The cyberattack on The British Library in October 2023 knocked out ebooks and almost ever other computer thing there for years.
Ebooks just came back. They were knocked out everywhere using the BL’s license (legal deposit libraries I think? More libraries?)
Distributed physical copies matter.
Reposting this as a very proud Fitzwilliam syndic - great that the museum team’s work has been recognised by the Art Fund judges.
I'm obsessed with old library catalogues these days, & loved how Mrs Miniver connects to this one, courtesy of @sarahpyke.bsky.social.
'There are knowing echoes of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (1925) in Mrs Miniver, which is set in London and starts with the central character exuberantly buying herself some flowers.'
Before I unpin this, a belated note of appreciation for @akennedysmith.bsky.social's brilliant Cambridge Ladies' Dining Society newsletter, which introduced me to Mrs Miniver
Oh, that's very kind of you Sarah! Thank you. I have saved your Literary Review article to read in full tomorrow, it looks great.
Two interesting details from the 1926 Census re: Irish writers.
L: Norah Hoult declaring herself 'Agnostic' in extremely Catholic Ireland
R: Maeve Brennan's family's return was one of only 1% submitted in Irish. She's listed as Maedhbh Ní Bhreandáin. (Meaḋḃ with the old lenition dots). #speirgorm
Guy on the district line just asked the woman next to him to turn down the brightness on her phone because it was getting in his peripheral vision while trying to read a book. My new hero
Mudie's Select Circulating Library lay at the heart of the Victorian publishing system. Karen Wade's site, now at a new URL, makes it possible to explore the library's catalogues as never before, with an index of 22,000 novels by 6000 authors. curatr.ucd.ie/mudies/
#victorian #bookhistory
A Hosting: Interviews with Irish Writers 1991-2026 – A good listener’s illuminating, engaging conversations. Margaret Kelleher, chair of Anglo-Irish literature and drama at UCD, reviews A Hosting, my new book
www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...
NEW PODCAST! Ian Patterson in conversation with Ali Smith about his latest work BOOKS: A MANIFESTO.
Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...
Calling all Elizabeth Bowen fans! This will be available to view online. #BookSky 💙📚
This looks great, thanks very much for thinking of me Jacqui! I will spread the word via Substack tomorrow.
A female Batman hoverfly, Myathropa florea, on a Bramble leaf.
A gorgeous furry Batman hoverfly in Ely today. 📷 #photography #Diptera #Hoverflies
One of the nice things about the forthcoming edition of The Poems of Sylvia Plath is that the editors note when she underlines the dictionary definition of words that appear in her poems. Seems Tom Cruise does the same thing for his films.
This very night at 7pm (BST)
Thank you (!!!) Anne Enright 💖.
‘This is Also a Love Story’ publishes five weeks from today in the UK/Ireland, & a few weeks later in the US/Canada. It’s available for preorder now. sallyhayden.net/2026/01/26/t...
Tyrol and the Skirt of the Alps, Geo. E Waring Jr. Grey cover with gold borders with flowers and foliage.
Book Cover of the Day:
Our #NursesInRed #Wikipedia group are adding nursing to key topics💙
Bedford College London was the 1st HE college for women in the UK. 1921-39 it ran postgrad #nursing courses, inc for international students w/ @rcn.org.uk
#HistNursing #WomensHistory #WomenInRed
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford...
Love that this chromolithograph (I assume?) is the colours of the Suffrage Flag! #vexillology
(Img: Canadian Museum of History, 2010.232.1)
(plus you have taught me a new word today, thank you)
Oh yes, that's perfect!
"Many readers, and surely most Irish readers, will finish this book in a state of white-knuckled rage, mingled with sorrow and at least a pang of guilt. It is a detailed, thoroughgoing and appalling account of the Magdalene laundries ..."
#Spéirghorm #SpeirGorm
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/a...
Later this month we will have a new article from @martinspychal.bsky.social as part of his series on Peter McLagan, Scotland's first Black MP. Here's a reminder of Martin's first article on McLagan and the process of researching his background: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2025/06/12/p...
Such a treat to see this rare collection of pre-1910 British women's suffrage posters up close at @theul.bsky.social this week. This is the top half of a gigantic poster using French revolutionary archetypes to accuse the Liberal prime minister H.H. Asquith of hypocrisy. J'accuse, indeed.
Here are the dates for my UK publicity tour for
"The Traveller. The Revolutionary Life of George Forster and his Search for Humanity". Can't wait to tell you all about this man who tried to find what connects us rather than what sets us apart. And he was Humboldt's mentor.
Please come!
Thrilled to have @martindoyle.bsky.social in to sign copies of his new book A Hosting: Interviews with Irish Writers 1991-2026 out this Thursday! 🙌
Catch Martin at @kennysbookshop.bsky.social ennysbookshop on Thursday, or in @hodgesfiggis.bsky.social s on Tuesday 21 April-
Thank you Rebeka, I would love to! Just need to switch around a few other plans...
