Lisa Fagin Davis
@lisafdavis.bsky.social
Medievalist, Paleographer, Codicologist, Voynichologist; Executive Director, @medievalacademy.bsky.social; Brown Univ. and Yale Univ. alum; PhD; Red Sox fan
BEAUVAIS MISSAL ALERT! I am so excited that @rarebookschool.bsky.social acquired this leaf! Here's its record in @fragmentarium.bsky.social , updated with the new location! Can't wait to use this for teaching in '26! fragmentarium.ms/overview/F-0...
December 24, 2025 at 5:29 PM
BEAUVAIS MISSAL ALERT! I am so excited that @rarebookschool.bsky.social acquired this leaf! Here's its record in @fragmentarium.bsky.social , updated with the new location! Can't wait to use this for teaching in '26! fragmentarium.ms/overview/F-0...
MAJOR congratulations to all of the contributors and editors of this issue of Speculum, commemorating one hundred years of the @medievalacademy.bsky.social journal! Dozens of short essays on the past, present, and future of Medieval Studies. It's SO good! www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/spc/curr...
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
December 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
MAJOR congratulations to all of the contributors and editors of this issue of Speculum, commemorating one hundred years of the @medievalacademy.bsky.social journal! Dozens of short essays on the past, present, and future of Medieval Studies. It's SO good! www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/spc/curr...
Reposted by Lisa Fagin Davis
Interested in Greek Palaeography?
You might be interested in treating yourself to our short course with Dr Laura Franco 4-6 February.
Find out more and sign up here: buff.ly/XSr1Krk
#GreekPalaeography #ShortCourse
You might be interested in treating yourself to our short course with Dr Laura Franco 4-6 February.
Find out more and sign up here: buff.ly/XSr1Krk
#GreekPalaeography #ShortCourse
December 24, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Interested in Greek Palaeography?
You might be interested in treating yourself to our short course with Dr Laura Franco 4-6 February.
Find out more and sign up here: buff.ly/XSr1Krk
#GreekPalaeography #ShortCourse
You might be interested in treating yourself to our short course with Dr Laura Franco 4-6 February.
Find out more and sign up here: buff.ly/XSr1Krk
#GreekPalaeography #ShortCourse
Reading about Ethel #Voynich (1864-1960) today for some writing and wow, what a life! Her father George Boole developed the idea of Boolean Logic. Her mother Mary was the librarian at Queen's College London. Four sisters, all math geniuses.
December 23, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reading about Ethel #Voynich (1864-1960) today for some writing and wow, what a life! Her father George Boole developed the idea of Boolean Logic. Her mother Mary was the librarian at Queen's College London. Four sisters, all math geniuses.
Played it twice now. First time, we realized at the end that we were doing it wrong which is why it didn't make sense. Second time, we got out the wine & reread the instructions & played it correctly & it was really fun! (even though we didn't "solve" the #Voynich Manuscript...maybe next time!) 🧵
December 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Played it twice now. First time, we realized at the end that we were doing it wrong which is why it didn't make sense. Second time, we got out the wine & reread the instructions & played it correctly & it was really fun! (even though we didn't "solve" the #Voynich Manuscript...maybe next time!) 🧵
Away message ON! See you next year!
a child is driving a red toy car down a street .
ALT: a child is driving a red toy car down a street .
media.tenor.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Away message ON! See you next year!
Reposted by Lisa Fagin Davis
Happy #solstice! 10th-c. monk/scholar Aelfric reminds us that the winter solstice heralds spring: "...but when [the sun] turns [northward] again, it drives away the winter chill with its hot rays." (British Library Cotton MS Caligula A XV f. 146r) #MedievalSky
December 21, 2024 at 1:55 PM
Happy #solstice! 10th-c. monk/scholar Aelfric reminds us that the winter solstice heralds spring: "...but when [the sun] turns [northward] again, it drives away the winter chill with its hot rays." (British Library Cotton MS Caligula A XV f. 146r) #MedievalSky
It is so wonderful to see this project come to fruition! When Melissa Conway & I compiled our "Directory of Collections in the US & Canada with Pre-1600 Manuscript Holdings," @peripheralmss.bsky.social was exactly what we hoped would happen next: onsite discovery and online cataloguing of mss!
