A picture of a rather dilapidated copy of "The picture of Dorian Gray" There is visible water damage to the cover and the plastic cover is yellowing. Obviously, not evident from the picture but there is a truly foul musty smell emanating from it!

Last week, a gentleman returned this rather dilapidated copy of this famous book to us after 50 years. He had found it in his attic!
Presumably this means there is a pristine copy somewhere in our libraries....

1825: The Swallows have made their appearance I saw one today & I heard by a cowboy that they were come three days ago

It's here! Ireland's 1926 census has been released online! Will you be looking up your Irish ancestors? What have you discovered? 🇮🇪

www.whodoyouthinkyouaremaga...

Meet English’s Newest Consonant As stable as they may seem, every sound of every spoken language, at some point in the past, didn’t exist. The incessant shifting of speech involves the innovation of sounds, when either new ones a…

A pleasure to have occasioned an article about what may well be the most recent consonant added to English – poorly provisioned in the visual domain of writing, hence some confusion, but far from unusual in speech (to be heard six times in this sentence).
dannybate.com/2026/04/16/m...

Cover of Fresh from the Country by Miss Read - Furrowed Middlebrow edition.

Happy Birthday to the woman who brought the English countryside to life! 🎂🌸
Today we celebrate Dora Saint (Miss Read) #bornonthisday in 1913. We’re marking the date with our republished edition of ‘Fresh From the Country’, a rare standalone gem. 📚☕️

Keen to improve your understanding of Islamic Literary Heritage? This course will give you the opportunity to study manuscripts from a wide range of periods, locations and textual genres across the Islamic world.

Book now 👉️ ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...

#palaeography #paleography #LIPS26

Splendid volume 😎

It’s official: the UK is rejoining Erasmus! 👏🇪🇺

My father worked in Iran in the 1950s and said that Isfahan was one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen — to the extent that when he returned home he named his house ‘Isfahan’.

Such a wonderful and heartening ending!

This week last year we were thrilled to find the Selden Acts (@bodleian.ox.ac.uk MS. Selden Supra 30) newly online! See the original thread for evidence it was owned and used by women, and for discussion of Insular codicological features. It has such clear prickings! #medievalsky

Introduction to Handwriting in England c. 700-1700 8-12 June, University of London This course will provide an introduction to manuscript-production in Britain and Ireland over the course of a millennium. It will explore questions of palaeography, …

It’s not too late to book for this summer school course, in London 8-12 June. For anyone who is interested in working with documents from medieval England. #Skystorians #MedievalSky @komldsp.bsky.social
palaeography.uk/study/short-...

Solar Eclipse as seen from the far side of the moon by Orion Integrity and its crew
📸 NASA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbpd...

Celandine and wood anemone

Signs of spring this Easter Day. 😁 #SpringFlowers #WhatToLookForInSpring #naturewriting

The risen Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene before the empty tomb
#EasterSunday
München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, BSB Clm 4453; 'Gospels of Otto III'; c.1000 CE; Reichenau; p.104

That's home. That's us.

This image of home just came down from the Artemis II crew.

Taken after their translunar injection burn, there are aurorae at top right and lower left, and zodiacal light at lower right.

Credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman

Initial 'C'(ena) depicting the Last Supper
#MaundyThursday
Schaffhausen, Stadtbibliothek, Ministerialbibliothek, Min. 18; Augustinus, In Johannis evangelium tractatus; 1080-1096; Monastery of Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen; f.168v
(e-codices.ch/en/list/one/...)

The Last Supper and the Washing of the Disciples Feet #MaundyThursday
München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, BSB Clm 4452; Evangeliary: Pericopes of Henry II; circa 1007 CE-1012 CE; Reichenau; f.105v

Artemis II lifts off

I’m leading this London Rare Book School course on the history of collecting. Ideal for anyone interested in studying the history of libraries and how and why books have survived. We’ll be looking at why special collections are special. 22-26 June. #bookHistory👇📚📖

ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...

This November, Voyager 1 will reach a light-day from Earth.

From that distance, our world (the pale blue dot) will appear as it was yesterday and over time, drift further into the past.

Here's a reminder of all the great Summer School courses you can use that bursary funding for.

Book here for LIPS: buff.ly/qnE9Kim and here for LRBS: buff.ly/dBXo2UY

#palaeography #paleography #rarebooks #LIPS26 #LRBS26

#books #reading #writingcommunity #wolves #funny #booksky

Several lines of Middle Welsh from Ystoryaeu Seint Greal in National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 11, fol. 191r. The text begins with a large initial rubricated in light blue and reads: "Ac ar hynny ef a welei laỽnslot drỽy y hun bot corrgi yn y gyfarth a phump costaỽc tom y gyt ac ef yn y hapeaỽ o pop parth idaỽ a miliast y gyt ac ỽynt yn y temigiaỽ."

Thinking about Lancelot being menaced by a corgi in his dreams, a change in the Welsh adaptation of Perlesvaus from the French "petit mastin" (little mastiff).

"And then Lancelot saw in his sleep that a corgi was barking at him, and five cur-dogs with him were falling on him from all sides, ..."

The Saint John's Bible We are so thrilled that Canterbury Cathedral chose The Saint John's Bible Heritage Edition as the Bible on which the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, will be officially Installed. The Heritage Edition is the successor of the 6th-century St. Augustine Gospels, which have been used for this purpose since 1945. The ceremony will begin at 10:30 am ET on March 25, 2026. Watch the Church of England's livestream of the monumental event here: https://ow.ly/yCi550YxFNO

As an Episcopal priest who was raised in a different denomination and who served as the Rector of a congregation in Minnesota, I’m fascinated by this. A framed print of the Gospel of Mark frontispiece from the St. John’s Bible hangs in my study in Houston, a gift from my previous congregation. ⚓️

Watch the Installation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, LIVE at Canterbury Cathedral YouTube video by The Church of England

🚨 Archbishop Sarah's installation info! 🧵 ⚓ 🚨

It's at 3 pm UK time, Wed. 3/25, which is 11:00 AM EDT. (The UK hasn't started Summer Time yet.)

It will stream at the Church of England's YouTube page, at this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjLK... which is set to go live at 10:30 am EDT.

A large 'H' in red with a pen drawing of a bird wearing a tall hat

Someone drew a little bird in a hat in this 16th century Welsh manuscript of regulations for bards. British Library, Add MS 19711.

Keen to gain a better understanding of handwriting from the Early Medieval to the Early Modern periods? This course provides an intro to manuscript-production in Britain and Ireland over the course of a millennium.

Book your spot here 👉️https://buff.ly/36zXyHL

#palaeography #paleography #LIPS26

Harley 5431 (Regula Benedicti) please 😍

This summer school has 4 courses: intro level courses on Latin and reading medieval documents and advanced courses on wills and inquisitions. Check it out #Skystorians and tell your students (please and thank you) 👇📚🎓📜