Dr. Tara Lyons
@tarallyons.bsky.social
Professor; Bibliography, women and libraries, early modern books and storage; book trade, histories of information; playbooks; Shakespeare; English literature, drama, cats, horses, bees, and little furry critters
Pinned
Dr. Tara Lyons
@tarallyons.bsky.social
· Jun 26
In 1671, Rachel (Fane) Bouchier, the Countess of Bath, purchased £200 of books for the library at @tcddublin.bsky.social The books were housed together and known as “The Countess of Bath’s Library.” This week I reconstructed the bequest, with the help of the amazing TCD librarians.
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
January 9, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Honored to have received the Outstanding University Teaching Award for Tenured Faculty from Illinois State University.
January 8, 2026 at 1:14 AM
Honored to have received the Outstanding University Teaching Award for Tenured Faculty from Illinois State University.
Lovely annotation designs too.
In our first blog post of 2026, @franceswolfreston.bsky.social discusses a religious books with some unusual inscriptions by one or two early modern women named Martha earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/r... #HerBook #C17 #EarlyModern
Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reede, and Smoaking Flax (1631)
This second edition copy of theologian Richard Sibbes’s The Bruised Reede, and Smoaking Flax (1631) contains the ownership inscriptions of two early modern women named Martha. The book was original…
earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Lovely annotation designs too.
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
Delighted to have a brand new post from @tamarajatkin.bsky.social with some excellent research on more books owned by Bathsua Makin; the picture of Makin as a writer is becoming more complex with each discovery earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com/2025/11/24/b... #EarlyModern #HerBook
Bathsua Reginal Makin’s Books at Dulwich College, London
By Tamara Atkin In a blog post earlier this year, I announced the discovery of a book once owned by the ten-year-old Bathsua Reginal Makin, scholar and teacher, who in the 1640s was tutor to Prince…
earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Delighted to have a brand new post from @tamarajatkin.bsky.social with some excellent research on more books owned by Bathsua Makin; the picture of Makin as a writer is becoming more complex with each discovery earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com/2025/11/24/b... #EarlyModern #HerBook
This arrived in the mail today. My essay analyzes Greg’s Bibliography of English Printed Drama and its idiosyncratic taxonomies for “Collections,” which prioritized canonical authors like Shakespeare but completely excluded dramatists like Margaret Cavendish.
November 17, 2025 at 9:29 PM
This arrived in the mail today. My essay analyzes Greg’s Bibliography of English Printed Drama and its idiosyncratic taxonomies for “Collections,” which prioritized canonical authors like Shakespeare but completely excluded dramatists like Margaret Cavendish.
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
Just discovering this database of books as symbols in Renaissance art--a wonderful resource #EarlyModern #HerBook basiraproject.org
BASIRA • Books as Symbols in Renaissance Art
basiraproject.org
August 27, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Just discovering this database of books as symbols in Renaissance art--a wonderful resource #EarlyModern #HerBook basiraproject.org
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
Today on the blog: a fascinating discussion by @franceswolfreston.bsky.social on a book on marriage and choosing a wife owned by Elizabeth Cromwell, a cousin of Oliver Cromwell earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com/2025/08/04/e... #HerBook #EarlyModern
Alexander Niccholes, A Discourse of Marriage and Wiving (1615)
A Discourse of Marriage and Wiving and of the Greatest Mystery Therein Contained: How to Choose a Good Wife from a Bad was written by Alexander Niccholes, self-identified as a “Batchelour in the Ar…
earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com
August 4, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Today on the blog: a fascinating discussion by @franceswolfreston.bsky.social on a book on marriage and choosing a wife owned by Elizabeth Cromwell, a cousin of Oliver Cromwell earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com/2025/08/04/e... #HerBook #EarlyModern
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
Just read (+ blurbed) the galleys of this book! It's 🌟🎉🪴🔥💕!! A thrilling, moving, heartening text, given shape through @dorothyjberry.bsky.social's + @wehere.bsky.social's clever play on bibliographic + bureaucratic form. Such a ✨ mix of protocol + improvisation. Can't wait to see this out in the 🌏
There is so much bad news on micro and macro levels lately, I will share a little personal win. Here is a sneak peek at a very early dummy of the interior layout for my book "The House Archives Built, and Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibility," upcoming from @wehere.bsky.social press.
