Jonathan McGovern
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jonathanmcgovern.bsky.social
Jonathan McGovern
@jonathanmcgovern.bsky.social
92 followers 160 following 11 posts
Professor of English at Xiamen University. Author of 3 books, most recently 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘺 𝘝𝘐𝘐𝘐 (forthcoming, Boydell). Tudor political/administrative history & early modern literature, inc. Shakespeare.

propter se ipsam appetenda scientia
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jonathanmcgovern.bsky.social
Just published in Notes & Queries: new evidence concerning the famous rape accusation against Thomas Culpeper. academic.oup.com/nq/advance-a...
New Insight on the Rape Accusation Against Thomas Culpeper, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber
On 10 May 1542, an evangelical exile in Strasbourg named Richard Hilles wrote a letter to Henry Bullinger, in which he reported on the Catherine Howard aff
academic.oup.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Reposted by Jonathan McGovern
drfrancisyoung.bsky.social
The Historical Writers' Association has just announced the shortlist for the 2025 HWA Non-fiction Crown - I was one of the judges. So many great books here! 📚
October 15, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Reposted by Jonathan McGovern
historicaljnl.bsky.social
📣Out now on #firstview!

Jack Haughton (@camhistory.bsky.social) on 'Dispelling ‘das Herbert Butterfieldproblem’: A Rereading of The Whig Interpretation of History'

#IntellectualHistory #Progress #Positive 20thc 🗃️

👉Read online here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Herbert Butterfield’s The Whig Interpretation of History (1931) is universally received as sceptical of ‘whig’ teleology in historical accounts and, therefore, of politically charged narratives of history. This view stands in need of a basic correction. Butterfield’s work targets teleological accounts which involve a determinate conception of progress such as would arm a partisan politics. He calls this the politics of the ‘general proposition’. Nevertheless, he does defend a conception of progress involving an indeterminate concept. The historian finds, intimated in the detail of the past, that progress is the fruit of interactions between opposing parties. The imperative for the statesman in the present, then, is to facilitate such interactions. In short, The Whig Interpretation of History is a positive work of political thought. Looked at this way, Butterfield’s later, controversial work, The Englishman & His History, does not appear to be in contradiction with the earlier book so much as a polemical expression of it. The two books together present what may be called Butterfield’s politics of historiography. Histories which present progress as a straight line, to be co-opted by one party, encourage precisely the political action which impedes progress. Butterfield, in short, is still a kind of ‘whig’.
October 10, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by Jonathan McGovern
freeburian.bsky.social
Very exciting to see THE COLLECTED WORKS OF THOMAS KYD: VOLUME 2, for which I am the Associate Editor, now listed on the Boydell & Brewer website.

The Collected Works of Thomas Kyd - Boydell and Brewer share.google/Lg1i9VkrMyzD...
October 9, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Reposted by Jonathan McGovern
freeburian.bsky.social
Exciting times as we await imminent proofs for 'The Collected Works of Thomas Kyd: Volume 2'.

Seven years in the making, I can't wait to see the full edition out in the world.
September 23, 2025 at 3:57 PM
jonathanmcgovern.bsky.social
Cover proofs for new book, coming out in December!
September 10, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Reposted by Jonathan McGovern
drfrancisyoung.bsky.social
I've just completed the index for @jonathanmcgovern.bsky.social's book 'The Early Parliaments of Henry VIII - an important and very comprehensive work of parliamentary history, coming soon from @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social boydellandbrewer.com/book/the-ear...
September 3, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Reposted by Jonathan McGovern
thegozfather.bsky.social
Closing date for this Early Modern Parliamentary Records Specialist role at The National Archives is this Sunday (31 August). Details via the link in the original post.
thegozfather.bsky.social Daniel F Gosling @thegozfather.bsky.social · Aug 15
The National Archives is looking for an Early Modern Parliamentary Records Specialist. Pros: you'll get to work in the same department as me. Cons: you'll have to work in the same department as me. Details via the link. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOD893/r...
Records Specialist - Early Modern Parliament at The National Archives
Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...
www.jobs.ac.uk
August 28, 2025 at 8:08 AM
jonathanmcgovern.bsky.social
The poverty of scholars, as described in Tang Xianzu's Peony Pavilion (1598), sometimes described as the Chinese Romeo and Juliet.
August 25, 2025 at 5:38 AM
jonathanmcgovern.bsky.social
I've never seen a video fo Geoffrey Elton before. Amazing that this footage survives and has been made available.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayeg...
INTERVIEWS WITH HISTORIANS - GEOFFREY ELTON
YouTube video by Institute of Historical Research
www.youtube.com
August 21, 2025 at 1:45 AM
jonathanmcgovern.bsky.social
Proofs!
A pen on top of a proofing manuscript.
August 20, 2025 at 7:34 AM
jonathanmcgovern.bsky.social
An Elizabethan French lesson. "Sblood! Swoundes! Yeeld thy purse: quicke, quicke, dispatch, yeeld, alight, or I will shoote this bullet into thy belly."
A passage from Ortho-epia Gallica (1593).
August 18, 2025 at 4:46 AM