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Malcolm Walsby

@lankian.bsky.social

Professor of book history, director of the Gabriel Naude research centre at Enssib (University of Lyon)

1,587 Followers  |  467 Following  |  112 Posts  |  Joined: 08.01.2024
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Posts by Malcolm Walsby (@lankian.bsky.social)

Focus - Quoi de neuf dans le patrimoine ? | Enssib

Quoi de neuf dans le patrimoine รฉcrit?

Je propose de faire le point le *20 mars* lors d'un focus de 3 heures en visio @enssib.bsky.social

On parlera technologies d'analyse, approches innovantes, dรฉcouvertes, projets, publications et leurs impacts!

Infos & inscription www.enssib.fr/l-offre-de-f...

27.02.2026 08:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

It was fantastic to hear your paper, I hope that we can entice you over to another event soon!

25.02.2026 13:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
The Sammelband Flyleaf nยฐย 8 The eighth issue of theย Sammelband Flyleafย is now available online. This issue of theย Flyleafย contains a full report on the Nicosia conference organised by Natasha Constantinidou of the University of ...

The latest issue of the Sammelband Flyleaf is online:

Read the report of the Nicosia conf. organised by @nconstantinidou.bsky.social, the programme of Rome event (28-30 April) organised by @rozanneversendaal.bsky.social & a portrait of Alessia Giachery (Marciana)!

sammelband.hypotheses.org/3088

25.02.2026 13:06 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
View of the open access article

View of the open access article

You can read the results in my latest article: 'Huellas materiales en el Persiles: un anรกlisis arqueolรณgico de un ejemplar de la ediciรณn parisina de 1617', available in open access: journals.openedition.org/e-spania/59174

(my first article in Spanish - please be indulgent!)

#bookhistory #Cervantes

23.02.2026 10:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Part of the title page of the 1617 Paris edition

Part of the title page of the 1617 Paris edition

Cervantes's last work, 'Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda', was published in Paris in 1617, the same year as the first Madrid edition.

To understand this edition & the context of how it was sold and read, I have analysed the @enssib.bsky.social copy using a book-archaeological approach...

1/2

23.02.2026 09:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Detail of an engraving of the massacre of Sens in 1562

Detail of an engraving of the massacre of Sens in 1562

In a time of massacres and religious conflict... The dangers of being identified as a Protestant in 1572:
renarchives.hypotheses.org/4816

My latest blog article with a unpublished document from @archives76.bsky.social

15.02.2026 13:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Des archives extraordinaires!

23.01.2026 17:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Engraving of three putti playing with an ostrich

Engraving of three putti playing with an ostrich

A disagreement over ostrich wool in Renaissance Rouen and fraudulent commercial practices...

My latest blog article with, as usual, an unpublished archival document:
renarchives.hypotheses.org/4502

(original kept in @archives76.bsky.social)

23.01.2026 07:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
Entre lโ€™atelier et le lecteur Lโ€™impression et la lecture des livres de la Renaissance sont dรฉjร  bien connues. Mais ce qui se passait entre le moment oรน lโ€™encre sรฉchait sur les feuilles dans lโ€™atelier de lโ€™imprimeur et celui oรน un ...

And for those who are interested in the book that looks at this from a French perspective, it is now available in #openaccess here: books.openedition.org/pur/298922

(so easy to read in automatic translation too!)

#bookhistory #earlymodernhistory #frenchhistory

13.01.2026 10:28 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Engraving of a woman selling books - it features on the cover of 'Entre l'atelier et le lecteur: Le commerce du livre imprimรฉ dans la France de la Renaissance': https://books.openedition.org/pur/298922

Engraving of a woman selling books - it features on the cover of 'Entre l'atelier et le lecteur: Le commerce du livre imprimรฉ dans la France de la Renaissance': https://books.openedition.org/pur/298922

For those of you who might be in _Berlin_ tomorrow, I will be talking about "Selling Printed Books: The Circulation and Distribution of Books in Europe (1450-1650)" at the _Institut fรผr Geschichtswissenschaften_ @humboldtuni.bsky.social at 6.15 pm at the kind invitation of Prof. Dr. Matthias Pohlig

13.01.2026 10:23 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Photo of the fragment of the incunable

Photo of the fragment of the incunable

A small fragment of a very early edition of Flavius Josephus's works printed in the Low Countries in around 1475.

The elegant pen-flourished initial probably saved this fragment...

(GW M15163 - @enssib.bsky.social collection)

#incunabula #incunable #fragmentology #fragments #bookhistory

02.12.2025 13:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 47    ๐Ÿ” 14    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Title page of the edition of the 'Sommaire des privilรจges, exemptions et indulgences'

Title page of the edition of the 'Sommaire des privilรจges, exemptions et indulgences'

Nice case of a fake '1584 Viterbo' edition, undoubtedly printed in Paris in the 1620s.

