Dr. Tara Lyons
@TaraLLyons
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Professor of English Literature, Illinois State University, book history; playbooks; early modern libraries; gender; likes bees, horses, cats, and kind people.
Joined May 2014
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Shakespeare in Sheets is LIVE! The Publishing Interns in English at Illinois State University have been hard at work designing Shakespeare's early plays and poems in printable and foldable sheets of paper. All sheets are free to download in pdf!
@ShakesInSheets
@PubUnit_ISU
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Hey friends! This is what a newly minted Full Professor looks like!
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It's worth reorganizing a few paragraphs just so I can include this gem from The Art of Courtship, right?
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2020 was not an easy year, so this one little award means a lot.
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So, I’ve been writing a bit on a second-hand bookseller in London in the 1610s, and I’m struck by how little we know about this area of the book trade.
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Online teaching tip
#1
: My students vote "thumbs up" for poem annotation videos. They are asking for more.
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Here it is, friends! New evidence from a 1614 binding list
@bodleianlibs
for Ben Jonson’s little lost book of Epigrammes (ca. 1612).
New issue of The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America: Vol 114, No 3 (2020)
@ChicagoJournals
@BibSocAmer
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So I’m writing a short-ish essay on 17th c. playbooks in bags, hampers, boxes, etc. What’s the best way to search online catalogues for these kinds of “book bags”? also, if you know of more weird book containers, please share!!
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HUZZAH! This issue is dynamite!! I'm really proud to be printed alongside so many of my favorite people. Look: the image on the cover is from the Bodleian Binder's Book. My essay is a punchy myth-buster featuring the playbooks in the pre-1625 Bodleian and their binding records.
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Honored and excited to be talking playbooks in the early Bodleian and other 17th c. institutional libraries on October 5 at the History of Libraries Seminar. Zoom w/ me.
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New Year, New Article! My research on Seneca His Tenne Tragedies (1581) and the Shakespeare First Folio is out! This whole issue edited by Silvia Bigliazzi is bloody 🔥— Enjoy, the whole issue is open access:
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Exciting find this week at
@bodleianlibs
! This is a record for the lost edition of Ben Jonson's Epigrams, recorded in 1614 in the Bodleian Daybook (Library Records e.9). Stepneth registered the Epigrams in the Stationers Reg. in 1612 but no copies are extant.
@bodleiancsb
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We are crushed. We said goodbye to our beautiful Privy today. He was 18.5 years old and failing in health. I adopted him in 2003, and he’s been a bright spot in my life ever since. Rest in peace and love and lots of toys, my beautiful boy.
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For the record: My contribution comes down to squealing each time you turned the page and found more of Milton’s handwriting! Congratulations friend. Your essay with Aaron Pratt and Jason Scott Warren is brilliant work.
as many of you know, this kind of work is painstakingly slow—& by necessity deeply collaborative. this said, extra thx to
@TaraLLyons
&
@ZacharyLesser
for early insights
we also build on work of other scholars, esp will poole’s meticulous ed of the commonplace book & trinity ms
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I send enquiries to rare book librarians on a pretty frequent basis. And when they reply and I see the email in my inbox, it feels like I’m about to open a present.🎁 My heart even beats a little faster. Thanks special collections librarians for all that you do!!!
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I only just discovered that my copy of the STC vol. 2 is signed by Katherine Pantzer. 🥰
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Friends? The bees really delivered on the second harvest. This is 42 lbs of raw honey and we’re only 3/4 way done with bottling.
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Adding “pages mangled by monkey” to the list of ways books were destroyed in the 17th century!
21 Nov 1661: John Wilmot, 2nd earl of
#Rochester
#poet
sets off on a three year tour of
#Europe
#otd
Possibly without monkey?
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Sooo, three weeks of full-time writing and I have a full drafty draft of my book’s Introduction. I can drink wine while doing footnotes, right?
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Waiting for the doors to open. First rare book and archives trip since 2019!!
@NewberryLibrary
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I’m the only early modern lit person on my campus and conference funding barely covers the costs of a flight. If I didn’t use social media like fb and twitter and text chains, I would have no idea what was happening in my field.
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Meet Sarah Street, 1773. When •her book• on a flyleaf just isn’t good enough anymore.
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You know that story about the Bodleian’s ban of English playbooks in 17th. century? Yeah, well, it’s wrong. Come hang out with me and hear more this Thursday!
Join us on Thursday, 4 March @ 6PM for our next MEMS seminar
Unlocking Bodley’s Baggage Books: English Playbooks & their Status in the Early Bodleian Library
with Dr Tara Lyons (
@TaraLLyons
)
All welcome - DM us for the link!
