Ian Gadd
@iangadd.bsky.social
Bibliographer; book historian. Opinions are my own. (Header image is cartoon by Stephen Collins: http://www.stephencollinsillustration.com/)
This is the last week to register for the SHARPIES, an online book history festival, taking place next week from Tuesday through Thursday! Registration is free for SHARP members, and membership is $55-$100. Please consider joining us (we're a very welcoming community!) events.zoom.us/ev/Ap9iEZwmC...
Our Finding Aid of 18th-century women in the Stationers' Company is LIVE! Here I reflect on some of the pitfalls facing the scholar of female apprentices. Let me know if it's useful! www.amdigital.co.uk/insights/blo...
I’ve been using our BookBeetle press for the first time at our Open Days for visitors to ink and print a keepsake. Here it is set up in March, and here’s the latest version for June (test print on newspaper).
Our online book history festival is all about connecting with bookish compatriots! Join us for three, action-packed social events: a bookish craft session, a book recommendation hour, and an early-career mentorship session (spots limited, pre-registration required!) events.zoom.us/ev/Ap9iEZwmC...
400 years ago today, Richard Peeke (Dick of Devonshire) landed in Fowey, Cornwall, to a hero's welcome, upon his release from a Spanish prison. (It also might be that other guy's birthday.)
The Bibliographical Society of America is participating in a social media campaign with ACLS this week, and we invite you to join in! The message is simple and proactive: we need more humanities and social sciences scholars and research. #TalkAboutHumanities
At under $20, the NEW Broadview Edition of Defoe's vivid, first-person pandemic novel is now out for adoption in your 18th century British Literature courses. 📕Journal of the Plague Year, edited by Celia Barnes & Jack Lynch buff.ly/3YC7tXj
Journal of the Plague Year - Broadview Press
Journal of the Plague Year -
buff.ly
Hi #EarlyModern Bluesky - did you know that someone brilliant has built working printing presses using Lego and they are trying to get enough supporters so that Lego will release it as a kit? They look so cool! beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...
Two Working LEGO Printing Presses | LEGO® Ideas
The development of mechanical printing changed how ideas move through the world. Once text and images could be printed rather than copied by hand, knowledge was…
beta.ideas.lego.com
👀 Over the last few months, I’ve been working with the terrific triumvirate @spparkle.bsky.social, @emiliekmmurphy.bsky.social & Hannah Yip to set up “Sonance: A Journal of Early Modern Sound Studies”, a diamond open access journal dedicated to historic sounds in all their wondrous & eclectic forms.
The digitisation of the Baskerville punches is a really great resource. John Dreyfus’s account of their history is well worth a read too! They travelled all over France before ending up back in England. #typography #bookhistory cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...
🔎 Rare 18th-century punches used to create the original Baskerville typeface have been digitised and released online. Designers, historians and the wider public now have the opportunity to study the physical tools that shaped modern typography. 🔗https://loom.ly/1ulLaFI
Apply to be the 2026-7 Munby Fellow in bibliography and history of the book @theul.bsky.social www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPZ688/m...
Munby Fellowship in Bibliography 2026 - 2027 at University of Cambridge
Searching for an academic job? Explore this Munby Fellowship in Bibliography 2026 - 2027 opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.
jobs.ac.uk
“ Det doftar halm i luften och julkänslan gör entré. Movember ut, bockember in! ✨🐐 You can smell the straw in the air and the christmas spirit makes its entrance. Movember out, bockember in! ✨🐐” #gavlebocken #gavle
‘Centuries of printing preceded Gutenberg. As White is careful to describe, Gutenberg was born nine hundred years after printed texts were first produced in China by rubbing paper onto inked, carved woodblocks.’ Adam Smyth (@adamwithbooks.bsky.social): www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Adam Smyth · Slice It Up: Gutenberg’s Great Invention
Gutenberg remains unknowable: an implied but not a felt presence. This is true for all but a small number of 15th-...
