Simon Davies
@simonfd.bsky.social
Publishing Manager, @themhra.bsky.social
Co-editor of the MHRA Style Guide
Posting about scholarly publishing • History and future of the book • Book design, typography, typesetting 📚
Also work on the history of witchcraft & magic 🌒
• Views here my own
Co-editor of the MHRA Style Guide
Posting about scholarly publishing • History and future of the book • Book design, typography, typesetting 📚
Also work on the history of witchcraft & magic 🌒
• Views here my own
There are many things about the present world that baffle me; a small one is the lack of good computer mice. Surely a majority of people use one every day? Yet most are wrist-wrenchingly flat, wireless, & have no horizontal scroll. I guess people just haven't caught on that they could be better?
February 9, 2026 at 2:16 PM
There are many things about the present world that baffle me; a small one is the lack of good computer mice. Surely a majority of people use one every day? Yet most are wrist-wrenchingly flat, wireless, & have no horizontal scroll. I guess people just haven't caught on that they could be better?
Tolkien is the only author I can think of whose textual arcana get such lavish mainstream treatment. Even Shakespeare doesn't get quite this kind of luxury. Not saying Tolkien doesn't deserve it, but it's so clearly a cash grab all the same
Made use of the Harper Collins sale to buy yet more Tolkeiniana (with more on the way!)
Never quite understood what was actually in these books; surely a very misleading title for what seems to be just a bunch of early drafts. But high time I had copies all the same 🧙♂️
Never quite understood what was actually in these books; surely a very misleading title for what seems to be just a bunch of early drafts. But high time I had copies all the same 🧙♂️
February 6, 2026 at 1:51 PM
Tolkien is the only author I can think of whose textual arcana get such lavish mainstream treatment. Even Shakespeare doesn't get quite this kind of luxury. Not saying Tolkien doesn't deserve it, but it's so clearly a cash grab all the same
Made use of the Harper Collins sale to buy yet more Tolkeiniana (with more on the way!)
Never quite understood what was actually in these books; surely a very misleading title for what seems to be just a bunch of early drafts. But high time I had copies all the same 🧙♂️
Never quite understood what was actually in these books; surely a very misleading title for what seems to be just a bunch of early drafts. But high time I had copies all the same 🧙♂️
February 6, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Made use of the Harper Collins sale to buy yet more Tolkeiniana (with more on the way!)
Never quite understood what was actually in these books; surely a very misleading title for what seems to be just a bunch of early drafts. But high time I had copies all the same 🧙♂️
Never quite understood what was actually in these books; surely a very misleading title for what seems to be just a bunch of early drafts. But high time I had copies all the same 🧙♂️
Extremely minor yet persistant annoyance: when a web form flashes up 'please enter a valid email address' but you haven't finished typing your email address yet. A microscopic yet entirely preventable modern-world irritation.
February 6, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Extremely minor yet persistant annoyance: when a web form flashes up 'please enter a valid email address' but you haven't finished typing your email address yet. A microscopic yet entirely preventable modern-world irritation.
Reposted by Simon Davies
We're delighted to announce a range of new benefits of being a member of the MHRA, beginning this year: see our blog post for more details. We'd love to have you as a member!
www.mhra.org.uk/news/2026/02...
www.mhra.org.uk/news/2026/02...
Announcing our new MHRA Member Benefits
We have a new online membership platform, making it easier than ever to join, and many new benefits too.
www.mhra.org.uk
February 5, 2026 at 12:18 PM
We're delighted to announce a range of new benefits of being a member of the MHRA, beginning this year: see our blog post for more details. We'd love to have you as a member!
www.mhra.org.uk/news/2026/02...
www.mhra.org.uk/news/2026/02...
Love the restrained enthusiasm of this Lego catalogue from 1988: 'A most dramatic effect.'
February 3, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Love the restrained enthusiasm of this Lego catalogue from 1988: 'A most dramatic effect.'
Now there’s a text-to-margin ratio I can get behind 😄
(MS of the Quran, C18th, @thejohnrylands.bsky.social www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/MS-ARAB...)
(MS of the Quran, C18th, @thejohnrylands.bsky.social www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/MS-ARAB...)
February 3, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Now there’s a text-to-margin ratio I can get behind 😄
(MS of the Quran, C18th, @thejohnrylands.bsky.social www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/MS-ARAB...)
(MS of the Quran, C18th, @thejohnrylands.bsky.social www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/MS-ARAB...)
