Sunset in the Umbrian Apennines.

How your email finds me.

Time for one of my paleographical pleas. "...that they are as much due to the corruption of the neighbouring states and their inhabitants as to military skill and valour (altho’ military skill & power was not to ??? of France[)] and that they have already cost France 62 Milliards tournois..." 🙏 #C18

"Detectorists reveals that lives once lived are only lives long forgotten if we do not make space or time for unearthing, for piecing together the small scraps and crafting rich narratives from the not-too-distant past and the not-so-distant present."

Looking forward to reading @andreawulf.bsky.social's biography of Georg Forster, an early Germanophone reader/reviewer of William Macintosh's "Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa" (1782). Forster valued the book for what it had to say about India, but thought it wasn't up to snuff as a travelogue!

New blog post: "21 years to go..." inneskeighren.com/williammacin...

Absolute unit. (N.B.: permission granted for photography)

Very, very happy that our paper is finally out! We look at how tight a fit primates experience at birth, and found really cool results. It has been a long journey from collecting the first data seven years ago! A brief thread (1/8) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Comparative primate analysis shows that humans are not unique in having a tight cephalopelvic fit at birth - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Analysing cephalopelvic proportions among 29 extant primate species, the authors show that a tight cephalopelvic fit is not unique to humans, with comparable or tighter fits occurring in several non-h...

nature.com

On a new study by my better half, @liabetti.bsky.social, and colleagues:

The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · last mo.

Difficult childbirth isn’t unique to humans—but how our species deals with it reveals something distinct about humanity, @katherinejwu.com reports:

A final treat from the archive: a sketch by James Talbot of a scene from Charles-Pierre Ducancel’s play "L’Intérieur des comités révolutionnaires," which Talbot went to see with James Harris, Lord Malmesbury, in Paris in 1796. Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts, MS. Talbot c. 12, f. 32r. #C18

I like the traces of earlier researchers that you sometimes find tucked in archive files. Here is Elizabeth Sparrow (1928–2016) consulting MS. Talbot b. 27 and 28 in 1979, presumably as part of the research that led to her book "Secret Service: British Agents in France, 1792–1815" (1999). #C18

I forgot to mark my Thaw Point™ earlier this week, but, appropriately, I have reached my melting point in Oxford today.

Innes M. Keighren@inneskeighren.bsky.social · last yr.

I now mark my birthdays using my patented "Thaw Point". Today, I am the age John Thaw was when "Ghost in the Machine" (S3 E1) was broadcast. Morse: That, Lewis, was Maria Callas. Lewis: Was it from "Cats"? Morse: No, it most certainly was not.

Really interesting to hear these reflections on how non-historians approach the task of writing history. The vast labour involved in familiarising oneself with the historiography of a topic or period in order to contribute to it is a great reminder that we are all (always) students.

Drafting the Past@draftingthepast.bsky.social · 2mo ago

It's @unlawfulentries.bsky.social day on Drafting the Past! Want to know how Anna, a political scientist, learned to think like a historian for her new book? Listen to our conversation: draftingthepast.com/podcast-epis... We also talked about 2nd book challenges, sexy writing tools, and more! 🗃️

Struggling to read William Wickham's handwriting, I feel very seen by Lord Grenville: "your handwriting...is much too small and crowded for an official correspondence, and it is the more desirable that you should endeavour to correct this as it makes the perusal of your letters laborious." Agreed!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading “A Passage to Europe: The Extraordinary Travels of an Indian Prince in the Age of Revolutions,” by Rahul Markovits. Beautifully written, with some fascinating reflections on identity, credibility, translation, hospitality, rumour, go-betweens, and cultural encounters. #C18

Really interesting (and largely sunny) day in Glasgow for "Scotland, Britain and the Counter-Revolution: Colonial and Transnational Perspectives, c. 1789–c. 1815." I learned a huge amount. Vive la (contre)révolution! #C18

No heatwave in Orkney today, but there are some compensations.

New blog post: "The short, forgotten life of Joseph-Louis de Gonzague-Agricol-Dominique Teixeira" inneskeighren.com/williammacin...

Periodic palaeographical plea: what is this name? Fallet, Sallet, Jallet, or something else entirely? Context: Avignon, 1788. Merci! #C18

Dog of the day—Mug, ugly and remarkably fat—from The Morning Herald, 2 June 1786. #C18

Precision in place names: the problem of orthography at the Royal Geographical Society - an online exhibition by PhD student Beth Williamson. www.rgs.org/our-collecti... #RHULGeogResearch #RHULGeogPhD #RoyalHolloway #RoyalGeographicalSociety #LinguisticDiversity #Maps 1/2

New blog post: "The mysterious de Leahy and Lee" inneskeighren.com/williammacin... #C18

Periodic palaeographical plea: any thoughts on the obscured surname, a maîtresse at the Couvent de Berlaymont in Brussels in 1783. Could it be Choisy? Chossy? Or something else entirely? Merci beaucoup! #C18

For those who were kind enough to repost or make suggestions, I think it's likely that this was not, in fact, a beguinage, but was rather the priory of Klein Bijgaarden: inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjec...

Priorij van Klein Bijgaarden

U-vormig, aan rand van park ingeplant kasteel in neoclassicistische stijl van 1868, apsisvorm van de oude kloosterkerk nog zichtbaar, voortuin met bijgebouwen van de straat gescheiden door bakstenen m...

inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be

Innes M. Keighren@inneskeighren.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Might any #C18 scholars familiar with Belgium be able to identify the beguinage mentioned in these 1783 documents? The beguinage was either in or close to Brussels. The only other clue I have is that the confessor is identified variously as "Herdies", "Herdy", and "Herdie". Thank you kindly!

Might any #C18 scholars familiar with Belgium be able to identify the beguinage mentioned in these 1783 documents? The beguinage was either in or close to Brussels. The only other clue I have is that the confessor is identified variously as "Herdies", "Herdy", and "Herdie". Thank you kindly!

New blog post: "The beginning of the end, and other wishful thoughts" inneskeighren.com/williammacin...

It's a good Friday on the Via Ferrata Carlo Giorda alla Sacra Di San Michele.

Periodic palaeographical plea: any thoughts on the underlined text in this c. 1784 notarial act? "L'an de l'??? est comparu..." Merci beaucoup! #C18

Grease is the word.

Have you ever wanted a hands-free ear trumpet that won't mess up your hair? Look no further than M. Bernard's latest innovation. #C18