lrb.co.uk
New, and very interesting, #OpenAccess article on Early English Books Online: Opening the black box of EEBO academic.oup.com/dsh/advance-... #History 🗃️
Opening the black box of EEBO
Abstract. Digital archives that cover extended historical periods can create a misleading impression of comprehensiveness while in truth providing access t
academic.oup.com
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
cityam.com
‘In focusing on the connection between print and preservation, we miss the culture of ephemeral texts that Gutenberg’s innovation unleashed.’ Adam Smyth on Gutenberg’s books www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Adam Smyth · Slice It Up: Gutenberg’s Great Invention
Gutenberg remains unknowable: an implied but not a felt presence. This is true for all but a small number of 15th-...
lrb.co.uk
Hey hey, it’s now official on Concordia UP’s website, 20% discount code KENNEDY2026 at CUP (CAN) or Chicago (USD, link in next post) for Illuminating Media: Transmitting the Renaissance in England, 1400-1550! concordia.ca/press/illumi...
🎄✨ BRLSI Christmas Market 2025! ✨🎄 📍16–18 Queen Sq, Bath 🗓️ 27 Nov–14 Dec / 🕒 Mon–Wed 10–4 / Thu–Sun 10–6 Discover unique gifts from rotating local makers in BRLSI’s beautiful Georgian building 🎁 Plus, craft your own Christmas bauble with @lovemakerscafe! 💫 👉 brlsi.org/xmas/
Delighted to help make this happen! I studied Jann Haworth and Peter Blake’s Looking Glass School when I was an art student. Jann and I shared a friendship with Sir Ken Robinson and later we ended up working together on various experimental arts education projects. www.brlsi.org/whatson/jann...
Jann Haworth- My life with Sergeant Pepper!
Renowned pop artist Jann Haworth reflects on her extraordinary life & co-designing the "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" cover with Peter Blake!
brlsi.org
Interested in #books and the history of #printing? Looking for something great to do this week? Explore historical objects –including the oldest letterpress book in #BRLSI collections in an #exhibition curated by #students from #BathSpaUni #MakingYourMark. #Bath #Somerset
🎨👕BRLSI’s Academy of Imagination Becky is thrilled to share the two winning designs of our T-shirt design competition. A huge thank you to all participants! Keep an eye on the Academy of Imagination page for upcoming events! www.brlsi.org/aoi/
AnaÏs Nin ran a treadle-press in the 40s and there's this wonderful quotation of hers I printed recently.
🐴 Black Beauty in Bath 📖 Discover how Anna Sewell’s life in Bath inspired Black Beauty. Join Dr Celia Brayfield to explore the story behind the beloved novel. 🗓 5 Nov 🕢 7:30–9pm📍 BRLSI & Zoom 💷 £3–£6 👉 brlsi.org/whatson/bl...
Our latest Viewpoint article is out: 'Guilds and Companies in London, 1200–1700: Contexts and Comparisons' by @mpdavies.bsky.social. A 🧵 on the insights provided by this article into the history and historiography of these key metropolitan institutions in the medieval and early modern periods.
Guilds and Companies in London, 1200–1700: Contexts and Comparisons
Published in The London Journal: A Review of Metropolitan Society Past and Present (Ahead of Print, 2025)
tandfonline.com
📜Bath History Festival 2025 comes to BRLSI on Sat 1 Nov! A full day of talks uncovering Bath’s past, from Richard III to the secrets beneath Bath Abbey. ☕Tickets include lunch, tea & coffee. www.brlsi.org/bathhi... #BathHistoryFestival #BathHistory #HistoryTalks
👀 @tracelarkhall.bsky.social @shgregg.bsky.social @bathspauni.bsky.social
Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution@brlsi.bsky.social · 10mo agoAhead of her BRLSI talk on 3 Nov 2025, we asked Professor Tracey Hill 5 questions about Renaissance London. Find out which historical Londoner she would choose to go for a walk with! www.brlsi.org/celebr... 💭 Who would you take a walk with through Renaissance London? #BRLSI #Renaissance
