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Nicholas Cole

@quilldir.bsky.social

British historian of American History, especially interested in constitutional history and political thought. Director the Quill Project and pro tem Academic Director of Pembroke College Oxford.

Posts Replies Media

Reposted by Nicholas Cole

Grace Mallon @gracemallon.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

One of my dearest friends has just described me as 'the cleverest person I can reliably have a drink with.' I am flattered. I am mortally wounded.

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Reposted by Nicholas Cole

Rothermere American Institute @raioxford.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Congratulations to RAI Fellow @gracemallon.bsky.social on being the co-winner of an article prize from the American Society for Legal History! Read more here: www.rai.ox.ac.uk/article/grac...

rai.ox.ac.uk

Grace Mallon wins American Society for Legal History Article Prize

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Reposted by Nicholas Cole

Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

337 years ago tomorrow, the Bishop of Winchester expelled the unlawfully installed fellows at @magdalenoxford.bsky.social, who were foisted upon the College by James II in his attack on academic freedom. James sought to bring the fellows to heel after they refused to actively obey his royal mandate.

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

It’s always disappointing to see academic institutions announce a job search and then appoint someone who in no way fits the advertised field. No, I didn’t apply. Sub-BlueSkying for many friends and junior colleagues.

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Very happy to see focus on and debate in this area!

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

3. I’m a historian not a lawyer. Can we do much more to explain why particular legal language was adopted? Absolutely we can. Might lawyers make good or bad use of it? Not my field!

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

2. Actually, as the database grows it is becoming more and more possible to explicitly charge language moving from state to state, or being crafted in response to language elsewhere. We have tooling to do this and are working on visualizations

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

And yes. The records of some conventions are poor. This problem can be overstated, however.

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

On the notes of caution: 1. Where they are available, we make extensive use of press reporting as well as official records. It is true that some state records are better than others, and some reporting better than others. All historical sources need careful assessment — that is certainly true.

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Whenever I hear someone say that AI is going to end computer programming as a profession, I like to remember that COBOL was created so that business executives could write their own applications. And people said the same about BASIC. And Visual Basic and....

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

Is it just me, or does MacOS crash much more than (say) 5-10 years ago?

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

A prediction for 2025: America is suddenly going to have a (slightly saddening) argument about the meaning of the phase, ‘and subject to the jurisdiction thereof’.

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Nicholas Cole @quilldir.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Hello world.

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