CrowdsourceHerBook

Plakat zur Ausschreibung des 10. Sommerkurses für Handschriftenkultur an der Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig (23.–29. August 2026) zum Thema „Mittelalterliche Handschriften verstehen lernen“.

Plakat zur Ausschreibung des 10. Sommerkurses für Handschriftenkultur an der Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig (23.–29. August 2026) zum Thema „Mittelalterliche Handschriften verstehen lernen“.

📣 #CfA: 10. #Sommerkurs für Handschriftenkultur vom 23. bis 29. August 2026 an der @ubleipzig.bsky.social: „Mittelalterliche Handschriften verstehen lernen“. Ausschreibung 👉 www.ub.uni-leipzig.de/fileadmin/Re... #medievalsky

18th century book frontispiece with a single elaborately penned word "Book" with a flourish and a decorative bow swirled underneath.

Just because I saw and loved this last week.

Ford, Isabella O.. "Isabella O. Ford to Walt Whitman, 12 May 1891." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 19 January 2026. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.

The Whitman Archive has lots of letters between Ford and the author, for example this one (link in alt text). Great book find!

Very worn cover of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Inscription reads Isabella O. Ford 23rd October 1882

Title page: Leaves of Grass, Rees Welsh & Co, 1882

@crowdsourceherbook.bsky.social So just stumbled upon your project. I have an 1882 edition of Leaves of Grass that appears to have belonged to Isabella O. Ford. Been trying to figure out if this really should be part of a collection and not just sitting on my shelf away from the kids.

Isabella Ford - Wikipedia

Very cool, thanks for pointing it out! *this* Isabella O. Ford? It's definitely worth tracking down an example of her signature to compare it. As for giving it to a collection - libraries tend to be quite selective when accepting (relatively) recent books, but who knows!

It's St David's Cathedral in Wales actually... :)

The survey is now closed! Reflections, Bonus Books, and Thank You’s Since launching the project on 8 March 2025, readers of this blog have sent me a lot of books with fascinating contents and object biographies. It has been a joy to look through all the submissions an...

The year is coming to an end, and so is this crowdsourcing experiment. A massive thank you to everyone who got in touch! Read about the process and what's next here: csherbook.hypotheses.org/3221 #bookhistory #womenshistory

Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1886), dedicated to “Belle. from Uncle Edward December 25/91.” csherbook.hypotheses.org/2267 #abookforchristmas #bookhistory #herbook #womenshistory

This copy of Fireside Fairies by Susan Pindar (1849) was given to "dear little Julie, From Cousin Alice, Christmas 1854" csherbook.hypotheses.org/2133 #abookforchristmas #bookhistory #womenshistory

A Book for Christmas: #46 Minnie H. Brown’s The Old Maids Club, 1892? This book was kindly shared by Chris Kraus. Type of ownership mark #1: inscriptionTranscription: “Minnie H. Brown December 25th 1897 Pitterton, Pa.” Type of ownership mark #2: inscriptionTranscription...

This Christmas gift was given in 1897, a Victorian novel about a bunch of women deciding to not marry and founding a club together. #abookforchristmas #bookhistory #herbook #womenshistory

#bookhistory #herbook

Soffiea Barnfield Born June 9th 1865 10 minutes to six in the morning

The book contains a wonderfully detailed birth record, listing the names, dates and exact times of birth for each of the Barnfield children. csherbook.hypotheses.org/2658 #bookhistory

Since the holidays are coming up, here's a Christmas gift! Mary Lewis (m. Barnfield) got this bible on Boxing Day 1859. #herbook #bookhistory #abookforchristmas

(apologies for the typo in the link title, I've fixed it, wordpress is sometimes slow to update previews)

#44 Lizzie Beaty’s The Bastonais, 1877 This book was kindly shared by Brian Busby. Type of ownership mark: inscriptionTranscription: “Lizzie Beaty” Bibliographic dataTitle: The BastonnaisSubtitle: Tale of the American invasion in Canada 17...

Another expertly researched and photographed contribution, with notes on a forgotten Canadian author, thanks to @brianbusby.bsky.social. #bookhistory #canadianliterature #herbook #womenshistory

#43 Emily Marion Bourne’s Ballads, around 1877 This book was kindly shared by Ida Aaskov Dolmer. Type of ownership mark: inscriptionTranscription: “Emily Marion Bourne from Katie & Clara Oct 22nd 1877” Bibliographic dataTitle: Ballads: Scottish an...