The give away ?

The coat of arms of Marie de Medici engraved on the title page with the royal crown of France...

#bookhistory

25.11.2025 14:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Start of the conclusion of an article

Start of the conclusion of an article

"CONCLUSIONS

I will refrain from drawing any real conclusions."

Ah, ok.

#academia

22.11.2025 07:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 18    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Preview
Nicosia conference programme . The thirteenth event organised by the Sammelband 15-16 project group on Sammelbรคnde and instruction will be held inย Nicosia, Cyprus fromย 19-21 November 2025. We are delighted to share the programme ...

Very pleased to be hosting the 13th Sammelband 15-16 event in Nicosia from tomorrow, co-organised with @lankian.bsky.social

You can take a look at the programme here:
sammelband.hypotheses.org/2810

18.11.2025 11:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
La Rirette โ€” Wikipรฉdia

These snippets of lost verse turn up in the most unlikely of places...

It's probably a variant of the well-known French bawdy song 'La Rirette'

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Rire...

14.11.2025 15:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Verse written on the cover of a register

Verse written on the cover of a register

To end the week, a few lines of an unknown 16th-century song jotted down on the cover of a notarial register in Le Puy en Velay:

'Et pourquoy se dormoit elle / La petite Jannetton / Et pourquoy se dormoit elle / Sur le chemin de Lyon'

14.11.2025 15:12 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Fรฉlicitations, Nicolas !

21.10.2025 18:49 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Sorry for answering a year late ... ๐Ÿ™„

13.10.2025 17:34 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

He is holding his heart... It is one of the most extraordinary pieces of renaissance art - just fantastic

13.10.2025 17:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Lovely double manicule !

(And Charles VI ๐Ÿ˜‰)

29.09.2025 14:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Glad it's made it north of the Channel!

24.09.2025 16:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Frankly, I would use whatever helps...

24.09.2025 07:31 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I have just noticed that it is now available as an eBook for just under โ‚ฌ 12 - a tariff-busting deal ๐Ÿ˜‚

24.09.2025 07:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Sure! If you dm me your email address, I will send you some information and photos!

19.09.2025 08:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

A lovely series of fragments in the binding of this Genevan imprint - so much to research about circulation from these manuscripts survivals (especially for works that should have been technically banned and are nevertheless in Catholic areas)!

12.09.2025 07:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thank you!

11.09.2025 21:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Full text: The printing and reading of Renaissance books have been extensively studied. But what happened between the printing of the pages in the workshop and the moment a reader picked up a volume has not attracted much attention. Yet this movement from the workshop to the reader was a crucial stage in the life of any publication. The analysis of this stage allows us to understand the true impact of printing. Local, national and international distribution, as well as the methods of selling printed matter, are fundamental to explaining how people gained access to books in Renaissance France. Drawing on previously unknown archival sources scattered throughout France and beyond, as well as the examination of tens of thousands of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century books preserved in numerous European libraries, this study offers a radically new approach to the first century and a half of the circulation and sale of printed books in France. It is the result of more than twenty years of research in the field.

Full text: The printing and reading of Renaissance books have been extensively studied. But what happened between the printing of the pages in the workshop and the moment a reader picked up a volume has not attracted much attention. Yet this movement from the workshop to the reader was a crucial stage in the life of any publication. The analysis of this stage allows us to understand the true impact of printing. Local, national and international distribution, as well as the methods of selling printed matter, are fundamental to explaining how people gained access to books in Renaissance France. Drawing on previously unknown archival sources scattered throughout France and beyond, as well as the examination of tens of thousands of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century books preserved in numerous European libraries, this study offers a radically new approach to the first century and a half of the circulation and sale of printed books in France. It is the result of more than twenty years of research in the field.

Here is an English synopsis of the book:

11.09.2025 08:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

Delighted to announce the publication of my latest book on the distribution and sale of printed books in Renaissance France...

(cheap at just โ‚ฌ 25 ๐Ÿ˜‰)
pur-editions.fr/product/1027...

#bookhistory #history #renaissance

11.09.2025 07:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 39    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Vous trouverez sur l'introduction et la table des matiรจres en suivant le lien!

11.09.2025 07:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Post image

Trรจs heureux d'annoncer la parution aujourd'hui aux @editionspur.bsky.social de ma derniรจre monographie: 'Entre l'atelier et le lecteur. Le commerce du livre imprimรฉ dans la France de la Renaissance'

Vous pouvez vous procurer un exemplaire ici:

pur-editions.fr/product/1027...

11.09.2025 07:40 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 17    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0