Dr Sara Barker

Yay!!!

I was tempted to try get people along by pointing out that I will be moderating a roundtable with 3 people called Laura, which i am still not sure is possible without sounding like a teacher from a minor public school...

If you can't make it to Leeds, then dont worry, we're planning a final event to be held online later in the year. But if you can make it to Leeds on 16th March, then please register and join us

Hello, fellow historians, especially those in the north of the UK! Booking is open for the second of our events on Second Projects, organised by me and Tracey Loughran and supported by History UK - details of speakers and registration link below!

ahc.leeds.ac.uk/events/event...

You were very kind to me! This was the best part of 30 years ago, & I was very nervous & quiet, so there's no way you'd remember me, but you might remember the lads who turned their presentation into "Top 10 Radio Papacy", I seem to recall with the chart music and everything!

Do you know, I honestly thought i had it in my Bluesky handle, because i sure as hell did in the other place, for exactly these reasons.

Sigh. Usually I am pretty chill about honorifics but I've just been in an email where someone both misspelled my name *and* used the male academic's title but not mine and honest to God, how is this still happening in 2026?

And I was thinking particularly of David pretending to be a tiger moth and Robin telling us all kinds of things about Irish kings, as well as Len Scales putting up with a particularly mouthy seminar group for the medievalists. And then Richard B as well, who was very kind to me.

That's quite all right - i don't know that our paths ever crossed, as I was also in French (mainly with Jenny Britnell). I've occasionally seen Toby at early modern things. One of my friends and i still do impressions of Don from our special - he was quite the character!

Rumbled! You may well be able to match some people to titles...

And that's still 100 times better than the guy who was not allowed to have one on one tutorials with girls. Had to pair up with a lad if you wanted essay feedback or sit with the door open. Ah, the 90s.

Honorable mentions - history of the French language. Tuesdays at 9am, absolute nightmare slot, tedious AF but had been so useful over the years.

Europe in the age of nationalism and total war - our lecturer was really not in the best place and once gave us the same lecture 4 weeks in a row

Five classes i took at university:

Literature in the French Reformation 🥰

The Presidency of Andrew Jackson 😬

Dutch revolt & golden age 😃

Birth of Western Society 🙂 (our tutors were ace, even if I'm no medievalist)

The foundations of modern historical thought 🧐

Thanks to @thefnl.bsky.social this exceptionally rare Tudor map of Kingsbridge in Devon has been acquired for public research at the Devon Heritage Centre, after more than four centuries in private hands.

Submitted The Thing! Now to peel myself and my nervous system carefully off the ceiling.

I was so tempted with that one 😊

I HAVE SOMETHING TO COMMUNICATE

A tabby cat standing on top of printed pages on a desk

The only deadline Ettie cares about is the deadline for sweeties.

I've moved on to a new level of this and am now baking my own bread - takes up time productively *and* i get to be smug!

Also a great nugget for all book historians, professional vintagers worked in revolutionary America to ensure that pamphlets were stained and foxed immediately after printing to look real and „old“. They probably did this in Boston with tea.

Hahahahaha sob. Yup, well, at least I know myself.

Marking + talk last week + deadlines for chapters before and after Christmas = I am basically 95% bread, cake and biscuits right now. I really wish writing & marking didn't make me so hungry. Occasionally this can be offset with walks to get the juices flowing but not v enticing in this weather.

Absolutely bless Jade from the Traitors saying her PhD viva seems a bit less scary after having faced so much flack at the roundtable. That's brilliant.

Also reminds me of wondering if I could go on Big Brother just to get locked away from the world to get my thesis finished...

Image of Royal Historical Society badges, 'This is what a historian looks like', with text: "The Society invites applications for Fellowship and Associate Fellowship from those researching and publishing in historical fields across higher education. Applications are invited from historians, wherever they work, from the UK and internationally."

Historians work across higher education - and not just in 'traditional' History departments. We welcome applications for Fellowship / Associate Fellowship from all those working historically - in the UK and internationally bit.ly/45vEmeJ

Next closing dates for applications: 9 March & 11 May, 1/2

A photo of a desk that I am sitting at with an open laptop and part of a notebook showing, and some other items partially visible. A tabby cat is sitting on my knee and a black cat is standing on the desk next to the laptop, looking out of the window.

I wish I'd had this picture before my HA talk, where I mentioned that digitised works did allow me to work from the comfort of my desk, sometimes with feline help. This is exactly what I meant.

Ach, I'm very well used to Yorkshire weather. I had the appropriate clothing 😉

York was dead pretty, and the talk was fun - lovely setting at Bootham School too

Grants Previous grant recipients If you would like to help us support early career scholars in bibliography, please email our Treasurer (treasurer@oxbibsoc.org.uk) to discuss how you can help. Any donatio…

Grants!

We are offering small grants (maximum £500 each) to support projects in book history & bibliography. We particularly encourage early-career applicants and projects that use Oxford collections.

Application is brief; deadline is 27th February 2026.

Details at oxbibsoc.org.uk/grants/

Off to do a @histassoc.bsky.social talk in York about printing in early modern France, with a wee bit of how we do book history now, and only one holiday snap, which is pretty good for me

A small umbrella held in a gloved hand by a wet road. The umbrella is in a turquoise cover, with British Library in white capital letters down it.

I slightly hated myself for buying this last week but it's been the most useful £12 I've spent this month