August 12, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Just read (+ blurbed) the galleys of this book! It's 🌟🎉🪴🔥💕!! A thrilling, moving, heartening text, given shape through @dorothyjberry.bsky.social's + @wehere.bsky.social's clever play on bibliographic + bureaucratic form. Such a ✨ mix of protocol + improvisation. Can't wait to see this out in the 🌏
A fantastic book history project!
Today we have a great new blog post from MEMOs team member Dr Nat Cutter, who maps networks of readership on the Maghreb in eighteenth century Britain
memorients.com/articles/rea...
memorients.com/articles/rea...
Reading the Maghreb in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Part 2: Networks of Readership | MEMOs
Books are one of the few material items from the past that can be with certainty connected with a particular owner.
memorients.com
August 4, 2025 at 3:29 PM
A fantastic book history project!
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
And ... voila!
Thanks again to my sharp-eyed copyeditor, and to @joshuajfriedman.com and @bcdreyer.social!
Just more evidence that social media can be a force for good (grammar) ...
Thanks again to my sharp-eyed copyeditor, and to @joshuajfriedman.com and @bcdreyer.social!
Just more evidence that social media can be a force for good (grammar) ...
July 31, 2025 at 8:02 PM
And ... voila!
Thanks again to my sharp-eyed copyeditor, and to @joshuajfriedman.com and @bcdreyer.social!
Just more evidence that social media can be a force for good (grammar) ...
Thanks again to my sharp-eyed copyeditor, and to @joshuajfriedman.com and @bcdreyer.social!
Just more evidence that social media can be a force for good (grammar) ...
Wow, is the spine still intact?!! Incredible!
July 31, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Wow, is the spine still intact?!! Incredible!
This is what I’m talkin’ about!! Thick, stout, and chonky!!
I have one of 2286 pages in quarto. leocadogan.com/products/sto...
STOUT COMPANION TO LUTHER
[Luther, Martin] Gruber, Erasmus: Zwölff geistliche brod-körbe, mit allerley heylsamen bröcklein nutzlicher erbaulicher materien angefüllet, und auss der reichen brod-kammer der zwolff Wittenbergische...
leocadogan.com
July 31, 2025 at 6:14 PM
This is what I’m talkin’ about!! Thick, stout, and chonky!!
Early Modern Biblionerds: I’m looking for some thick books before 1700. what is the longest book (in pages, not words) printed before 1700? what about in quarto format?
July 31, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Early Modern Biblionerds: I’m looking for some thick books before 1700. what is the longest book (in pages, not words) printed before 1700? what about in quarto format?
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
#Bees 🐝 1744 book! "Melisselogia: Or, the Female Monarchy..." printed in London for author John Thorley.
4 plates of illustrations & 10 chapters covering everything bees!
Catalog: bit.ly/melisselogia...
#Pollinators #18thCentury #NatureSky #IllustratedBooks #NaturalHistory #nature #RareBooks
4 plates of illustrations & 10 chapters covering everything bees!
Catalog: bit.ly/melisselogia...
#Pollinators #18thCentury #NatureSky #IllustratedBooks #NaturalHistory #nature #RareBooks
July 24, 2025 at 2:03 PM
#Bees 🐝 1744 book! "Melisselogia: Or, the Female Monarchy..." printed in London for author John Thorley.
4 plates of illustrations & 10 chapters covering everything bees!
Catalog: bit.ly/melisselogia...
#Pollinators #18thCentury #NatureSky #IllustratedBooks #NaturalHistory #nature #RareBooks
4 plates of illustrations & 10 chapters covering everything bees!
Catalog: bit.ly/melisselogia...