Metadata is hard especially for Medieval Manuscripts ... check out our latest blog post about the @peripheralmss.bsky.social project: peripheralmss.org/metadata-for.... #midwestmss #medievalmss
Metadata for Discovery of Medieval Manuscripts Materials – The Peripheral Manuscripts Project
peripheralmss.org
December 20, 2025 at 11:16 PM
It is so wonderful to see this project come to fruition! When Melissa Conway & I compiled our "Directory of Collections in the US & Canada with Pre-1600 Manuscript Holdings," @peripheralmss.bsky.social was exactly what we hoped would happen next: onsite discovery and online cataloguing of mss!
I got it in 4, but only because I'm a medievalist who wrote a dissertation that was partly about the Magi...
"I think today's Wordle word is actually the worst in the entire history of the game."
Wordle 1644 is trending as Friday's puzzle is breaking many streaks. How did you do?
Wordle 1644 is trending as Friday's puzzle is breaking many streaks. How did you do?
Wordle - A daily word game
Guess the hidden word in 6 tries. A new puzzle is available each day.
nyti.ms
December 19, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I got it in 4, but only because I'm a medievalist who wrote a dissertation that was partly about the Magi...
Here's a lovely story about mentoring and manuscripts! I was contacted a few weeks ago by Senior at Florida State University in Tallahassee who was looking for career advice about Library Science programs. Naturally we started talking about medieval manuscripts, as one does...
December 18, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Here's a lovely story about mentoring and manuscripts! I was contacted a few weeks ago by Senior at Florida State University in Tallahassee who was looking for career advice about Library Science programs. Naturally we started talking about medieval manuscripts, as one does...
Happy Hannukah from me and the @bostonbruins.bsky.social!
December 17, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Happy Hannukah from me and the @bostonbruins.bsky.social!
So excited to share my latest work on sorting out the almost-certainly-mixed-up pages of the #Voynich Manuscript!
Returning to the 2026 Annual Meeting: morning workshops! This year's program will feature 3 synchronous panels, each featuring 3 presentations and a group Q&A.
Choose "Bibliographical Lore" on your Annual Meeting registration to hear Lisa Fagin Davis share her research!
@lisafdavis.bsky.social
Choose "Bibliographical Lore" on your Annual Meeting registration to hear Lisa Fagin Davis share her research!
@lisafdavis.bsky.social
December 16, 2025 at 8:04 PM
So excited to share my latest work on sorting out the almost-certainly-mixed-up pages of the #Voynich Manuscript!
woot!
An interim version of the Explore Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue is now available through the BL website: searcharchives.bl.uk
It contains all the catalogue data from the eve of the 2023 cyberattack, and features embedded links to all currently available digitised content within the records.
It contains all the catalogue data from the eve of the 2023 cyberattack, and features embedded links to all currently available digitised content within the records.
December 16, 2025 at 1:27 AM
woot!
First candle. Gotta keep lighting those lights to break up the darkness.
December 14, 2025 at 9:51 PM
First candle. Gotta keep lighting those lights to break up the darkness.
Looking for a last-minute gift for the hard-to-please medievalist in your life? I've got just the thing! #MedievalSky
MAA Gift Memberships
Looking for a special holiday or graduation gift for the medievalists in your life? The Medieval Academy of America makes it easy to purchase gift memberships!
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/maa-gift-mem...
Looking for a special holiday or graduation gift for the medievalists in your life? The Medieval Academy of America makes it easy to purchase gift memberships!
www.themedievalacademyblog.org/maa-gift-mem...
December 12, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Looking for a last-minute gift for the hard-to-please medievalist in your life? I've got just the thing! #MedievalSky
OK #MedievalSky, what in the world is going on in this miniature from the St. Alexis Hours? It doesn't fit into the other narratives we're rebuilt (Life of St. Alexis and the Life of St. Katherine). The iconography is a mystery! St. Apollonia? But why?
December 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
OK #MedievalSky, what in the world is going on in this miniature from the St. Alexis Hours? It doesn't fit into the other narratives we're rebuilt (Life of St. Alexis and the Life of St. Katherine). The iconography is a mystery! St. Apollonia? But why?
