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Reposted by Nuria YB

Sophie Coulombeau

@sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social

If you're interested in Frances Burney, bluestocking beef, the cult of *intense* young ladies who worshipped Mary Delany, or my continued efforts to solve archival mysteries in a deerstalker hat, here's 'A generous Rival? Mary Hamilton and Frances Burney'. pure.york.ac.uk/portal/en/pu...

A 'Generous Rival'? Mary Hamilton and Frances Burney

pure.york.ac.uk

December 15, 2025 at 12:14 PM

Reposted by Nuria YB

Sophie Coulombeau

@sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social

If you're into historic reading practices, applying digital methods to manuscript life writing, the tricky question of defining literary genre, here's 'The Tip of the Iceberg: Reading Practices in Mary Hamilton’s archive, 1783-4' (co-auth with @crulph.bsky.social): pure.york.ac.uk/portal/en/pu...

The Tip of the Iceberg: Reading Practices in Mary Hamilton’s archive, 1783-1784

pure.york.ac.uk

December 15, 2025 at 12:11 PM

Reposted by Nuria YB

Sophie Coulombeau

@sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social

Now Anne-Christine Gardner w/ 'Self-Corrections as Indexes of Social Relationships: Observations From Mary Hamilton's Correspondence With Frances Burney (1783–1789)'. Anne & I take complementary approaches to the same material: IMHO it's a fun conversation! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Abstract
This article explores how social relationships are developed and conveyed through correspondence, with a particular focus on self-corrections in the surviving letters from Mary Hamilton (1756–1816) to Frances Burney (1752–1840). The findings show that the more closely connected the writer feels with the recipient, the more self-corrections are deemed socially acceptable. Engaging in interdisciplinary dialogue with Coulombeau's (this issue) assessment of Hamilton and Burney's complex and evolving relationship, this essay underlines the importance of self-corrections for the study of handwritten documents as well as social relationships and networks in the past.

November 21, 2025 at 1:44 PM

Reposted by Nuria YB

Sophie Coulombeau

@sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social

Then, er, it's me again! In 'A ‘generous Rival’? Mary Hamilton and Frances Burney', I use archival & digital approaches to solve the mystery of why Hamilton loved Burney but Burney loathed Hamilton. The answer is one to which many novelists may relate. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Abstract
This article combines close reading of manuscript correspondence with digital analysis of reading practices to trace literary and sociable interactions between the Bluestocking writers Frances Burney and Mary Hamilton between 1782 and 1796. I argue that Burney's well-established dislike of Hamilton was motivated by the (accurate) perception that Hamilton was a shallow and disingenuous reader of her novels, more interested in capitalizing on Burney's celebrity than appreciating her work. Hamilton and Burney's differing characters as readers and writers sat uneasily together, compromising their friendship's potential — a conclusion that can only be reached by combining traditional archival research with digital scholarship.

November 21, 2025 at 1:22 PM

Reposted by Nuria YB

Sophie Coulombeau

@sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social

But most of all, to @historyhannahb.bsky.social for leading the project and to my wonderful Co-Investigators and co-editors David Denison and @nuriyabo.bsky.social for the teamwork. Nuria in particular has been the powerhouse behind this volume, and we'd be nowhere without her.

November 21, 2025 at 1:53 PM

Reposted by Nuria YB

Sophie Coulombeau

@sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social

ALSO OPEN ACCESS is our 1st article, 'Reconstructing Mary Hamilton's Social Networks', by David Denison & Tino Oudesluijs, who present an innovative method for reconstructing social networks from ms letters-connecting not just correspondents but mentionees too
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Mary Hamilton's relationships and networking practices are central to this special issue. In this article, we present an innovative method for reconstructing social networks around Hamilton during five key periods of her life, connecting not just correspondents but also persons frequently mentioned in The Mary Hamilton Papers. We explain our methodology and present visualizations of the networks. By tabulating Hamilton's strongest relationships in each phase of her life, we can trace a selection of relationships over time. We reflect on the benefits and limitations of our approach, inviting expert judgement on its results and its potential for wider use.

November 21, 2025 at 12:27 PM

Reposted by Nuria YB

Sophie Coulombeau

@sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social

Also OPEN ACCESS is the Introduction, co-authored by @nuriyabo.bsky.social, David Denison, and myself. Here we situate @maryhamiltonpapers.bsky.social in context of other 18thc digital initiatives, & highlight key findings of the contributions to the vol. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

This article offers an overview of the research project Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers (2019–2023) — the impetus for this special issue — and positions it within the field of eighteenth-century studies. After outlining the project's genesis, we describe one of its core outputs, the digital edition of Mary Hamilton's archive, providing key technical information which is referenced in the articles that follow. We then summarize the contents of the special issue, reflect on answers to the project's original research questions that the authors provide, and highlight key synergies and themes.

November 21, 2025 at 12:21 PM

Reposted by Nuria YB

Sophie Coulombeau

@sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social

The OPEN ACCESS Foreword, by Hannah Barker & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, is a great place to start. It introduces Hamilton, her archive, & previous relevant scholarship. It also acknowledges the crucial contributions of many other folk, esp @thejohnrylands.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...