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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The STEMMA team is growing: @normaowens.bsky.social has joined us as a Research Assistant. Norma is interested in using computational and quantitative methods to recover under-represented groups and exploring patterns of connectivity and knowledge transmission in historical networks. Welcome, Norma!

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

A little bouquet of surprise flowers in the endleaves of British Library Additional MS 15227, Fol.101v to Fol.102r 🌼🌸🌷🪻🌻

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Plaintive but hopeful elephant 🐘♥️ Please be nice to him British Library Sloane MS 3794: Fol.5r

Drawing of an elephant with it's back to the viewer raising it's trunk to the sun

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

And just in case you can't bear to travel without vinegar, p.122

Close up of Arts Treasury
A way always to be provided with Vinegar for Sauce wherever you travel

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Variations on a theme of tea-staining your homework? Arts Treasury, 1688, p.119

Detail from Arts Treasury
TEXT
To make new writing look old, and of long standing
Take a dram of Saffron and infused it into half a pint of Ink, and suffer it to warm over a gentle fire, and it will cause whatever is written with it to turn yellowish and appear as if of many years standing

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Today's rabbit hole (or tree labyrinth). Love the little gardener 🥹❤️🪏👒 Ralph Austen, A Treatise of Fruit Trees or Spiritual Use of an orchard, 1653

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Poetry and maths side by side - just how we like it here at STEMMA Bodleian MS Rawl. Poet. 142, Fols 11v - 12r

Photo of an open manuscript: one page covered in calculations (and spilling over onto the next page) and poetry on the other

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

A verse letter about a dog-seal! 🐕❤️💌 Bodleian MS Add. A. 267: Fol.28r

Close up of a manuscript
TEXT: the subscription, the letter being sealed with a sealed whereon portrayed a dog

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Getting ready for the new academic year: 17th century undergraduate Simon Sloper writes his term dates into his commonplace book in 1619 Bodleian MS Eng. poet. f. 10: Fol.52r

Manuscript page from Bodleian MS Eng.poet.f. 10

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

An extra John Heywood poem- or a misattributed nineteenth-century forgery? @caitlinburge.bsky.social looks at a mysterious supposed variant of 'Give Place You Ladies' and John Payne Collier's forgeries in Folger Va339 and the imitation of Henrician poets stemma.universityofgalway.ie/give-place-y...

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

This all could have been avoided if the Exchequer had switched to paper sooner, May argues 😔

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

This was not even the most exciting seagull behaviour @erinannmcc.bsky.social and @meghankern.bsky.social witnessed while buying last-minute ink-making supplies today

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

What's your reading style? Over stimulated spaniel. 🐕 Robert Burton Anatomy of Melancholy

Photo of text
TEXT
This rouing humour... I haue euer had, and like a ranging Spaniel that barked at euery bird he sees, leauing his game, I haue followed all sauing that which I should, and iustly complaine, and truly... that I haue read many books but to little purpose, for want of good method, I haue confusedly tumbled outer many Authors in our Libraries, with small profit, for want of art, order, memory, iudgement

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Does MS actually stand for Mouse Snack? 🤔🐭 Summary Catalogue, Vol.III, p.321

Photo of an excerpt from the summary catalogue
TEXT
Many of the poems are mutilated by mice having gnawed the outer lower margin

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

They just don't write love poetry like they used to 🪰❤️ (Thomas Carew, 'When this flie lived', in Rosenbach MS 239/27)

'Of a fly flying into his mistress's eye'

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

May the force be with you too, Thomas Beaumont! Happy Star Wars day, as brought to you by 17th century manuscripts 🪐🚀👽

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

In proving there's a poem (1475-1700) for everything, see: 'Reader I must present you with a shrimp fish' of which there are only two copies (?!) (One with the last two lines scribbled out (?!)) [Folger MS V.a. 345; p. v] #folgerfinds

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

In code? Is it just how words start to look at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon? [Data from Bodleian MS Add. B. 106, f. 28v]

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

I *could* go home for the evening, but it's much more fun to stay in my office and confirm that there is, in fact, a digitised image of this gem. (Houghton MS Eng 686, ff. 33v–34r)

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Just got new team photos for a forthcoming website update. Here's a sneak peek! 🤩

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Closely followed by 'Even as the waves of brainless buttered fish'

Screenshot of STEMMA database

TEXT
Work: 7020: Even as the waves of brainless buttered fish
Manuscript: MS Add. 7196
Page or folio: f.[25v rev]
Author John Hoskins

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Contender for the best first line in early modern poetry?? 'Silly buzzing wanton elf'

Screenshot of STEMMA database

TEXT
Manuscript Item Details: Vpon a gnatt burnt in a candle
ID: 20836
Has merge history: X
New item: -
Data source: celm
Work: 4784: Silly buzzing wanton elf
Manuscript: MS Add. 8684
Page or folio: f.11r-v
Author: Richard Crashaw

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

When you leave someone on read too long: 'an elegy to the countess of Londonderry supposing her dead by her long silence' 🥶💀

Screen shot of STEMMA database entry

TEXT

Title 'An elegy of the countess of Londonderry supposing her to be dead by her long silence'

Heading: Lady Anne Southwell 'An elegy of the countess of Londonderry supposing her to be dead by her long silence'

First line: Since thou fair soul art warbling to a sphere

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Our postdoc researcher @caitlinburge.bsky.social is off on a manuscript adventure this week - and where better to do history than in historical locations! #earlymodern @rosenbachmuseum.bsky.social

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

The @uniofgalway.bsky.social 's Digital Humanities Reseach Centre launches this afternoon! Come along and have a cup of tea with the STEMMA team (and some of our #dh friends).

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

An fun Friday observation from one of our Researchers – this wonderful little CELM entry describes John Evelyn’s “Note of the Books, Prints, Letters, Mapps, [etc.,]” that he lent Samuel Pepys with the important note “to be all returned me againe.” Every book owner has that one friend! 😂

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Some of our participants from the hackathon last month sat down to chat with our friends at @portershed.bsky.social about the project and their work during the hack - keep your eyes peeled for the footage! But how better to start than to learn more about STEMMA from @erinannmcc.bsky.social herself?

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Team 8 is isolating the circulation and arrangement of John Donne’s Satires as a trial run for analysing clusters of poetry in the dataset! #ERCFunded #STEMMAhackathon

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Team 6 is employing vector embeddings to perform sentiment analysis on manuscript collections! #ERCFunded #STEMMAhackathon

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Team 5 is using the poems of Philip Sidney as a case study of poem popularity over time! #ERCfunded #STEMMAhackathon

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Team 4 is taking a deep dive on post-1700 content to see whose work gets perpetuated into the century beyond our data set! #ERCfunded #STEMMAhackathon

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Team 3 is working on a method to identify poems and poem groups shared between manuscripts to aid in finding patterns and clusters of poems! #ERCfunded #STEMMAhackathon

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Team 2 is generating poem stability scores to analyse degrees of variation in the first lines of poems in the STEMMA database! #ERCfunded #STEMMAhackathon

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Here’s a brief showcase of some of the great work going on at the hackathon this week! Team 1 is measuring popularity by calculating the copies of a poem over time alongside its number of unique manuscript locations to find the manuscripts that contain the most popular poems in our data! #ERCfunded

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STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse @stemma.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Delighted to be joined remotely by Prof. Jing Chen from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to talk to us about her fabulous project building a database of classical Chinese poetry to study circulation - STEMMA can relate! #STEMMAhackathon #DH

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