📸 Reliquiae Bodleianae, ed. by T. Hearne (1703)
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I'm thinking about creating a digital template for Commonplace Books for my students this semester. I would base the template on early printed models. Am I reinventing the wheel? Has someone done this already? If not, who wants one?
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Sending edits off to PLRE today! The Library inventory of Elizabeth (Talbot) Grey, the Countess of Kent from 1654. There are 178 titles in the list, and yes, there are English playbooks!
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My ginormous article on the Bodleian Daybook is out today in Textual Cultures--Open Access! Enjoy the Appendices too. I suffered eye strain for those lists and would love for other scholars to make use of all the data.
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The new 🐝 have arrived! After chowing down on honey, they stung two people in the yard and spent the afternoon dumping the dead (and still dying) out of the hive. This season is bound to be full of bee drama. Am I pleased? hell yeah.
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So, I've agreed to write two pieces for upcoming First Folio-paloozzas--but no more. The critical focus on this book has obscured as much knowledge as it has revealed. More snark may be coming as 2023 approaches....
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When you are studying 17th century women’s books and bindings but not allowed to take photos, this is what goes in the research file….🫤
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Ready to teach my grad seminar today! Any guesses on the topic?
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A group of second graders visited my office, and they made my day! They thought I was a "library teacher," had no idea who Shakespeare was, explored every knick -knack on my bookshelves and asked questions about metal type, and told me they liked my hair. This why people breed?
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So, I know this is a long shot, but Twitter has solved harder biblio mysteries. I'm looking for a copy of James's Basilikon Doron from 1603 or 1604 that has a shelfmark 8° I 18 written in early hand on the title page. Sound familiar to anyone?
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My website is up! Teaching Resources are posted as pdf’s and free to use, adapt, and share. Hear more about “Teaching Shakespeare in Collaboration with Special Collections”
#MLA18
, Saturday, 5:15 -6:30 with
@adamghooks
,
@JillEGage
,
@wynkenhimself
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PLRE Vol. X is hot off the press! 🔥🔥It’s loaded with annotated book lists and features three early women’s libraries: Lady Margaret Heath ed. by
@memps2
; Lady Anne Holles ed. by Joseph Black and Leah Knight; and Lady Elizabeth Grey ed. by me. TOC below.
#biblionerd
fun!
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I now have a gallon of honey on tap in my kitchen. The bees have been more than generous this year.
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David Pearson's English Bookbindings Class is back at RBS! I took the course in 2018, and it truly changed the trajectory of my research. Bindings are fast becoming a central part of book and reception history.
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CFP RSA 2025: Join Megan Heffernan & me for "Renaissance Libraries: Then and Now," sponsored by the BSA. How do libraries mediate the materials of our disciplines in Renaissance Studies? How can accounting for the library’s impact help us to imagine new disciplinary futures? ⬇️
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I’d love your help,
#earlymoderntwitter
I’m designing a study abroad course on Histories and Literatures of Immigration in Early Modern England. We’ll visit sites in or near London and invite researchers to lead short tours/lectures on the topic. Open to all ideas as I plan.
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Card haul from 10 weeks in the UK & Ireland and research at 17 diff. libraries/archives. I’m extremely grateful to the
@bibsoc
for supporting 4 weeks of the trip and the countless librarians who helped find and fetch materials. The new project is now rolling!
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So, here’s my new side hustle! If you’re interested in raw Central Illinois honey, check out our Facebook page Kings Mill Apiary.
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The plan was to keep two hives, but there were so many babies this spring, we now have four. I have no idea if there will be honey but there are baby bees everywhere! 🐝🐝🐝
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Done! You can download a free digital template for a Commonplace Book here:
Thank you to
@POWERPOINT_UNIVERSITY
@Wondeful_world
for freely sharing this notebook PPT template. I merely tweaked it for use as a Commonplace Book.
I'm thinking about creating a digital template for Commonplace Books for my students this semester. I would base the template on early printed models. Am I reinventing the wheel? Has someone done this already? If not, who wants one?
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My study abroad course Shakespeare and Drama in England is a go! We'll be in Stratford from June 17-22 and then in London June 23- July 7. Any suggestions on summer shows that sound amazing, provocative, must-see?
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John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs? 😬
I've just seen this for sale in The Works, and wondered, which literary text do YOU think is crying out for a colouring book?
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Wow, this is incredible!!
@roaringgirle
wrote about this amazing annotated Shakespeare Folio in Philly and
@jes1003
just identified the hand as Milton’s!!!