Very important statement from @modernlanguage.bsky.social that will be entirely ignored by university administrators
‘The instructional mission cannot be fulfilled in the absence of faculty expertise, and this expertise extends not only to the “content” of the curriculum but also to the infrastructures and environments—virtual and otherwise—in which learning happens.’
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
Statement on Educational Technologies and AI Agents
The following statement of endorsement was drafted by the MLA Task Force on AI in Research and Teaching. The Executive Council approved it as an MLA statement in October 2025.Software, specifically le...
www.mla.org
February 3, 2026 at 10:15 AM
Very important statement from @modernlanguage.bsky.social that will be entirely ignored by university administrators
‘The instructional mission cannot be fulfilled in the absence of faculty expertise, and this expertise extends not only to the “content” of the curriculum but also to the infrastructures and environments—virtual and otherwise—in which learning happens.’
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
Statement on Educational Technologies and AI Agents
The following statement of endorsement was drafted by the MLA Task Force on AI in Research and Teaching. The Executive Council approved it as an MLA statement in October 2025.Software, specifically le...
www.mla.org
February 3, 2026 at 10:14 AM
‘The instructional mission cannot be fulfilled in the absence of faculty expertise, and this expertise extends not only to the “content” of the curriculum but also to the infrastructures and environments—virtual and otherwise—in which learning happens.’
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
www.mla.org/Resources/Ad...
Copy of Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible online thanks to @thejohnrylands.bsky.social
Love the alternate colour running heads!
www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/PR-INCU...
Love the alternate colour running heads!
www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/PR-INCU...
February 2, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Copy of Gutenberg’s 42-line Bible online thanks to @thejohnrylands.bsky.social
Love the alternate colour running heads!
www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/PR-INCU...
Love the alternate colour running heads!
www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/PR-INCU...
Book-accurate Heathcliff casting
a man is sitting in front of candles and says i 'll find another
ALT: a man is sitting in front of candles and says i 'll find another
media.tenor.com
January 31, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Book-accurate Heathcliff casting
Reposted by Simon Davies
Rachel Reeves: "It is not right that people who don't go to university bear the cost for others to." I don't use local leisure centres and I don't drive, so will I be made exempt for taxation that pays for all that stuff? Or is it only education we'll be going after
January 29, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Rachel Reeves: "It is not right that people who don't go to university bear the cost for others to." I don't use local leisure centres and I don't drive, so will I be made exempt for taxation that pays for all that stuff? Or is it only education we'll be going after
I’ve never understood the point of requiring disclosure of ‘AI’ use. Either ban it or don’t. But in any case, it was always clear that most authors just wouldn’t bother disclosing it even if required to (especially if they used it to cheat).
Why Authors Aren’t Disclosing AI Use and What Publishers Should (Not) do About it scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2026/01/27/w...
Why Authors Aren't Disclosing AI Use and What Publishers Should (Not) do About it - The Scholarly Kitchen
Only a negligible percentage of authors seem to actually be disclosing their AI use. Here's why I think that's the case.
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org
January 27, 2026 at 11:10 AM
I’ve never understood the point of requiring disclosure of ‘AI’ use. Either ban it or don’t. But in any case, it was always clear that most authors just wouldn’t bother disclosing it even if required to (especially if they used it to cheat).
Reposted by Simon Davies
'Contributing'
Barbara Burns talks to Aggie Fanning, Co-Editor of the MHRA online PG/early-career journal 'Working Papers in the Humanities'.
👉 www.mhra.org.uk/news/2026/01...
Barbara Burns talks to Aggie Fanning, Co-Editor of the MHRA online PG/early-career journal 'Working Papers in the Humanities'.
👉 www.mhra.org.uk/news/2026/01...
January 26, 2026 at 9:57 AM
'Contributing'
Barbara Burns talks to Aggie Fanning, Co-Editor of the MHRA online PG/early-career journal 'Working Papers in the Humanities'.
👉 www.mhra.org.uk/news/2026/01...
Barbara Burns talks to Aggie Fanning, Co-Editor of the MHRA online PG/early-career journal 'Working Papers in the Humanities'.
👉 www.mhra.org.uk/news/2026/01...
