on DH methodologies applied to ms life writing. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 133
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025ALSO OPEN ACCESS is our 1st article, 'Reconstructing Mary Hamilton's Social Networks', by David Denison & Tino Oudesluijs, who present an innovative method for reconstructing social networks from ms letters-connecting not just correspondents but mentionees too onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 144
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Also OPEN ACCESS is the Introduction, co-authored by @nuriyabo.bsky.social, David Denison, and myself. Here we situate @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social in context of other 18thc digital initiatives, & highlight key findings of the contributions to the vol. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 154
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025The OPEN ACCESS Foreword, by Hannah Barker & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, is a great place to start. It introduces Hamilton, her archive, & previous relevant scholarship. It also acknowledges the crucial contributions of many other folk, esp @thejohnrylands.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 133
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Queen Charlotte! William Hamilton! Francis Napier! George III! Charlotte Gunning! Richard Glover! Mary Delany! Frances Boscawen! William Weller Pepys! The Duchess of Portland! The whole gang and more. If you're interested in any of these figures, there'll be something for you in the collection. 122
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Observe, if you will, the cover illustration(repro'd at closer scale below). A network diagram featuring many (though far from all) of Mary Hamilton's close contacts. Elizabeth Carter! Frances Burney! Hannah More! Elizabeth Montagu! Joshua Reynolds! Eva Maria Garrick! Horace Walpole! George IV! 182
Reposted by Unlocking The Mary Hamilton PapersSophie Coulombeau @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Right then. Buckle up, knuckleheads, as they say. This is a special issue of JECS that I co-edited with my esteemed colleagues David Denison (Manchester) and Nuria Yáñez-Bouza (Vigo). It is a "major research output", as they say, from our AHRC-funded research project @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social 273
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 21/11/2025At last our special issue, JECS 48.4, is out, all 200+ pages of it! We're very proud of it. Thanks are due to many colleagues, but especially Nuria Yáñez-Bouza for proof-correcting heroics, and the general editor, Emrys Jones, for brilliant support throughout. #18thC #langsky 02413
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 01/11/2025Mystery female: 'Mme Busche' is mentioned 8 times 1781-86 in the Mary Hamilton Papers. Possibly connected with Court, she apparently leaves England in 1781. We have a provisional identification (see new Personography entry below). Can anyone help with (dis)confirmation or further info? #18thC 112
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 20/10/2025I read 'Swordy' (in diary revision). Mary Hamilton encounters him twice in the street in 1784. Could it be a nickname for the royal fencing-master, one of the Angelo family, perhaps? See HAM/2/7 p.9 (www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/AR-HAM-00002-00007/9), HAM/2/11 p.10. #18thC #langsky 020
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 20/10/2025Two imminent developments from the Mary Hamilton Papers team: a special issue in JECS, and a major refresh of the edition (transcriptions, mark-up, personography), both probably live online in November. Watch this space! #18thC #langsky 083
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 02/10/202552°C in London in 1784? No way. This is on a BBC website: First on our list of the hottest places on Earth is Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where a temperature of 52°C (125.6°F) was recorded on 22 June 2010. 010
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 02/10/2025Nope. It's a very clear '5', and anyway, Hamilton's '8' is characteristically slanted, halfway towards the modern infinity symbol ∞. See attached image. 000
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 02/10/2025Can anyone clarify this diary entry by Mary Hamilton in a period of sweltering late May weather? Even if her barometer had a thermometer built in, 52°F (11°C) is cool, whereas Mrs Delany reports that day that ‘the Weather is so _hot_ that I can not send my usual messenger to you’. #18thC #langsky 341
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 17/09/2025Should have thanked Natalia @philistella.bluesky.social (from David Denison, very much a BlueSky newbie!) 010
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 17/09/2025Thank you, Natasha Simonova! Not sure they can count as bouts-rimés if the targets aren't rhyme words, which many are not: see pp.116-120 in this ms book (www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/EX-LANC...). And does Mary Hamilton call them 'conglomerations' (p.121), I wonder? 210
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 17/09/2025Is there a name for an 18C parlour game in which a participant is given 4 or 5 words and challenged to include them all in an impromptu pair of rhyming couplets? #18thC #langsky 122
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 12/09/2025Hamilton reports a horrific lightning strike close to some of the royal children, which (we learn elsewhere) killed a coachman and a footman. So that chestnut of absurd phrasebooks (tracked in Wikipedia) actually happened, if not on a coach journey: 'My postillion has been struck by lightning'! 020
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 05/09/2025Mary Hamilton and her networks: Gender, sociability, manuscript. Important (we would think so, wouldn't we?) special issue of JECS, now in copy-editing. Intro + 4 research papers by the team (see www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/further-read...) + 5 outside contributions. #18thC #langsky 0197
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 03/09/2025We offer both diplomatic and normalised transcriptions. Text in red indicates that the other transcription (in this case the normalised) has abbreviations expanded, spelling modernised, formatting removed, etc. Blue indicates a tooltip. See www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/editorial/maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.ukEditorial policies - Unlocking the Mary Hamilton papers 110
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 03/09/2025_Notable_ adj. once had meanings to do with household management. Mary Hamilton often applies it to her (needle)work, slightly antedating OED, while Lady Dartrey mentions 'a good notable woman', i.e. competent in household matters. News to me, but not (I bet) to some of you. #18thC #langsky 1115
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 01/09/2025Chaos? No: word-play. A running joke of my favourite correspondent, Francis Napier, concerns 'the Indigo tint' of Hamilton's allegedly dominating disposition, whereas he himself poses with mock pomposity as a domestic tyrant. See www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/AR-HAM-.... #18thCdigitalcollections.manchester.ac.ukThe Mary Hamilton Papers : Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton<p style='text-align: justify;'>Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton. The letter is concerned with Hamilton's marriage settlement, the papers concerning which have been sent t... 040
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 30/08/2025More for the OED: bas bleu, indigo (in humorous reference to Bluestocking views), dissertation 'debate', haut ton. Chaperon and dirty (as verbs), moonshine (adjective), a bundle of nerves, jargonic, lucet, parliamenteering, spa toilet, strongle, tarot. #Linguistics #18thC #c18th 075
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 30/08/2025Among 100+ newer/older/unknown words for the OED in the Hamilton Papers are jerry 'hen-pecked husband', jerryism, Benedict 'newly married', hub. Derogatory frump, quiz 'eccentric person'. Playful astoundation, terrificability. Specialised casaquin, clavicello, quipu. #Linguistics #18thC #c18th 031
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 29/08/2025We've been revising www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/personography/ . Thanks to Angela Byrne for correcting our info on 'Mrs Morgan' in HAM/2/1. Further corrections to person identification or details would be most welcome; there's still time to incorporate them in this year's refresh.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.ukPersonography - Unlocking the Mary Hamilton papers 042
Unlocking The Mary Hamilton Papers @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social · 28/08/2025Christine, Nuria, Sophie and David have all given Hamilton-related talks (www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/conference-s...) in the last few months, and revision of the edition continues in the background. September will bring some major developments.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.ukConference/Seminar Talks - Unlocking the Mary Hamilton papers 042