Victorian passports were so much cuter than ours, and looked very much like pocket books! This one belonged to Dr Bruce Bremner, a Scottish physician based in India, who travelled with his wife to Bombay (present-day Mumbai) in 1853.

Absolutely delighted to let you know that the Punch's Pocket Book Archive project has just been selected for a substantial grant from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (2026-2030). We would like to thank all members of the project, past and present, for their contribution to the venture.

ANR - Agence nationale de la recherche@agencerecherche.bsky.social · last wk.

📢 Appel à projets générique #AAPG 2026 : l’ANR publie la liste des projets sélectionnés pour financement (JCJC, PRME, PRC et PRCE) dans le cadre de l’ensemble des comités d’évaluation scientifique. ➡ anr.fr/fr/detail/ca...

Apply for our PhD placement scheme to get involved in extraordinary research at the Library. There are eight available placements exploring a variety of themes including war poetry, 21st-century digital tools, illustrated newspapers and decarbonisation. Find out more: link.bl.uk/PhDPlacements

An automaton fuelled by tomes of newly available knowledge sweeps away the old society. No, not a self-portrait by ChatGPT in the style of a Georgian satirical print, but one of several “March of Intellect” cartoons published ca. 1828: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/march-of-the-intellect

In VPR 58.2, Sofie Vandepitte dives into Punch’s satire of British #seaside #tourism for the elite and lower classes. Discover how #Punch represented Welsh resorts as loci of both decadence and primitiveness: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl... @rs4vp.org

Working on Victorian graphic art often brings wonderful surprises like this sketch of Alice and the dodo in one of Tenniel's sketchbooks, ca. 1865. From the Harry Elkins Widener collection at the Houghton Library, @harvard.edu

Pleased as Punch to see that our retrospective of the "Pictorial Punch - Treasures from the Archives" study day we held at the @britishlibrary.bsky.social last month is now online on @rs4vp.org's website! Wonderful speakers, keynotes and audience. Thank you all!

Research Society for Victorian Periodicals@rs4vp.org · 8mo ago

Happy Friday! Some light reading to enliven your weekend: a retrospective on the "Pictorial Punch: Treasures from the Archive" study day by our friends @punchspocketbook.bsky.social in November. Several candid photos from the day included! Thanks for #SharingYourNews! rs4vp.org/pictorial-pu...

Just a cat playing with a yarn ball, in a pocket book. From John Leech's frontispiece to Punch's Pocket Book for 1852.

"Mr Ritchee's dinner - Where I almost took too much wine. Very good." W. M. Thackeray, almost drunk. Punch's Pocket Book for 1856, at the NYC Public Library.

Dickens's chair and desk, here at the New York Public Library.

Punch's Pocket Book entry of the day: "Music at home. Used 12 sherry, 2 mead, 2 claret, 3 port, 9 champagne." Pity I could not attend that performance.

Punch's Pocket Book entry of the day: 'Nothing particular - Oyster dinner.' That may well be the title of my next paper. Fantastic day at the Robert D. Farber Archives and Special Collections, Brandeis University.

The great news of the day is that the New York Public Library holds W. M. Thackeray's very own Punch's Pocket Book for 1856, with ms. annotations about 'the fat of the land, claret in plenty & smoking too much.' What's not to like? Made an appointment to consult the resource next week.

Want to have your eyesight tested gratis? Read Punch's Pocket Book for 1856! 🔍 👓

Punch's Pocket Book Archive project as seen through Voyant Tools.

Many thanks to our wonderful speakers and audience, last Friday at the British Library, for our "Pictorial Punch - Treasures from the Archive" event. Punch's Pocket Book Archive is now entering its second phase: keep in touch!

What a surprise to find a collection of Punches, today, on the shelves of the beautiful Kenwood House!

One of the treasures of the museum's storage room was a box full of Linley Sambourne's own Punch's Pocket Books, several of which are annotated.

Françoise Baillet@fbaillet.bsky.social · 10mo ago

...has been treated to a wonderful private view of Sambourne House/Leighton House collections and archives: drawers full of uncatalogued letters, pull-out sliding racks replete with sketches, pictures, and diaries, stimulating conversations with experts. I feel so lucky.

Sounds really fascinating!

