Hello, clever music historians Can I legitimately call this a guitar, or is there a more proper name for this 18th-century instrument? Portrait is French, d. 1785 (I know nothing about guitars)

Don't mean to brag but I've just submitted the manuscript for my new book on MARIE ANTOINETTE'S LADIES ... three years late*, but still, here I am applauding myself *blame the children

Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) Applauds

ALT: Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) Applauds

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Don't mean to brag but I've just submitted the manuscript for my new book on MARIE ANTOINETTE'S LADIES ... three years late*, but still, here I am applauding myself *blame the children

Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) Applauds

ALT: Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) Applauds

static.klipy.com

Currently reading the diary of a French 11 year old in 1793 & loving it Summary: Hate having my portrait done, so boring Went to the palace and saw a really mangy rabbit, YUCK My tutor tells me I've got to stop picking my nose Also Marat has been murdered

This week I have had three door knocks and six leaflets from Reform … I’ve just seen five of them stalking my street like a pack of velociraptors Actually feels like harassment at this point As we may have said back in 2004… HALP

Chris Pratt Training Raptors in Jurassic World

ALT: Chris Pratt Training Raptors in Jurassic World

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Writing history can be a real slog: weeks of wading through historical trauma, striving to do justice to wildly complex people, or a complete lack of sources But, sometimes, you are able to subject the Bad Guy to a painful operation on his testicles, & all seems right with the world again

I don't know much about Joachim Murat, but something tells me he was eager to be appreciated for the curve of his buttock

Yea you see, the problem here is that what historians actually do is construct the ‘well structured large historical dataset’.What you’re saying is that Claude can write an elementary school level paper on like the civil war

Jim Clifford@jimclifford.bsky.social · 4w ago

Are we ready for machine written history? When given access to a well structured large historical dataset, Claude’s Fable 5 can identify a topic, complete the research and write a strong and original draft research paper. This has the potential to break peer review, graduate school, & job searches.

I don't know much about Joachim Murat, but something tells me he was eager to be appreciated for the curve of his buttock

Experiment: if I were simply to say “greasy dweeb”, which historical figure would you think I was talking about?

I am being AGGRESSIVELY courted by Robert Jenrick right now & it is making me want to vomit

"The battle is lost! Give me an account of our dead and wounded.... but for god's sake make it look PRETTY" - the king of France, probably

"The battle is lost! Give me an account of our dead and wounded.... but for god's sake make it look PRETTY" - the king of France, probably

May possibly have lost my mind writing the last chapter of this book, because I just started writing reflections on living through the Bourbon Restoration from the perspective of a cow make sure to get your pre-orders in folks, it's sure to be an absolute banger

Meme Cow with Wavy Hair

ALT: Meme Cow with Wavy Hair

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Written in March 1794, because he was in hiding from the Terror and correctly guessed that he would not live to see his daughter grow up.

Eric Brandom@ebrandom.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Condorcet's advice to his daughter: When you're young, get good enough at something kind of useful and interesting that you're not miserable for the rest of your life.

Pleased to announce that my first book review is IN 🤩 4-yo daughter: “How’s it going, mummy?? Me: “It’s going well I’m just writing my book about some ladies, & Marie Antoinette” Daughter: “Oh dear... that sounds really boring for you to do today”

Here's Your Fucking Cake, Marie Antoinette - Pie in Face

ALT: Here's Your Fucking Cake, Marie Antoinette - Pie in Face

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Please share! A rare PhD studentship @kingshistory.bsky.social *fully* funded by @slaveryinwar.bsky.social to work with myself and Maeve Ryan, supported by a broader community of experts in Caribbean history, transatlantic slavery, and the history of war. www.kcl.ac.uk/study/fundin... 🗃️

AHRC Studentship: Slavery and the Seven Years’ War within and across the Caribbean Archipelago | King's College London

The Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War (CRSW) is pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded AHRC doctoral studentship, to be jointly supervised across History and War Studies

kcl.ac.uk

Currently reading the diary of a French 11 year old in 1793 & loving it Summary: Hate having my portrait done, so boring Went to the palace and saw a really mangy rabbit, YUCK My tutor tells me I've got to stop picking my nose Also Marat has been murdered

Cannot express how difficult it is to write a thoughtful and compelling account of 8–9 Thermidor with the Clangers theme tune playing relentlessly in the background The fall of Robespierre will now forever be synonymous in my mind with the call of the Iron Chicken

Clangers Waving Goodbye

ALT: Clangers Waving Goodbye

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we have some fun 4 July news over at The National Archives! a new copy of the US Declaration of Independence, with an amazing story behind it (privateers! printers! prisoners!) - but also, a find that shows the power and importance of our volunteering and cataloguing projects.

‘Vanishingly rare’ copy of US Declaration of Independence found by volunteer in UK archives

One of 11 surviving copies of ‘Exeter printing’ and only one known outside US was taken from American privateer ship

theguardian.com

Just wow. I Googled to see if 18th century artist Henry Fuseli had ever painted Orpheus and Eurydice, and AI overview said: "It appears you may be blending the tragic Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with the distinct, spiraling noodle known as fusilli"

I said this after the Byrons book but... for god's sake no one ever let me write a group biography ever again WHY WOULD I DO THIS TO MYSELF

Alexis Rose: I Miss My Life And I Miss Doing Things

ALT: Alexis Rose: I Miss My Life And I Miss Doing Things

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A BEAUTY of a book, exploring the life & work of 18thC artist Anne Vallayer-Coster 🎨🐚🌹 Delighted to receive this as Anne creeps into my own book stashing dangerous documents for Marie Antoinette, & painting her 'Lionness' lady-in-waiting Congrats & ty @lhartbooks.bsky.social 📚

A BEAUTY of a book, exploring the life & work of 18thC artist Anne Vallayer-Coster 🎨🐚🌹 Delighted to receive this as Anne creeps into my own book stashing dangerous documents for Marie Antoinette, & painting her 'Lionness' lady-in-waiting Congrats & ty @lhartbooks.bsky.social 📚

Right then 18th-century French fans – another mystery word for you! Context: it's 1790 and an elderly countess is advising her daughter on how to cope with living in Paris Any ideas please let me know 🇫🇷

Book Festival klaxon – yes I’m talking about those pesky Byrons again! People of Notts, I’m at Retford Book Festival this week to chat about the county’s own Wicked Lord: William, 5th Baron Byron Featuring lots of stuff that didn’t make it into the book 🤓 Tix wegottickets.com/retfordbookf...

Book Festival klaxon – yes I’m talking about those pesky Byrons again! People of Notts, I’m at Retford Book Festival this week to chat about the county’s own Wicked Lord: William, 5th Baron Byron Featuring lots of stuff that didn’t make it into the book 🤓 Tix wegottickets.com/retfordbookf...

Anyone with a keener eye than me able to decipher the underlined words here? I have suspicions but the second one I cannot fathom 🫣

Heading into London for a fun history party for the first time in literal YEARS So glad it’s not going to be face-meltingly hot— oh no wait

Elmo Reacts to the Hot Summer Sun

ALT: Elmo Reacts to the Hot Summer Sun

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We're especially worried about climate change in archives because there's going to reach a point where it's too hot for corduroy. A lot of archivists will have to fundamentally change their fashion choices. The rest of us will die with our honour.