4 Aug 1396: William Courtenay Archbishop of #Canterbury is interred in his cathedral #otd in a ceremony attended by Richard II & many courtiers (photo (c) Canterbury Historical & Archaeological Society (CHAS))
Dr Mark Purcell
@camlibresearch.bsky.social
Director, Research and Collections, Cambridge University Libraries and Archives and CUL Research Institute; Bye-Fellow, Pembroke College, Cambridge; FSA FRHistS; University Deputy Proctor; The Country House Library (Yale, 2017); private views
This would be rare here - a sign of the depth of the drought. Rabbits normally have no need to drink water - they are surrounded by pastures & hedgerows filled with green grass & juicy vegetation. Now the fields are scorched brown and dry - birds & animals & insects face dehydration. #Droughts
Yesterday revisited the wonderful Kedermister Library, founded in the 1630s by Sir John Kedermister (seen here in his memorial) in St Mary’s, Langley Marish (Berkshire). Last time I was there must have been 15 years ago with @katiedflanagan.bsky.social! Also rang on their lovely bells 🔔
Eve being tempted; Elizabeth of York as the Queen of Sheba 😳 All the glass dates from 1500-1515 and was manufactured by Henry VI's top glazier, I'm told. The church itself is a classic late medieval (c1490) Cotswold rebuild funded by 🐑 ££
Medieval bat in stained glass at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge
One last chance to visit! Museum Plantin-Moretus closes temporarily from Monday, 3 August while we prepare a renewed permanent exhibition. Reopening on 5 December 2026. We hope to see you then! ✨ #earlymodern #rarebooks #bookhistory 📜💙📚
Wouldn't want too much time to go by without reminding the public at large that my book Contesting Earth's History in Transatlantic Literary Culture, 1860-1935 would probably look very nice in your local library, so you could ask them to buy it and test this hypothesis.
A 'Red Admirable', which we now call a Red Admiral! From Drawings of English Butterflies by Sir Thomas Gage (1781–1820) Vol. I, 1799 (Hengrave 61).
Summer nights at Vauxhall Gardens: the scene of many a debauched Regency romance! Which brings us neatly to this month's Really Popular Book Club choice: Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer. 📅28 July ⏰7-8pm 📍Online 🎟️ https://loom.ly/v5CD4a0 🎨The Microcosm of London, 1808 (Harley-Mason.a.3-5)
Hard to beat a day spent unfurling long-furled geological wall charts held in the @theul.bsky.social, from painted Humboldtian vistas to a full set of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins's diagrams of extinct animals. A treasure trove.
The women’s suffrage movement certainly understood the power of the print. We have a remarkable collection of their posters in our collections. 🎬 Watch the video here & read the full story: loom.ly/kKvTELg We’ll be sharing more content from this collection later this week!
Today at Morača, founded in 1252. Montenegro, and spectacular.
Are you an early career researcher in the humanities and social sciences? Join the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the British Academy Knowledge Frontiers Symposium to network with fellow researchers in an in-person symposium in Bonn, Germany. Apply now: https://bit.ly/4yL3Stm
'History and Archives in Practice' 2027: call for participation now open for our annual gathering of historians and archivists, co-hosted with @ihr.bsky.social and TNA. HAP27's theme is connecting past and future with sessions on advocacy, value and applied history bit.ly/3RGHbWy #Skystorians
'History and Archives in Practice' (HAP), 2027. Call for participation now open - RHS
History and Archives in Practice (HAP) is an annual partnership event, co-hosted by the Royal Historical Society, The National Archives, and the Institute of Historical Research. Now in its fifth year...
bit.ly
As I'm currently in Stiklestad for a work trip, I got to see this wonderful twelfth-century door knocker from Stiklestad Church. It might have served as a sanctuary ring, & is an extremely rare survival of Norwegian medieval metalwork.
A superb - scholarly and evocative - account of the architectural history of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, now up, masterminded by Timothy Brittain-Catlin. www.cai.cam.ac.uk/discover/bui...
Buildings – an introduction
Gonville & Caius has a remarkable architectural heritage spanning nearly seven centuries, including designs by no fewer than seven winners of the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architect...
cai.cam.ac.uk
An Iron Age comb from Orkney. Made from deer antler, the comb is part of the collections at Orkney Museum in Kirkwall. 📸 My own. #Prehistory #Orkney #Archaeology
Luke the Evangelist and his symbol St. Gallen, Stiftsarchiv (Pfäfers Abbey), Cod. Fab. 2; Liber aureus (Evangeliary); 1080-1090, with later additions; Southwestern Germany; f.8v (www.e-codices.ch/en/list/one/...)
Received in audience by the Rector. Don’t tell the Ragusans but it’s a bit Toytown Venice. I think me may be bored as he’s locked in the Palace for the duration of his month in office.
Looking out for Uskok raiders from the walls of Ragusa. All quiet so far.
A demanding afternoon, but someone has to do it …
