James_AL_Downs

The Ghost of Greystone Grange
by A.A. Beckett (1878)

🎨B. Frost #PhantomsFriday

Shelf of small books in the Syon Abbey Library. Most have parchment bindings and hand-made modern orange labels created by the community of Syon Abbey.

Shelves of books in the Chris Brooks Collection. The books in this photograph were written for children and young adults in the 19th and early 20th century, and many of them have colourful and illustrated bindings.

Shelves of late 19th and 20th century books in the Hypatia Collection of books and journals by and about women. Many of the books have colourful or illustrated spines.

Four shelves of 19th and 20th century books in the John Betjeman Library

Our rare book collections are available for EVERYONE to access for research or enjoyment in our reading room!

With more than 50,000 books published between 1471 and 2025, we have something for everyone.

Find out more! ➡️ libguides.exeter.ac.uk/archives/books

#WorldBookDay #RareBooks #Exeter

I think about this Tony Benn speech much more than I used to

Large town planning map of Exeter with fold lines. Different areas of the city are highlighted in reds and greens to indicate agricultural areas, development areas, car parks etc. A reference key in the left hand corner lists the different types of areas and/or features.

Find out more about our Mapping our Exeter project & explore digitised maps (1587-1970s) from the collections in our online exhibit ➡️ specialcollectionsarchive.exeter.ac.uk/exhibits/sho...

📷 Edmund maps 942.359/E30 CIT; digitised by @dhlabexeter.bsky.social

#InternationalMapDay #MappingOurExeter

Catholic Library, Muslim Books In the 1950s and 1960s, the Dominicans in Cairo collected rare printed books in Arabic, particularly Muslim devotional works rarely found in other libraries.

"In the 1950s and 1960s, the Dominicans collected rare printed books in Arabic, particularly Muslim devotional works . . . These books are slim and ephemeral . . . Most other repositories of rare books in the Muslim world don’t think they’re worth collecting."

It all felt very positive!

Photo of two men in a pub cellar, one reading at a lectern with a skull at its foot, the other playing the violin. Both wear waistcoats

Incredible and emotionally turbulent reading of Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' tonight by @montagfire.bsky.social with Joshua Hamilton providinh an amazing improvised violin accompaniment for almost three hours

Photo of a pub cellar with the words 'Wine brings to light the hidden secrets of the soul' carved on a wooden roof beam overhead and a glass of red wine prominent in the foreground

"Wine brings to light the hidden secrets of the soul"... but I may need a few more glasses before the grand reveal

Photo of printed sheets of paper with colour image of an ambrotype portrait of a woman in the middle of the text

Pub proofreading #photohist

I saw a pair on the River Culm in Devon this morning, somewhat to my surprise

The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents | Fortune Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath said older generations “screwed up” giving students access to so much technology: “I genuinely hope Gen Z quickly figures that out and gets mad.”

Now THAT's a headline.

"The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents"

fortune.com/2026/02/21/l...

I'm delighted to announce that the paperback of Upon A White Horse: Journeys In Ancient Britain and Ireland will be published on April 23 by @headlinebooks.bsky.social. Just in time, I hope, for better weather that will allow people to visit some of the beautiful old places I write about.

Image of a copy of the book, Astrology and History in Early Islam: Aligning Heaven and Earth, by Antoine Borrut

GUYS GUYS GUYS my incredible colleague, Antoine Borrut, just texted me this pic, the BOOK IS IN HAND, which means you too can have it soon!

Astrology and History in Early Islam, coming out with Edinburgh!

Developing Indian pasts? The Archaeological Survey of India, ‘postcolonial’ archaeology, and technical assistance in Nepal - William Carruthers, 2026 This article examines archaeological assistance provided to Nepal by the Archaeological Survey of India as part of India’s aid efforts there in the 1960s. It de...

I have a new article out (open access!) about what the Archaeological Survey of India was doing in Nepal in the 1960s, with thoughts about the global complexity of post-war archaeological knowledge and the categories we use to understand it: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Photo of a glass negative showing the title page of a Puritan pamphlet 'Newes from Ipswich' with an illustration of a preacher beneath the title lettering - which is in white against a black background, as this is a negative image

Last night I dug out a box of glass negatives for something I'm working on

This may be of interest @karakmufti.bsky.social

Film still from 'Quadrophenia' (1979) showing Michael Elphick as the father of Jimmy Cooper (Phil Daniels), having an inter-generational disagreement

'Is this some sort of new fashion I haven't heard about?
Sopping wet trousers?'

Exactly. This is an advert. Not news.

I'm enjoying the BBC's Lord of the Flies but altho it's been years since I read it, I don't remember 'Piggy' being such a resourceful & assertive character in the novel. Time for a re-read (but I'm committed to Rites of Passage first). We have the original MS in @exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social

Look forward to catching up on this. In terms of French royalty, the episode on Catherine de Medici with
@estelleprnq.bsky.social
was an absolute joy

This is fantastic. Le Guin was one of the GOATs. Absolutely on point, as usual

Photo of a pylon by a river, with early morning mist rising off the wet fields beyond the far bank, trees in the background and clouds overhead

Alas, not such a good reflection here

Here is a cool call for the #bookhistory communities: “Women Printing for Institutions in Early Modern Europe”, at the HAB Wolfenbüttel (and organized by Saskia Limbach) in November 2026.

CFP: www.hab.de/wp-content/u...

The hillforts at Ire on Gotland were probably sites of defense and observation along the coast. There is a cliff towards the sea and a wall towards the land. There are c. 30 hillforts on Gotland on cliffs out of c. 100. There was also a Viking Age harbour at Ire. #HillfortsWednesday

Medieval Gender and Sexuality An introduction to conceptions of gender and sexuality in the medieval period. Each week historian Eleanor Janega discusses the philosophical and societal underpinnings that shaped culture and relatio...

My medieval gender and sexuality online courses is starting up again next week, and we have a couple spaces left if you want to come nerd out with me for six weeks.
share.google/Ye4kTijsrYee...

As the holy month of #Ramadan approaches, WCK is distributing Ramadan food kits to help families prepare daily meals. Each kit contains halal-certified staples and enough food for 70 meals—allowing families to gather each day in comfort and dignity. wck.org/ramadan-2026
#ChefsForGaza

Words Alive in Libraries - Literature Works Words Alive in Libraries is a fourth partnership with the South Western Regional Library Service, building on the success of previous writer tours of libraries around the south west.This time, the tou...

📚 WORDS ALIVE IN LIBRARIES 🌿

Looking for a moment of calm, reflection, and creative inspiration? Explore life writing, nature, and wellbeing with A Flat Place author @noreenmasud.bsky.social.

📅 26 March 2026
📍 University of Exeter (Streatham)

@swrls.bsky.social @literatureworks.bsky.social

Photo of a marble memorial in a park, with a bust of Olof Palme on top of four smooth panels

When in Slemani last year I went to visit his statue in the park named after him

Photo of a valley filled with mist, clearing to reveal the grassy ridge behind and fields below

Mist clearing over Raddon Top

Photo of an earth embankment with a gap in the middle, trees on either side, in mist

Misty morning on Cadbury Castle