Susan Reed
@susanreed.bsky.social
British Library German collections curator. Tiny translation sideline. Reader, bellringer, Wagner & Archers fan. Comprehensive educated & proud. Views my own.
I was ringing for a wedding today and the Vicar’s address included an extremely drawn-out analogy between marriage and Andrex toilet paper. They even unrolled a roll of it down the aisle. It was very much straying into (and possibly beyond) Alan Bennett comedy vicar territory.
Not sure why there’s a weird question mark after my forename, but I am apparently now certified as carbon literate, so thanks to @carbonliteracy.bsky.social for that.
Look at this little chap from BL Zweig MS 215. I’d never seen him before but he’s an utter joy.
Went to see a blue plaque unveiled today commemorating Stefan Zweig. A very good event followed by a reception at the Austrian Ambassador’s residence and a display of manuscripts from Zweig’s collection at the BL.
A banned writer. A rebel printer. A fake place of publication. Discover how Pietro Aretino's works continued to circulate despite censorship, and what one remarkable book reveals about queer literary history. Read more here: link.bl.uk/oge
Job alert! British Library seeks a Curator for their Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts DL 12 July tinyurl.com/25fs9kun #medievalMSS
The 8th German Studies Library Group/British Library Graham Nattrass Lecture will take place on 17 June at the BL. @herrehrig.bsky.social will be speaking on ‘Prefab Atmospheres: East German Modernist Mass Housing in Film‘. Details and how to book here: gslg.org.uk/2026/02/09/e...
Eighth Graham Nattrass Lecture—17 June 2026
Under the auspices of the German Studies Library Group and in association with the British Library, a lecture in memory of Graham Nattrass (1940-2012) will be delivered on Wednesday 17 June 20…
gslg.org.uk
Wait, Pip is older now than Ruth was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer? One of those #TheArchers moments that makes me feel very old.
Although the King had advocated talking to plants, Mabel took things one step further and sang to Alfred the Aspidistra #GirlsOwnCC
Girl’s Own advice@girlsown.bsky.social · 3mo agoEnjoy the Sunday caption contest, give away lots of ❤️s, repost to encourage more competitors, include #GirlsOwnCC
This was shown in a display of recent acquisitions by some of my colleagues today. I love the way that the cat and fiddle are shown life size so the cat looks as if it’s playing a double bass (to my shame didn’t note the bibliographical details so can only show the image)
![A page from an 18th-century book of nursery rhymes open at a page with the verse ‘High [sic] diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle’, with a woodcut illustration where the cat is shown with a violin as tall as itself.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:aq6ung6dvl3kwirrz5mp5mqe/bafkreiartm4msalh4g3fffcujxng7jvy6wxvrglwzejc3xastpca7rjoke)
Plan for the farm: Debbie comes back from Hungary and runs the place better than Adam, Kate, Alice or Ruari could ever do #TheArchers
Ooh, I like Chris’s social media presence, can I follow? #TheArchers
Bought this today and as a hill figure obsessive an really looking forward to reading it!
Listening to the Today programme and the pips seem to have disappeared. Is this some dire portent?
The Maidbot had malfunctioned. Its skirt had ridden up and it was having trouble remembering how its hands and breasts worked #GirlsOwnCC
Girl’s Own advice@girlsown.bsky.social · 5mo agoEnjoy the Sunday caption contest. Give away ❤️s, retweet to encourage more competitors, include #GirlsOwnCC
The German Studies Library Group is offering a bursary to fund an early career library professional/library para-professional/library assistant at the Group’s 40th anniversary conference based in Basel, Switzerland, from 15-19 September 2026. Details and how to apply here gslg.org.uk/2026/03/05/4...
40th Anniversary Conference 2026—Bursary for Early Career Library Professional
The GSLG is pleased to offer a bursary to fund an early career library professional / library para-professional / library assistant at the Group’s 40th anniversary conference in Switzerland, based …
gslg.org.uk
P.R. Harris's comprehensive history of the British Museum Library from 1753-1973 has been digitised and is now freely available online - all 883 pages of it! More info and link here: www.bl.uk/stories/blog...
'A History of the British Museum Library' now digitised
We have digitised an important work for the study of the history of librarianship.
bl.uk
Some 19th-century rainbow endpapers to brighten up a grey day (from 'Die Natur ihre Wunder und Geheimnisse, oder die Bridgewater-Bücher', Stuttgart, 1836-38).
I’m sure Tony’s birthday comes round more than once a year #TheArchers
Well, this is a bit of an anticlimax isn’t it? #TheArchers
I'm co-supervising a PhD placement on 'War Poetry in the Manuscript Collections: Cataloguing, Discovery and Outreach'. Please have a look at the project profiles and share this with any PhD students who may be interested in applying (by 27 February).
British Library@britishlibrary.bsky.social · 6mo agoApply 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
Lead Curator: Modern Archives & Manuscripts (1601 – 1800) at British Library
Lead Curator: Modern Archives & Manuscripts (1601 – 1800) at British Library
Discover Lead Curator: Modern Archives & Manuscripts (1601 – 1800) jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board.
jobs.ac.uk
Saw the name Pip here and thought for a moment it was a new storyline on #TheArchers that I'd missed.
Sarah Werner@wynkenhimself.bsky.social · 7mo ago“Wisdom revealed his hoarded heaps; and among the joyous, heartless, ever-juvenile eternities, Pip saw the multitudinous God-omnipresent, coral insects, that out of the firmament of waters heaved the colossal orbs.” Poor Pip, but what a vision of creation! 🐋
Suzy Corrigan explores the provenance of Oscar Wilde’s manuscripts in the Eccles Bequest and describes the outputs of a PhD placement at the British Library www.bl.uk/stories/blog...
Researching manuscripts in the Lady Eccles Oscar Wilde Collection
The Eccles Bequest elevates the British Library as a premier site for Wilde scholarship.
bl.uk