The garb (not to mention the décolletage) is, to my knowledge, unique for a clergy portrait of that date. Since he had been installed dean of St Paul's late in 1621, I think this is channeling (Roman) orator in a gesture toward a deanship to be defined by preaching.
Screenshot of article abstract: 'This article investigates the place of pleasure, play, and friendship in the works of William Leybourn, a printer and mathematician best known for writing practical and decidedly ‘non-literary’ technical treatises. Studying works composed between 1647–1653, the earliest period of a career spanning several decades, this piece locates the writer as a young man in London, and it reframes his printed texts as discursive works crafted among friends who shared a love of literary delight and practical mathematics. Challenging the relegation of technical writings to the realm of ‘practical value’, the essay interprets Leybourn’s works as multimodal texts that resist singular classification, demonstrates the important role that poetics and pleasure played in the writer’s technical instruction, and reveals how his writings pushed for leisurely enjoyment beyond the obligation to utility. Brilliant but not anomalous, Leybourn is presented as indicative of the rich complexity of non-elite writing culture that remains largely unexplored.'
Photo of a page from Leybourn and Wing, Urania Practica (1649), a printed book, depicting a shape poem: 'the instrument of a globe, fixed upon a base and with lines of latitudes marked. ... collaborations between the poet and printing house, showcasing both literary skill and technical printing capability.'
'Beyond utility: pleasure and play in the works of William Leybourn, writer, stationer, and mathematical practitioner'
*NEW* #OpenAccess article from @mdpowelldavies.bsky.social emerging from the #WrittenWorlds project at Birkbeck!
Free to read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Excited to share that my article on poetics and play in the practical mathematics of William Leybourn is out now in The Seventeenth Century.
Available #OpenAccess here: doi.org/10.1080/0268....
#poetry #play #print #London #mathematics #earlymodern #WrittenWorlds @tandfresearch.bsky.social
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, at Birkbeck, University of London, is looking for a talented researcher to join a project focused on expanding our understanding of non elite writers and writing in seventeenth century England. As Postdoctoral Research Associate you will join 'Written Worlds in Seventeenth-Century England', an exciting Leverhulme Trust–funded project. The role is offered on a 13 month, part time (17.5 hours a week) contract with a salary of £22,124 rising to £25,189 per annum (pro-rated £44,247 to £50,379 per annum). In this role, you will carry out dedicated research on non elite textual production, working closely with the Principal Investigator, Professor Sue Wiseman, and the Co Investigator, Dr Brodie Waddell. You will have the opportunity to work extensively with manuscripts and printed sources, visit archives, investigate datasets, develop the project database, and contribute to shaping the project’s scholarly outputs - and you may also be involved in textual editing. As Research Associate, you will focus on one of two thematic strands: 1. Non elite writing produced in the provinces, or 2. Writing produced by non elite women. Further details via link
We are hiring postdoc researchers to join our #WrittenWorlds project at Birkbeck, with Sue Wiseman, @mdpowelldavies.bsky.social, @richardjansell.bsky.social and I.
0.5FTE, 13 months, focus on women's or provincial non-elite writing #EarlyModern 🗃️
cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/post...
Just a reminder... Tomorrow, 5 March, 5.30 pm ✨ Sue Wiseman, Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social ,
and Michael Powell Davies @mdpowelldavies.bsky.social speaking on "Written Worlds: Non-Elite Writers in Early Modern England" Sign-up in person & online: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
A map is shown, with the logo of the Historic Towns Trust in the top left corner. The words "Mapping our Past, Shaping our Future" are written in the centre.
Join us next week to learn about how an Atlas of London in 1666 has been researched!
This webinar is in collaboration with the Historic Towns Trust @historictownstrust.bsky.social
Find out more: www.balh.org.uk/event-balh-r...
#WeAreLocalHistory #LocalHistoryForAll
Morgan's 1682 map of London. Black and white, showing Tower Bridge, Wapping the Thames and Bermondsey.
Delighted to be continuing as a research assistant on the London on the Eve of the Great Fire project. To support the creation of this Atlas and Gazetteer of 1665-6 London then consider a donation to the project. @historictownstrust.bsky.social 🗃️ shop.historictownstrust.uk/product/donate
Thank you!! It was my first showing of any of that material, so I’m so glad it was received well. More on the diaries to come soon!
Six greenmen and their fireworks, viz:
'Unseen things seen are most and best approved:
gold, because rare, is dear and well beloved.'
Join us this time next week for a rare reading of Walter Mountfort's The Launching of the Mary (1632).
More details and to register: www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event...
'Unseen things seen are most and best approved:
gold, because rare, is dear and well beloved.'
Join us this time next week for a rare reading of Walter Mountfort's The Launching of the Mary (1632).
More details and to register: www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event...
Written at sea in 1632, Walter Mountfort's The Launching of the Mary hasn't seen a London stage for almost 400 years.
Join us at Arts Week 2025 for a script-in-hand reading of this little-known Renaissance play.
More details and registration here: www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event....
Written at sea in 1632, Walter Mountfort's The Launching of the Mary hasn't seen a London stage for almost 400 years.
Join us at Arts Week 2025 for a script-in-hand reading of this little-known Renaissance play.
More details and registration here: www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event....
Lines of old handwriting that reads: Item my will and desire is that my Trumpett be sould and that money given and bestowed amongest this Shipps companye to drinke and be merrye withall.
The brief 1609 will of John Lux is pulsing with #EarlyModern life:
Delightfully, Lux willed that his trumpet be sold 'and that money given and bestowed amongest this Shipps companye to drinke and be merrye withall'.
📜📜📜🎺🎺🎺⚓⚓⚓🍺🍺🍺
#Skystorians #MaterialCulture #MaritimeHistory 🗃️
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Another excellent year of #EMROCTranscribes, this year at Birkbeck with a great group who enjoyed Zooming with transcribers @rcphysicians.bsky.social & elsewhere and the thought-provoking talk on the history of #earlymodern abortion from @maryfissell.bsky.social. Thanks as always to EMROC … (1/2)!
A listing from the RSA 2025 conference programme. From Fluidity to Fixity: Settling Place Through Writing in Early Modern England Writing Place and Placing Writing in Early Modern Maritime London Michael Powell-Davies, Birkbeck, University of London Fixity in Flow: Manuscript Receipt Books as Means of Fluid Preservation Claire Richie, University of Miami The Fixity and Fluidity of Translation in Jane Lumley’s Iphigenia at Aulis Francesca Bua, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Really excited to soon be in Boston for RSA/SAA 2025!
I'll be talking on London, nautical bookshops, and the writing of place, alongside the brilliant @clairerichie.bsky.social and Francesca Bua.
With many thanks to Peter Good for chairing and the London Renaissance Seminar for sponsoring!
Dropping some books off at the charity shop, and enjoying the thought of these being out in the world… 📚