#Pollinators #18thCentury #NatureSky #IllustratedBooks #NaturalHistory #nature #RareBooks
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
The real reason academic conferences exist is that after you have marinated your brain in hundreds of books on a single field of study for 10+ years there are only so many people you can speak coherent sentences to, and it’s a pleasure to have them all in one place 😅
July 10, 2025 at 11:36 AM
The real reason academic conferences exist is that after you have marinated your brain in hundreds of books on a single field of study for 10+ years there are only so many people you can speak coherent sentences to, and it’s a pleasure to have them all in one place 😅
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
Booklist preserved from 3rd century Memphis (P. Petropol. 13).
Kind of cool to see that they had a copy of Aristotle's "Athenaion Politeia" (line 12)! (From Wilcken "Chrestomathie" n. 155)
Kind of cool to see that they had a copy of Aristotle's "Athenaion Politeia" (line 12)! (From Wilcken "Chrestomathie" n. 155)
July 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Booklist preserved from 3rd century Memphis (P. Petropol. 13).
Kind of cool to see that they had a copy of Aristotle's "Athenaion Politeia" (line 12)! (From Wilcken "Chrestomathie" n. 155)
Kind of cool to see that they had a copy of Aristotle's "Athenaion Politeia" (line 12)! (From Wilcken "Chrestomathie" n. 155)
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
‘As J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian, she criss-crossed the Atlantic in pursuit of rare manuscripts to add to his collection, outbidding and outsmarting rivals wherever she went.’
Francesca Wade on Belle da Costa Greene:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Francesca Wade on Belle da Costa Greene:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Francesca Wade · Why waste time hot airing? The Best-Paid Woman in NYC
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene was one of the best-paid women in New York City. As J.P. Morgan’s personal...
www.lrb.co.uk
June 25, 2025 at 1:15 PM
‘As J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian, she criss-crossed the Atlantic in pursuit of rare manuscripts to add to his collection, outbidding and outsmarting rivals wherever she went.’
Francesca Wade on Belle da Costa Greene:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Francesca Wade on Belle da Costa Greene:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
What an accomplishment! Amazing work here on Alice Thornton!
Big news! The digital edition of Alice Thornton's four Books is now complete and online. There are 1,019 pages (c. 270,000 words) of Thornton’s life-writings in both modernised and semi-diplomatic versions and they are fully searchable.
#EarlyModern 🗃️ 📚 📜
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/posts/news/2...
#EarlyModern 🗃️ 📚 📜
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/posts/news/2...
Full and Final Edition Now Available
News article - 24 February 2025
thornton.kdl.kcl.ac.uk
June 27, 2025 at 5:26 PM
What an accomplishment! Amazing work here on Alice Thornton!
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
@serenadyer.bsky.social & I are thrilled to announce that our edited book is out now!
It focuses on how processes of making, experimenting, experiencing, & reconstructing illuminate understandings around manual labour & material life.
Overview 🧵 on 📕 chapters & our contributors! 👇
It focuses on how processes of making, experimenting, experiencing, & reconstructing illuminate understandings around manual labour & material life.
Overview 🧵 on 📕 chapters & our contributors! 👇
January 6, 2025 at 1:52 PM
@serenadyer.bsky.social & I are thrilled to announce that our edited book is out now!
It focuses on how processes of making, experimenting, experiencing, & reconstructing illuminate understandings around manual labour & material life.
Overview 🧵 on 📕 chapters & our contributors! 👇
It focuses on how processes of making, experimenting, experiencing, & reconstructing illuminate understandings around manual labour & material life.
Overview 🧵 on 📕 chapters & our contributors! 👇
In 1671, Rachel (Fane) Bouchier, the Countess of Bath, purchased £200 of books for the library at @tcddublin.bsky.social The books were housed together and known as “The Countess of Bath’s Library.” This week I reconstructed the bequest, with the help of the amazing TCD librarians.
June 26, 2025 at 11:06 AM
In 1671, Rachel (Fane) Bouchier, the Countess of Bath, purchased £200 of books for the library at @tcddublin.bsky.social The books were housed together and known as “The Countess of Bath’s Library.” This week I reconstructed the bequest, with the help of the amazing TCD librarians.