Universities sending aggressive letters demanding rights retention + OA for their staff's research (instead of just reading our OA policy), then saying it's part of their commitment to a 'positive research culture' 🙄
January 23, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Universities sending aggressive letters demanding rights retention + OA for their staff's research (instead of just reading our OA policy), then saying it's part of their commitment to a 'positive research culture' 🙄
Parcel of Tolkien books from @harpercollins.bsky.social 😊
January 22, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Parcel of Tolkien books from @harpercollins.bsky.social 😊
One quite upsetting thing about the Fellowship movie that I noticed this time round though was that in the subtitles for the Elvish conversations they use a hyphen in place of a dash 🤦♂️
Surely the budget was big enough to get someone with even the most basic knowledge of punctuation to check them?!
Surely the budget was big enough to get someone with even the most basic knowledge of punctuation to check them?!
January 21, 2026 at 5:32 PM
One quite upsetting thing about the Fellowship movie that I noticed this time round though was that in the subtitles for the Elvish conversations they use a hyphen in place of a dash 🤦♂️
Surely the budget was big enough to get someone with even the most basic knowledge of punctuation to check them?!
Surely the budget was big enough to get someone with even the most basic knowledge of punctuation to check them?!
Interesting read! But the wrong conclusion, of course: commas and full points should (amost) always be given outside quotation marks. It makes more sense, and it looks better too 💁♂️😊
Until about a century ago, most publishers did “this.” But many publishers now do ‘this’, or “this”. Find out what happened, and why, in this newly updated post at CMOS Shop Talk.
Commas and Periods with Quotation Marks
In publications that follow Chicago style, commas and periods are placed before a closing quotation mark, “like this,” rather than after, “like this”. This convention has persisted even though it’s no...
cmosshoptalk.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Interesting read! But the wrong conclusion, of course: commas and full points should (amost) always be given outside quotation marks. It makes more sense, and it looks better too 💁♂️😊
It really is so good, and stands up so well. The best thing about reading Tolkien is not so much his plot (though that's great too) but his beautiful prose -- and the film lifts so much dialogue straight from the book that it manages to get some of that across. Helped by great performances, ofc.
Excited to be seeing the (extended) Fellowship of the Ring in the cinema this evening! Hard to believe it's been 25 years. The 2nd and 3rd films were mostly tripe, but the 1st did real justice to the book. In a spooky coincidence, I'd just started re-reading it, a day or so before I heard the news 😯
January 20, 2026 at 1:35 PM
It really is so good, and stands up so well. The best thing about reading Tolkien is not so much his plot (though that's great too) but his beautiful prose -- and the film lifts so much dialogue straight from the book that it manages to get some of that across. Helped by great performances, ofc.
Excited to be seeing the (extended) Fellowship of the Ring in the cinema this evening! Hard to believe it's been 25 years. The 2nd and 3rd films were mostly tripe, but the 1st did real justice to the book. In a spooky coincidence, I'd just started re-reading it, a day or so before I heard the news 😯
January 19, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Excited to be seeing the (extended) Fellowship of the Ring in the cinema this evening! Hard to believe it's been 25 years. The 2nd and 3rd films were mostly tripe, but the 1st did real justice to the book. In a spooky coincidence, I'd just started re-reading it, a day or so before I heard the news 😯
Seriously, @adobe.com? Just... why?
There's something so deeply and nastily misanthropic about this.
@adobelive.bsky.social
There's something so deeply and nastily misanthropic about this.
@adobelive.bsky.social
January 18, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Seriously, @adobe.com? Just... why?
There's something so deeply and nastily misanthropic about this.
@adobelive.bsky.social
There's something so deeply and nastily misanthropic about this.
@adobelive.bsky.social
So apparently these days searching 'books and items in the library' includes books that can only be accessed online? Librarians clearly using some new and unusual definition of the phrase 'in the library' that I've never heard of before
January 18, 2026 at 2:45 PM
So apparently these days searching 'books and items in the library' includes books that can only be accessed online? Librarians clearly using some new and unusual definition of the phrase 'in the library' that I've never heard of before
Think I just encountered my first hallucinated source. Doing some reading for a thing, found a completely trash ‘AI’-generated ‘analysis’ slop page, thought at least the further reading might be of use. They can’t even get that right 🙄
January 17, 2026 at 12:08 PM
Think I just encountered my first hallucinated source. Doing some reading for a thing, found a completely trash ‘AI’-generated ‘analysis’ slop page, thought at least the further reading might be of use. They can’t even get that right 🙄
'Declining this request sparks joy in me' 😅
January 16, 2026 at 11:56 AM
'Declining this request sparks joy in me' 😅