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So grateful for the Sassoon Visiting Fellowship and very excited to share some fun new discoveries during this talk: "The First English Playbooks in the Bodleian: New Evidence in Library Records" 4 July, 5:15 – 6 pm. Weston Library
@bodleianlibs
@bodleiancsb
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The new bees are super healthy and productive. First harvest bottled and read to go!
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alien spaceship capturing four humans? 😂
This is a 16th-century watermark from the Archivio do Stato di Torino, Sez Corte - ‘Divers actes, ordres, titres et documens pour l'histoire de la Royale Maison de Savoye, requeillis par Msr Philibert de Pingon'. Does anyone know what it might depict?
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“The works were identified by Catherine Sutherland, deputy librarian at Magdalene College, based on handwriting comparisons and other clues.” Boom!
Mary Astell: pioneering feminist’s library unearthed at Cambridge University
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I’m not a medievalist, but I learned a lot from reading this review and will be sharing it with colleagues and grad students. White people who want to take global approaches and write about race in their scholarship need to read this with care.
I've decided that if other scholars can do 2 reviews so can I. Here's my review of
#thebrightages
so you can judge for yourself if this was not generous enough. I believe it is balanced & fair.
My review for a different venue will address other problems.
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Teaching Shakes Sonnets online? Here's an updated podcast project with an OED exercise from my Intro to Shakes class. (I'm teaching 3 courses this semester, so group projects like this save my eyes/sanity while encouraging students' creativity.)
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This is my alarm clock, and yes, he’s judging me (and maybe you too).
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Anyone needing bookish resources for teaching Shakes or early modern lit this semester? I have a few assignment sheets and projects posted here. Use, adapt, and save yourself some time.
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The cat also stepped on the keyboard and messed up my slides. A perfect Torty-cat move. Thanks
@Mems_ukc
for the engaging and thoughtful questions. We had a lovely evening/ afternoon with you all!
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Join us!!!
Very excited to be doing a workshop on female bookownership with
@wolfrestonward
and
@TaraLLyons
at
#shax2022
. Hoping lots of people will sign up!
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I would subscribe to short daily videos of archivists opening a cabinet door and showing us what’s inside. It would be like an advent calendar but no crummy chocolate, just archival folders and boxes and old records. 🙃🙃
New Archivist, new blog post, old treasures.
The Muniment Room is one of
@magdalenoxford
's marvels. The medieval charters held there may seem plain compared to medieval manuscripts, but as
@r_g_allen
explains, they hold a wonder and power of their own:
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So, does SQ have a reviews editor? I see the journal is soliciting reviews of books on Facebook, which is democratic? but may be leading to these problems. I can think of SO MANY people in our field who could make sure that reviews are given to qualified, careful scholars…
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Grateful to have received vax
#2
this week. But, if I dose off during your wonderful SAA panels, it’s only because my body keeps turning into a virus-cooking furnace 🔥🔥
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With a sleek new website too! Now, who is ready for some Shakespeare Octavos in Sheets??!!
We are back up and running! We have 7 different Shakespeare quartos that ISU publishing interns have reverse-engineered into Sheets. Just print, fold, stab, and stitch. Don 't forget to add one to your spring syllabus!
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Even the Royal College of Physicians thinks that Elizabeth Grey, the Countess of Kent, and her 17th century library are the bomb! Nice blogging
@Girlinthe
!
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Brandi and Alex are an absolute delight to listen to in this podcast. Burton Barr Special Collections is the best!
The first episode of Local Book Story is here! Learn about the Burton Barr Public Library in Phoenix, AZ and listen to an interview with Alex Mada, librarian and special collections manager (12 min).
#rarebooks
#librarians
#printing
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It’s official. I’m now a member and chapter advisor for the English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta. Who else on here is an STD Advisor in their departments? 😳
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Advice on laptop extraction? And yes. that is pure tortie side eye.
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I might print this out and tape it to my desktop. No shame for my fellow slow writers.
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Because ALL CAPS!
This week's evidence of early modern female bookownership: a post by
@wolfrestonward
on a fascinating bible/book of common prayer full of female inscriptions
#herbook
@WhiteMicheline
@TaraLLyons
@erinannmcc
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I’ll be spending the day tomorrow in Oxford, virtually. Morning conference at
#oxfordlibrary700
and afternoon with
#OROS
. Now if I could just get a latte from Jericho Cafe! Anyway, feels good to have access to conversations that aren’t happening in the cornfields of central IL.
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“Nobody is going to care about all of these bibliographic details. Readers just want you to interpret the literature for them.” 🤣
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My Publishing students are creating printable sheets (11x17) for all Shakespeare octavos and quartos. The first set will be posted on my teaching website by summer’s end! I’d love to link to yours
@aaronpratt
@roaringgirle
@roaringgirle
@letterlocking
I have a robust digitization agenda for fall term and intend to release some properly open-access PDFs of 1) a Shakespeare quarto and 2) a short 16th-c poetry octavo. Both in sheets, of course, printable at full size and reduced for 11" x 17".
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@john_overholt
my fav line: “When I unfolded it, it was immediately clear: not a glove, not unless you wanted to cover only one (very long!) finger at a time.”
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How are you handling the lack of access to rare books/MS and writing deadlines? Are you hitting pause on chapters/articles in the *hope* that you’ll be able to travel in the coming weeks or months? Or, just shifting the focus so you can complete projects on time and at home?
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I'm really excited about our
#SAA2022
workshop tomorrow on New Methods in EMF Book Ownership with
@martinevanelk
&
@wolfrestonward
. For the last 30 minutes or so, we're showcasing our "Archival Finds and Fails." It should be a fun time!
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I’ll be dropping some fun new playbook research on March 4. Baggage books galore!
We're thrilled to announce the 2021 Spring MEMS Research Seminar Series, delivered via Zoom Thursdays @ 6PM*
Check out our fantastic speakers, share widely, & join us
All welcome😊
#medieval
#earlymodern
#history
#literature
#shakespeare
#tudors
#chaucer
#anselm
#latin
#paper
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@atrubek
Our English major has a Publishing sequence. Students theorize the trade and get practical experience making chaps books, newsletters, boook covers. I started
@ShakesInSheets
with our
@PubUnit_ISU
to help students think historically about publishing while using modern software.
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A new Shakespeare in Sheets edition is on the website! Check it out!
Hamlet Q2 in Sheets, anyone??? This gorgeous little book uploaded in pdf and ready for printing, folding, and stitching. Thank you for the
@TheHuntington
for the open access digital image of RB 69305.
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Who else honed their “archive” research skills as a teen by sifting through clearance racks at Goodwill or Value City? The perfect outfit could be found for under $5 if you took the time, stayed attentive, and were methodical.
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My bees made it through the winter! They’ve been flying around and enjoying the sunshine. I’m so happy I *could* hug them!
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Early modern historians: what are your go-to resources on the English court systems and their records? I need a crash course before June.
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Searching for extant volumes once owned by Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Kent (1581-1651). Armorial bindings have “E.G” + image of dog (talbot). Thanks, all!! Please r/t
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The copyediting is done on the ELR Epigrammes article and look what pops up while I was browsing a 1646 catalogue?
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Cat and I are fascinated by
@roaringgirle
&
@jes1003
’s talk on Shakespeare’s Milton. I’ll try to keep her off the comments section but no promises.
do *not* let me design PPT slides after 10 pm.
also: register to join me &
@jes1003
tomorrow—saturday, 2 pm GMT / 9 am EDT—to hear & see the nitty gritty evidence for milton as the reader of
@freelibrary
's F1:
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Has anyone taught a course in which all literary texts were in MS or not yet published in editions? I’m a week away from launching such a course for English majors and wondering if others have any tips or advice.
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I think that if I lived near London/Oxbridge, I would never get any writing done. I would just attend all the early modern performances, seminars, talks, and events like this.
Hi
#twitterstorians
– there are *3 tickets left* for our
#MiddleTempleToManoa
exhibition tours this Friday 19 Nov
@middletemple
. Register here to get a look at global travel at the early modern Inns + see
@LoraineRutt
's exquisite artworks up close:
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So, when you do textual editing, do you go mad and just buy all the old important editions you can find for a cheap price? I have a tons of pdf's but think that spreading editions out on the floor and writing all over them would be more pleasurable.
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I made a tiny contribution to the Pulter project, but I’m so happy to have been a part of it.
In six swift lines, Pulter foresees the end of time in “Of Night and Morning” (Poem 5); read what
@TaraLLyons
makes of this in her Amplified Edition and Curations, found here:
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I feel like this article (hot off the press in ELR) deserves a hashtag of its own.
#littleJonson
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First Interlibrary Loan books since March have arrived!!!! Curbside pickup at
@ISUMilnerLib
was a cinch. What a wonderful feeling!
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Come one, come all. Expert book nerds and biblio-newbies: let’s all get together to think about how to study women’s books and “owned” texts.
Excited to organize a workshop at the 2022 SAA Conference on early modern female book ownership with
@TaraLLyons
and
@wolfrestonward
. Please consider signing up! Deadline Sept 15
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