Stewart J. Brookes
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stewartbrookes.bsky.social
Stewart J. Brookes
@stewartbrookes.bsky.social
Cataloguing medieval manuscripts @bodleianlibs| Co-director of Models of Authority: http://www.modelsofauthority.ac.uk | F-shaped "y" is where it's at!
Reposted by Stewart J. Brookes
Nine...
I've received EIGHT #Voynich solutions in November alone. Can that pace be sustained? Stay tuned...
November 7, 2025 at 4:50 PM
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I’m excited to be presenting at Limmud Festival 2025 – a celebration of Jewish learning, culture, and creativity!
Join me (and about 2000 others!) for an unforgettable experience this December.
👉 You can book now at www.limmud.org/festival
November 13, 2025 at 5:18 PM
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Living my best life![1]
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk MS. Broxb. 90.28)

[1] Aside from playing board games with my kids 😏
November 6, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Stewart J. Brookes
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk MS. Addit. B. 1. The manuscript has been described and edited by Frank Klaassen in his book "Making Magic in Elizabethan England" (he calls it the "Antiphoner Notebook") doi.org/10.5325/j.ct...
November 6, 2025 at 5:33 PM
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Just found out about this amazing example of #manuscript #recycling . The whole manuscript is made up from the margins of an earlier liturgical manuscript, cut out and rearranged (hence the unusual format), the (mostly) blank margins then used to copy various magical texts in the mid 16th century.
November 6, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Living my best life![1]
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk MS. Broxb. 90.28)

[1] Aside from playing board games with my kids 😏
November 6, 2025 at 5:22 PM
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I love visiting a fellow art historian’s home and looking at the bookshelves where the evidence of shared disciplinary foundations are written right there in the near perfect replication of my library in theirs.
November 2, 2025 at 10:56 PM
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Eleven #Manuscripts from the #Vatican this week www.wiglaf.org/vatican/2025...
Includes a text on the Barberini Lyre, more papal writings, Caesar's Wars (several), some Neo-Latin, a catalogue of printed books... and more! #MedievalSky #Skystorians
Vatican Manuscripts Added Week 44 of 2025
Eleven total manuscripts were digitized in the past week. These consisted of six from Barb.lat, four from Ott.lat, and a single volume, a 17th C catalogue of printed books, from Vat.lat. To the right...
www.wiglaf.org
November 2, 2025 at 11:08 PM
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I regret to inform you all that Kpop demon hunters is exactly as fun and delightful as everyone has been saying
November 2, 2025 at 6:00 PM
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I hate it when everybody is right!
November 2, 2025 at 6:48 PM
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Well played, Connections! I didn’t stand a ghost of a chance…
November 1, 2025 at 9:48 PM
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may not make it in the actual book).

Right, that's long enough! But please do share and help me make this happen 🫶🎨📚

Here's the link again:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/maj...
#islamicart #medievalsky #historicalinks #recreation
Coming soon: Inks & Paints of the Middle East REVISED
A new, updated edition of my groundbreaking handbook of early Islamic art technology, incorporating five more years of research.
www.kickstarter.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:24 PM
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… it's time for another Kickstarter. I'm still hammering out some details, but plan to launch in November. If you have an interest in this area, I'd love it if you signed up to be notified and/or shared the link with someone who would be. Read on for more info…

www.kickstarter.com/projects/maj...
Coming soon: Inks & Paints of the Middle East REVISED
A new, updated edition of my groundbreaking handbook of early Islamic art technology, incorporating five more years of research.
www.kickstarter.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Stewart J. Brookes
Is there anyone on Bsky who remembers this book? It's been out of print for a while, because it needs revising in the light of 5 more years of research & experience (including a proper translation of Umdat ul-Kuttab). Being unpaid work, I've simply not been able to prioritise this, so I've decided…
October 28, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Stewart J. Brookes
It is true: many things were indeed invented in early modernity! It is also true that many things were only “invented” in early modernity because modern historians don’t like reading Latin or Arabic or Greek.
November 1, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Well played, Connections! I didn’t stand a ghost of a chance…
November 1, 2025 at 9:48 PM
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Not a recommendation, just a discovery made off the back of your post (via a Reddit discussion about how Memrise had killed itself off): mylittlewordland.com/course/35118...
My Little Word Land
mylittlewordland.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:59 PM
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Take a look at this 12th century collection of works by Augustine. It's written in a clear transitional (or protogothic) script by 4 different hands, and is simply decorated with large initials in red. Look for a mend in the parchment! (UPenn Ms. Codex 708) #medievalsky

🔗: https://bit.ly/471CL1p
October 22, 2025 at 4:28 PM
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Social media was invented for this sort of thing:
This Missal (Texts for the Mass), written in Gothic textualis script, contains a few large red and blue initials with penwork, and a full-page miniature of the Crucifixion. The binding is very early; it may even be original. Northern Italy, 1375-1425 (UPenn Ms. Codex 2053)

🔗: https://bit.ly/4qbm2A9
October 20, 2025 at 7:16 PM
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Unreasonably delighted to be teaching a seminar on Luxeuil minuscule (one of THE most difficult scripts IMO) and to be asked for help with this word …
October 21, 2025 at 1:29 PM
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On the off chance someone who follows me is also in Dublin sometime in the next week- this exhibition was amazing and totally worth a visit
Due to popular demand the "Words on the Wave" exhibition will extend it's run until Monday 27th Oct. Don't miss your last chance to see these unique early medieval treasures at the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St.
www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museum...
Words on the Wave: Ireland and St. Gallen in Early Medieval Europe | Archaeology | National Museum of Ireland
Discover how science, art, archaeology and the study of script help reveal the links between Ireland and Europe
www.museum.ie
October 20, 2025 at 8:10 PM
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A reminder that this is on this very afternoon, 21st instant:
An opportunity next Tuesday at 5:30pm to enjoy some palaeography without moving from the comfort of your own chair:
Next Tuesday the Medieval Manuscripts Seminar is online. Kate Gerry will be sharing her work on the Guthlac Roll. Book 👇 ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
October 21, 2025 at 9:11 AM
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Call for papers for @eccleshistsoc.bsky.social's upcoming Winter meeting!
October 21, 2025 at 9:30 AM
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For #CoffeeWithACodex on October 23 (Noon ET, on Zoom), we'll bring out CAJS Rar Ms. 534, a manuscript written by Moses Gomez de Mesquita documenting his administration and institution of prayer customs for the Sephardim in England.. #medievalsky #cwac

Register here: https://bit.ly/4oldipr
Coffee with a Codex: Sephardim in England
For Coffee With A Codex on October 23, Judaica Special Collections Cataloging Librarian Louis Meiselman will bring out CAJS Rar Ms. 534, a manuscript written by Moses Gomez de Mesquita documenting his...
bit.ly
October 19, 2025 at 7:18 PM