Scottish and English Ballads, belonging to “Emily Marion Bourne from Katie & Clara Oct 22nd 1877” #bookhistory #herbook #womenshistory

Recommended reading: Bigold, Melanie. ‘Women’s Book Ownership in Wales, c.1770-1830: The Ladies of Llangollen, Hester Thrale Piozzi and Elizabeth Greenly.’ orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/15... #bookhistory

#42 Elizabeth Greenly’s Poetical Works of Mr Gray, 1785 This book was kindly shared by Natalie Vultaggio-Steger. Type of ownership mark: inscriptionTranscription: “Eliza Greenly 1789” Bibliographic dataTitle: The Poetical Works of Mr. Gray. A New Edition.A...

New books on the blog! This one is from the substantial library of Welshwoman Elizabeth Greenly (1771-1839). #bookhistory #herbook #womenshistory

Survey is closing on 17 Dec!

Any ideas what "Flopy" (?) might be short for? #bookhistory #skystorians

Screen shot of rough manuscript with text ""May ye 31 1726 "Received of my Father in Cash... and in household utensills...which money and goods I Say Received by me Sarah Cook. Jan 28 1728 Rec3eived of my Father in cash and in ... Household utensills...I say Received per me Elizabeth Cook."

No YOU'RE still mucking around with a family record in an account book that also includes daughters' marriage portions. A few $$, some "household utensills." Late 1720s, Massachusetts.

We are VERY excited to announce the call for papers for our 2026 conference! 🎉🎉🎉 This year, we invite paper and poster proposals on the themes of power and/or performance!

All proposals to be sent to cms-conference-enquiries@bristol.ac.uk by 17:00 on Friday 9th January.

#medievalsky #skystorians

#40 Amelia Graham’s A little treatise of being born again, 1727 This book was kindly shared by an anonymous participant. Type of ownership mark: inscriptionTranscription: “Amelia Graham’s book Truro, Franklin County Ohio MDCCCXXXV 1831” Bibliographic dataTitle: A ...

18th century book of sermons with neat provenance inscription of Amelia Graham from Truro, Ohio. #herbook #bookhistory csherbook.hypotheses.org/2997

"Heres a true little story of the land – you are going to – For Lulu Bird from – the skipper of the Racing Yawl Themis Feb 14th 1900" #bookhistory #herbook

#39 Lulu Bird’s Blix, 1899 This book was kindly shared by Brian Busby. Type of ownership mark: inscriptionTranscription: “Heres [sic] a true little story of the land – you are going to – For Lulu Bird from – the skipper of the ...

Some more book entries out on the blog today, among them a novel by Frank Norris with a very sweet Valentine's inscription and traces of pressed flowers inside, contributed by @brianbusby.bsky.social. Thank you! #bookhistory

Cookbook page stained from use featuring a recipe for corn bread dressing with crossed-out words, ingredient adjustments, and cooking notes in pen, including instructions to cook onion, broth, and celery together.

Cookbook page stained from use featuring a recipe for hot cakes with handwritten ingredient adjustments in pen.

Family cookbooks, filled with handwritten notes, sometimes held together with rubber bands, tell the story of generations of homemakers. They are irreplaceable treasures.

🦃 Celebrate the cultural & family histories on their worn & stained pages ➡️ blog.archive.org/2024/09/30/v...

#Thanksgiving

#rosesagainstviolence for @crowdsourceherbook.bsky.social who knows this cat!
#stopviolenceagainstwomen
#stopgenderbasedviolence

Portrait of Ellen “Nellie” Sophia Bill (née Woodford) as a young child. Photo supplied by Chris Kraus.

Title illustration of The Robber Kitten, showing an adult cat in a hat and a bow tie sitting, and a downtrodden-looking kitten holding a yellow hat. A gun and a stick are lying on the floor between them.

And finally, this endearing children's book about a kitten that decided to leave home and become a robber. It belonged to Nellie Woodford. Nellie was raised by her aunt Sophia after her mother Sarah Comfort's death. #bookhistory #herbook #womenshistory csherbook.hypotheses.org/2176

This book on friendship, surely also given as a gift, belonged to Sophia Woodford. #bookhistory #womenshistory #herbook

#34 Adaline L. Woodford & Sophia A. Woodford’s Psalms and Hymns, 1845 This book was kindly shared by Chris Kraus. Type of ownership mark #1: inscriptionTranscription: “Sophia A. Woodford from her sister Adaline” Type of ownership mark #2: personalised bindingTranscripti...

Adaline had a beautiful personalised binding made, or perhaps received it as a gift herself. csherbook.hypotheses.org/2236 #bookhistory #bookbinding #herbook