Institute of English Studies@ies-sas.bsky.social · 11mo ago

'A celebration of the verdant decorative frames which twist and turn through time, illuminating art of both the past and present' Read more about 'The Nature of Gothic' exhibition (co-curated by Cynthia Johnston) in this piece in The Conversation: theconversation.com/new-exhibiti...

What's not to like about this amazing opportunity for a dedicated periodicals studies scholar! Apps due by Oct 15.

Research Society for Victorian Periodicals@rs4vp.org · 11mo ago

💼 We're hiring! RSVP seeks a new Editor or pair of Co-Editors to lead the Curran Index into its next phase. Many many thanks to our outgoing Editors, @emilyjlm.bsky.social+Lars Atkin for their dedication to this ongoing DH project. Applications due 15 October! rs4vp.org/curran-edito...

✨ It's official! We're now accepting proposals for #RSVP2026, "Movements and Migrations"! We invite scholars to examine the relationship between periodicals, migrations, and movements for our 2026 conference in Dublin. Full CFP and more details on our main website.

RSVP Annual Conference – RSVP

The nineteenth century was marked by unprecedented migration, as people moved to urban centers; were forcibly or semi-forcibly relocated; and emigrated to escape war, famine, economic instability, or…

buff.ly

Looking forward to this online event in September, thanks to @feministcity.bsky.social, @wcmlibrary.bsky.social among others. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/archiving-...

Lewis Carroll's original sepia ink illustrations for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/carroll-illustrations-for-alice-undergound @britishlibrary

Only a few days left to register for our "Pictorial Punch - Treasures from the Archive" study day, to be held at the #BritishLibrary on November 7. Information and registration here: pictorial-punch.sciencesconf.org/registration

Punch's Pocket Book Archive@punchspocketbook.bsky.social · last yr.

Pleased to announce that registration for the "Pictorial Punch - Treasures from the Archive" study day at the British Library (Nov. 7, 2025) is now open. Information can be found on the event website, including a link to the registration page. Please note that the registration deadline is 31 August

Pleased to announce that registration for the "Pictorial Punch - Treasures from the Archive" study day at the British Library (Nov. 7, 2025) is now open. Information can be found on the event website, including a link to the registration page. Please note that the registration deadline is 31 August

Thx to our amazing intern Ellie Croot for her post on the @punchspocketbook.bsky.social blog re LNCN's latest research event. Ellie soon starts a new research internship at the University of Oxford on 'Slave Trade and Plantation Management: The Barham Papers (1792-1820)'. 👏 ppbka.hypotheses.org/1711

Transnational Popular Print in the Long Nineteenth Century: Reading Across Borders, Genres and Histories

On Wednesday April 2nd, Manchester Metropolitan University hosted the engaging hybrid research seminar “Transnational Popular Print in the Long Nineteenth Century.” Drawing together scholars from across the university and beyond, the event explored the international networks, subversive aesthetics and marginalised voices...

ppbka.hypotheses.org

CFP: Essays in Honor of Brian Maidment (Proposals due May 15; Essays due Nov. 1). Guest editors Mary Elizabeth Leighton and Lisa Surridge invite proposals for a special issue of VPR. For full details, visit rs4vp.org/cfp-vpr-spec... @rs4vp.bsky.social

CFP: Special VPR Issue (Winter 2026) – RSVP

Call for proposals for a special issue of VPR honoring the late Brian Maidment! Proposals due May 15, 2025 and will be published Winter 2026.

rs4vp.org

Punch's Pocket Book Archive team is thrilled to announce that we have received a grant from the @paulmelloncentr.bsky.social for the organisation of our 'Pictorial Punch – Treasures from the Archive' study day at the britishlibrary.bsky.social CFP available here: eribia.unicaen.fr/evenement/pi...

The Punch's Pocket Archive team is organising a study day at the @britishlibrary.bsky.social on November 7, 2025, and we would be delighted to receive a paper proposal from you! “Pictorial Punch – Treasures from the Archive” The call is available here: eribia.unicaen.fr/evenement/pi...

Pleased as Punch to discover these wonderful (but hitherto unlisted) collections in @universite-caen.bsky.social's Victorian collections!

Françoise Baillet@fbaillet.bsky.social · last yr.

What a lovely surprise, today, to learn that @universite-caen.bsky.social holds complete runs of The Yellow Book and The Savoy! The collections will now be given pride of place among our Victorian holdings. #TheYellowBook #TheSavoy