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
📢WILLS TRANSCRIBATHON KLAXON📢
Join us on Thursday 24 July to transcribe wills and go behind the scenes of the wills project!
In person and on Zoom - full details & registration here: willstranscribathon.eventbrite.com
#EarlyModern 🗃️ #transcription @leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social
Join us on Thursday 24 July to transcribe wills and go behind the scenes of the wills project!
In person and on Zoom - full details & registration here: willstranscribathon.eventbrite.com
#EarlyModern 🗃️ #transcription @leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social
June 24, 2025 at 7:46 AM
📢WILLS TRANSCRIBATHON KLAXON📢
Join us on Thursday 24 July to transcribe wills and go behind the scenes of the wills project!
In person and on Zoom - full details & registration here: willstranscribathon.eventbrite.com
#EarlyModern 🗃️ #transcription @leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social
Join us on Thursday 24 July to transcribe wills and go behind the scenes of the wills project!
In person and on Zoom - full details & registration here: willstranscribathon.eventbrite.com
#EarlyModern 🗃️ #transcription @leverhulme.ac.uk @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social
So many baby horses in Ireland this time of year! I’m in love 😍
June 22, 2025 at 9:37 PM
So many baby horses in Ireland this time of year! I’m in love 😍
This symposium looks fabulous!
📢 REGISTRATION OPEN!
Built with books: shaping the shelves of the early modern library
9–10 Sep UCL @livesandletters.bsky.social
This symposium will explore the rich field of early modern library studies, inviting fresh, interdisciplinary perspectives & methodologies.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
Built with books: shaping the shelves of the early modern library
9–10 Sep UCL @livesandletters.bsky.social
This symposium will explore the rich field of early modern library studies, inviting fresh, interdisciplinary perspectives & methodologies.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
Built with books: shaping the shelves of the early modern library
This 2-day symposium will explore the rich field of early modern library studies, inviting fresh, interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies to open up existing narratives and bodies of evidence...
www.ucl.ac.uk
June 22, 2025 at 6:56 PM
This symposium looks fabulous!
Reposted by Dr. Tara Lyons
📣 CFP: Shakespeare Quarterly special issue
Shakespeare’s Twenty-First Century / The Twenty-First Century’s Shakespeare
This will be Vanessa I. Corredera, Arthur L. Little, Jr. and my first issue as Editors! Please submit your finest!
More info: networks.h-net.org/group/announ...
Shakespeare’s Twenty-First Century / The Twenty-First Century’s Shakespeare
This will be Vanessa I. Corredera, Arthur L. Little, Jr. and my first issue as Editors! Please submit your finest!
More info: networks.h-net.org/group/announ...
June 20, 2025 at 12:19 PM
📣 CFP: Shakespeare Quarterly special issue
Shakespeare’s Twenty-First Century / The Twenty-First Century’s Shakespeare
This will be Vanessa I. Corredera, Arthur L. Little, Jr. and my first issue as Editors! Please submit your finest!
More info: networks.h-net.org/group/announ...
Shakespeare’s Twenty-First Century / The Twenty-First Century’s Shakespeare
This will be Vanessa I. Corredera, Arthur L. Little, Jr. and my first issue as Editors! Please submit your finest!
More info: networks.h-net.org/group/announ...
I wrote about the library of Katherine Blount’s daughter, Catharina (Blount) Freman. Check it out below:
You may remember our discovery of the library of early modern book owner Katherine Blount. Today, in a must-read post, @tarallyons.bsky.social uncovers a library of books belonging to her daughter! earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com/2025/06/19/j... #HerBook #EarlyModern
John Raymond’s An itinerary contayning a voyage, made through Italy, in the yeare 1646, and 1647 (1648)
When I tell people about the Early Modern Female Book Ownership blog, I often mention the case of Katherine (Butler) Blount (1676-1753) and the series of posts (by Sarah Lindenbaum, Sophie Floate, …
earlymodernfemalebookownership.wordpress.com
June 19, 2025 at 8:05 PM
I wrote about the library of Katherine Blount’s daughter, Catharina (Blount) Freman. Check it out below: