Early Modern How-to Books

In our latest blog post, Clément Poupard discusses his research on early modern memory manuals, which he shared at our recent workshop on 'Body - Health - Home' at the Herzog August Bibliothek.

👉 Find out more here: howtobook.hypotheses.org/4960

Last week we ran a 2-day workshop at the Herzog August Bibliothek on the theme of 'Body-Health-Home', featuring a host of great papers, a 17th-century salad reconstruction, and, of course, some amazing how-to books 📚

Read more here: howtobook.hypotheses.org/4800

#bookhistory #library #workshop

Lucy Havard (@caiuscollege.bsky.social) on Early Modern household compilations for the preservation of the body. Putting the surgeon’s word into practical context…

@howtobooks.bsky.social
@uofgartshums.bsky.social

Medieval manuscript

Making a medieval manuscript was an artful process that required many types of specialised knowledge.

Our latest article by @guyfassler.bsky.social is a catalogue of everything you need to know about making medieval books that would last a millennium.
scilicet.org.uk/everything-y... #skystorians

An etching of the Royal Fireworks display on the Thames, London, England 1749

🎆Happy #GuyFawkesDay!

Before and after the 1605 gunpowder plot, fireworks were an important part of celebrations. But what were they made of?

In our latest article, @jamesafox.bsky.social explores the fascinating book that taught the art of making fire

scilicet.org.uk/before-and-a... #Skystorians

Today on the blog: a magnificent find by @franceswolfreston.bsky.social of a book that the poet Katherine Philips gave to Mary Jeffreys; a discussion with important scholarly implications for the study of Philips earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com/2025/10/27/h... #EarlyModern #HerBook

👀 Want to find out more about our project?

Team members Alina Lange and Stefan Laube recently appeared on the Herzog August Library podcast to discuss the fascinating world of early modern how-to books.

👉 Listen along (in German) here: www.hab.de/podcast-22-v...

#bookhistory #libraries #podcast

What is the history of knowledge? | Scilicet Scilicet is a blog dedicated to the history of knowledge. In the broadest terms, we’re interested in what people in the past knew, what it meant to know things, and what we as historians can learn abo...

This week we have a special article in which we share our thoughts about the History of Knowledge and what it means to us.
It was great fun to write and we hope you will find it thought provoking!
#skystorians #historyofknowledge
scilicet.org.uk/what-is-the-...

The #cfp deadline for our 2026 conference on 'Print and Education is now just under 2 months away!!

If anyone would like to discuss a proposal with me, feel free to get in touch.

#bookhistory #Education #conference

Get involved! If you are interested in contributing to the project by sharing your books, please feel free to email the editor, Charlotte Epple, at cepple[at]sdu.dk. You can contribute by filling in the Crowdsource...

Tell me about your woman-owned books! Submit them via the survey below.
✔️ printed before 1900
✔️ contains evidence of female ownership (a signature e.g.)
#bookhistory
#crowdsourcing
#womenshistory

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

You're probably right! Ornamentation like that would've been almost impossible with movable type, so this is likely some kind of wood block technique.

Amazing, isn't it!?!

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

🐝 Beekeeping was a staple of early modern how-to books. A new blog post by @jamesafox.bsky.social explores the changing tone of English apicultural books...

#beekeeping #bookhistory

🚨 New publication from our Research Associate @jamesafox.bsky.social

#bookhistory

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

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

Where the How-to Land Is – A Sort of Milk and Honey The longer I work on our How-to project, the clearer it becomes: I grew up in a true How-to region – right in the heart of a city built on metalworking. A place where things weren’t made to be beautif...

In our latest blog post, Stefan Laube reflects on growing up in the 'true How-to Land' of Hagen in West Westphalia.

howtobook.hypotheses.org/4187

🚨Call for Papers: The 18th St Andrews/USTC Book History Conference on 'Print and Education' will take place 18–20 June 2026.

👉 Further details here: www.ustc.ac.uk/conference

📅 Application deadline: 12 December 2025

📖 We look forward to receiving your proposals!

#CfP #bookhistory #skystorians

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

I am looking very much forward to reading the publication!

Detail of Abraham Ortelius' hand coloured map of Europe focused on the North Sea with Antwerp and London depicted.

Registration for the Tudor England and the Antwerp Book Trade conference (8-11 July 2025) is now open!

Join us in person in wonderful Antwerp and sign up: tinyurl.com/TudorAntwerp! #EarlyModern #BookHistory #RareBooks

Spread the woooooord!

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

Call for Papers Between Marginal and Mainstream: Negotiating Experimental Practices and Medical Knowledge, 1600–1900 We are delighted to invite papers for our international conference Between Marginal and Mainstre…

Between Marginal and Mainstream: Negotiating Experimental Practices and Medical Knowledge, 1600–1900, with Paola Bertucci, Lauren Kassell, and Markku Hokkanen as keynotes #earlymodern #histmed elbowresearch.com/call-for-pap...

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