James Fox

We've joined the blue sky! Just as the skies darken for winter too

Please let your followers know that the Scottish History Society has arrived!

Find out more about memberships, the society, and events at our website: scottishhistorysociety.com

Thomas Simpson (1710–1761)

In our latest article, @jamesafox.bsky.social charts the meteoric rise and eventual decline of #18thcentury mathematician 🧮 Thomas Simpson.

👉 Read more here: scilicet.org.uk/becoming-a-m...

#history #mathematics #skystorians

Title page of Ein köstlich new kochbuck (1598)

In our latest blog post, intern Sandrine Hoppe explores the earliest known recipe book authored by a woman in vernacular German, Anna Wecker's Ein köstlich new kochbuck (1598)

howtobook.hypotheses.org/4596

#bookhistory #cookbook #blog

Leon Battista Alberti, (possibly) Self-Portrait, c. 1435

🤔 Is it better to learn from the wisdom of the ancients or from your experience gained over time?

📚 In our latest blog post, @guyfassler.bsky.social explores a 15th-century Tuscan dialogue debating that very question...
scilicet.org.uk/whats-the-po...

#bookhistory #medieval #knowledge

An early pamphlet printing of The World Turn’d Upside Down (1647).

What do beekeeping books tell us about changes in early modern science and society? @jamesafox.bsky.social has some suggestions, especially in relation to #17thCentury England scilicet.org.uk/the-hive-tur...
#Skystorians #EarlyModern #Bees #AnimalHistory

We're back from our summer break, and are ready for a new season ☀️ Keep an eye on this page tomorrow, there's something buzzing...

Great to see the latest issue of Scottish Archives in print! I've written a wee something about James VI's Scottish menagerie 🐆 🐪 👑

Looking forward to reading all the other fantastic contributions when my copy arrives!

That's very kind of you @mchapelproject.bsky.social, looking forward to reading yours too!

First page of 'Record-Keeping and the Business of Books in Pre-Union Edinburgh' by James Fox

The latest issue of Scottish Archives has now been published, featuring work from @mchapelproject.bsky.social @nicolemaceira.bsky.social @ksmcgregor.bsky.social and myself, among others. If anyone would like a PDF of my article, just send me a message!

#bookhistory #scottishhistory #Archives

In our latest #blog post, Stefan Laube explores the role of #how-to knowledge in the long span of human history

Read more here: howtobook.hypotheses.org/4498

Emblematically How-to in Vienna Every three years, in the height of summer, scholars from around the world come together to exchange ideas and explore new directions in emblem studies. This year’s conference, organized as always by ...

Earlier this summer, project members Billy Grove and @luisgomes.bsky.social introduced our project at the 13th Society for Emblem Studies conference in Vienna. Read more here:

howtobook.hypotheses.org/4453

#howto #emblems #conference

Aritmetiqve facile (1588)

New on our #blog: @jamesafox.bsky.social explores the unique #marginalia in a one-of-a-kind 16th-century French arithmetic book from the Herzog August Bibliothek 📖🇩🇪🧮

Read more here: howtobook.hypotheses.org/4415

#bookhistory #rarebooks #knowledge #mathematics

Medieval Elections I: The Duke of Athens goes to parliament | Scilicet In celebration of the UK 2024 general election, we delve into some intriguing and intricate elections from medieval Italy. This first one comes from 14th C. Florence and involves the mysterious Duke o...

Everyone likes a good villain. One who is just waiting for a biopic about him is Gautier de Brienne (duke of Athens) who briefly became the autocratic ruler of Florence. If you want to learn more about him, give this post a read or explore others in our back catalogue!
#Skystorians #Florence

Royal Doodles: Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden’s childhood drawings of horses | Scilicet A curious set of drawings by the future king of Sweden, 10 year old Gustav IV Adolf, shed some light on a royal childhood.

Before becoming the king of Sweden, young Gustav Adolf showed remarkable aptitude for drawing. His doodles of horses and military scenes give a fascinating insight into the childhood of a future king. Read our post here, and why not explore our back catalogue!
#Skystorians #Sweden #AnimalHistory

A rare treasure in the Ferguson collection: The true and perfect order to distill oyles (1575)

In our latest blog post @jamesafox.bsky.social examines the only surviving copy of the first Paracelsian medical text printed in English, 1575 - an important milestone in the history of Anglophone how-to books.

howtobook.hypotheses.org/4371

#bookhistory #rarebooks #medicalhistory

#bookhistory people get your proposals in 📖

Elmswell Hall in Yorkshire, where 17th-century landowner Henry Best handwrote a farming #how-to book for his son.
In our latest blog, @jamesafox.bsky.social compares Best's advice on beekeeping with a printed equivalent. 📚🐝

👉 howtobook.hypotheses.org/4150

#bookhistory #bees #nationalwritingday

Those Who Patch Know. On How-Toes that Flourish A flat bicycle tire is never welcome. It usually happens at the worst possible moment: on the way to my seminar or at the start to an excursion to the idyllic lakes in Brandenburg. Strangely, it almos...