*spits coffee while laughing*
Time again for my favorite christmas post ever, one that still makes me laugh every time i read it
December 10, 2025 at 3:39 PM
*spits coffee while laughing*
Reposted by Lisa Fagin Davis
A rare 15th-century Jewish prayer book, confiscated from the Rothschild banking dynasty during the Holocaust, has been returned by Austria to the Rothschild family. It will be sold at Sotheby's next year for an estimated $5 million to $7 million.
Rare 15th Century Jewish Prayer Book, Looted by the Nazis, to Be Sold
The illuminated manuscript, confiscated from the Rothschild banking dynasty during the Holocaust, is expected to draw at least $5 million.
nyti.ms
December 10, 2025 at 1:25 PM
A rare 15th-century Jewish prayer book, confiscated from the Rothschild banking dynasty during the Holocaust, has been returned by Austria to the Rothschild family. It will be sold at Sotheby's next year for an estimated $5 million to $7 million.
Look what my awesome @simmonsuniversity.bsky.social Library Science students did! This year, we studied a manuscript broken in the 1980s (likely by Ferrini, but we don't know for sure). It's generally known as the Hours of St. Alexis because many of the roundels illustrate scenes from his Vita...
December 9, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Look what my awesome @simmonsuniversity.bsky.social Library Science students did! This year, we studied a manuscript broken in the 1980s (likely by Ferrini, but we don't know for sure). It's generally known as the Hours of St. Alexis because many of the roundels illustrate scenes from his Vita...
This project is so cool
A digital atlas of ancient Rome’s highways and byways reveals a road network that was more extensive than thought, according to a study published last month.
All 187,460 Miles of Road That Led to Rome, Mapped
A digital atlas of ancient Rome’s highways and byways reveals a road network that was more extensive than thought.
nyti.ms
December 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
This project is so cool
#BeauvaisMissal sighting! The Kansas nuns who own this leaf reproduced it on the cover of an album of Gregorian Chant their choir recorded in the 1970s...which I own, naturally!
December 4, 2025 at 8:40 PM
#BeauvaisMissal sighting! The Kansas nuns who own this leaf reproduced it on the cover of an album of Gregorian Chant their choir recorded in the 1970s...which I own, naturally!
Reposted by Lisa Fagin Davis
The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored all previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge
"Restoration of these grants is a massive win for libraries of all kinds in all states."
"Restoration of these grants is a massive win for libraries of all kinds in all states."
ALA welcomes reinstatement of all federal IMLS grants to libraries
Today, the American Library Association (ALA) greeted an announcement by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that it had reinstated all the agency’s grants.
www.ala.org
December 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored all previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge
"Restoration of these grants is a massive win for libraries of all kinds in all states."
"Restoration of these grants is a massive win for libraries of all kinds in all states."
PSA: this is not an invitation! Truth is, I cannot possibly take the time to carefully read and review every #Voynich "solution" sent to me, & most are definitely not worth the trouble as they are AI-generated slop. If you've got a "solution", post it to a forum & you'll get plenty of feedback!
Total number of #Voynich solutions received in November = 18. Can we break that record in December? I've received two already this month, so I'm well on my way...
December 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM
PSA: this is not an invitation! Truth is, I cannot possibly take the time to carefully read and review every #Voynich "solution" sent to me, & most are definitely not worth the trouble as they are AI-generated slop. If you've got a "solution", post it to a forum & you'll get plenty of feedback!
Total number of #Voynich solutions received in November = 18. Can we break that record in December? I've received two already this month, so I'm well on my way...
December 3, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Total number of #Voynich solutions received in November = 18. Can we break that record in December? I've received two already this month, so I'm well on my way...
One of the things I love about Uber and Lyft is when drivers introduce me to new music. Today I heard Dimash Qudaibergen for the first time and my life will never be the same. Damn, that man can sing.
December 2, 2025 at 11:38 PM
One of the things I love about Uber and Lyft is when drivers introduce me to new music. Today I heard Dimash Qudaibergen for the first time and my life will never be the same. Damn, that man can sing.