New on our blog: Stefan Laube on the #howto of thrift, sustainability and making do...

📚 read more here: howtobook.hypotheses.org/3935

#blog #skystorians #thrift #sustainability

A drawing from the Aberdeen bestiary of a dog and two bees

Fantastic bees and where to find them 🐝 What can a #medieval book of strange animals teach us about kingship and ideal society? @guyfassler.bsky.social explains how the Aberdeen Bestiary can answer these questions in our latest post: scilicet.org.uk/fantastic-be... #Skystorians #MedievalHistory

Last month the Scottish 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and German 🇩🇪 sides of our project met in Glasgow. In our latest blog post, Alina Lange reports on a successful trip 👇
howtobook.hypotheses.org/3851

No laughing matter? The curious case of Cocker’s Arithmetick | Scilicet Why was Cocker’s Arithmetick, the most successful arithmetic textbook of its day, the butt of a joke?

Happy #NumeracyDay! ✖️➕➗🔢 We're celebrating by revisiting some excellent numeracy-related blog posts by @jamesafox.bsky.social First, we have the curious case of Cocker's Arithmetick being the butt of a joke scilicet.org.uk/no-laughing-... #SkyStorians #BookHistory #Numeracy

Really enjoyed working on this collaborative piece with @jamesafox.bsky.social and @guyfassler.bsky.social Hopefully the first of many more! #skystorians

Food for thought: Recipe books through history | Scilicet We all need to eat, but the way we do says much about our place in society. Looking at a range of recipe books through history shows this has long been the case.

We all need to eat, but the way we cook and share food says a lot about class, culture and identity. In our latest post, @guyfassler.bsky.social, @jamesafox.bsky.social and @nataliesmith.bsky.social dig in to some historical recipes from across Europe 🍽️
scilicet.org.uk/food-for-tho... #Skystorians

Whether on conduct or conversion, early modern etiquette manuals said much on the concept of 'galanterie'. 📖
Read more in our latest blog post by Stefan Laube 👇
howtobook.hypotheses.org/3633

#bookhistory #skystorians

I have finished posting the 420,000 words in Thomas Turner's diary of 18thC rural life ( as transcribed by Dean K Worcester). This is significantly more than the published edition (Vaisey, 1984). www.thomasturner.org.uk It's a work in progress. #18c

Detail of two of the [Four voting slips for the election of a Pope]. [Rome?: Reverenda Camera Apostolica?, 16--?], National Library of Scotland, Crawford.B.41(15). Reproduced with permission from materials on loan to the National Library of Scotland from the Balcarres Heritage Trust.

CONCLAVE! 🗝️

As we await white smoke, read about some rare printed objects from early modern conclaves preserved in @natlibscot.bsky.social! In this post, USTC postdoc, @ciaokatet.bsky.social, explores blank conclave vote tallying sheets and sample ballots. #conclave2025 www.ustc.ac.uk/news/conclave

Thank you, Claire!! And a big well done to George and Peter!

Many congratulations to @g-g-clay.bsky.social 🥇winner of the 2025 Hakluyt Society Essay Prize, and to runners up Peter Wells & James Fox
www.hakluyt.com
🏆👏🏆👏🏆👏

You may have heard of the 17th-century English diarist John Evelyn, but did you know he wrote a book on salad??
🥗 In our latest blog post, Alina Lange offers a taste of what Evelyn's 1699 Acetaria had to say on the subject of leafy meals...
howtobook.hypotheses.org/3708
#bookhistory #foodhistory

The woman who documented the weather every day for thirty-seven years | Scilicet Why did Janet Burnet of Kemnay House in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland, meticulously record the weather almost every day from 1758 to 1795?

Today is National Weather Observers Day! We're celebrating by revisiting our weather-related post. First, we have one by @jamesafox.bsky.social on Janet Burnet, who meticulously documented the weather in Aberdeenshire for 37 years scilicet.org.uk/the-woman-wh... #Skystorians #ScottishHistory #18thC