Godwin_lives
@pamelaclemit.bsky.social
Professor of Humanities, QMUL | Fellow, Wolfson College, University of Oxford | General Editor of the OUP Letters of William Godwin | Writer on the edge | Northumbrian I Trainspotter | website: pamelaclemit.wordpress.com
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Godwin_lives
@pamelaclemit.bsky.social
· Nov 25
RED-LETTER DAY: this afternoon I delivered the completed manuscript of The Letters of William Godwin, Volume IV: 1816-1828, to my editor at OUP. Contains 404 letters. Pictured (1) the last steps of a ten-year intellectual journey (2) engraving of Godwin by WH Lizars, after William Nicholson, 1816.
1. Thanks for the kind words, likes and reposts. I’m turning this into a short thread about Volume 4 of the OUP edition of Godwin’s letters.
Reposted by Godwin_lives
French artist Raymond Wintz specialised in marine and coastal views in Brittany. Here, almost 100 years ago, he looks through an open doorway to the harbour beyond (The Blue Door, 1927)
November 9, 2025 at 7:09 AM
French artist Raymond Wintz specialised in marine and coastal views in Brittany. Here, almost 100 years ago, he looks through an open doorway to the harbour beyond (The Blue Door, 1927)
Reposted by Godwin_lives
The waves of Chesil Beach. 🎧
Watch for 90 seconds and if you need more, listen to the full 32 minute episode. 🌊
A tonic for the end of the week (and beyond). 🎧
Watch for 90 seconds and if you need more, listen to the full 32 minute episode. 🌊
A tonic for the end of the week (and beyond). 🎧
Waves on Chesil Beach in October
YouTube video by Radio Lento
youtu.be
November 7, 2025 at 4:18 PM
The waves of Chesil Beach. 🎧
Watch for 90 seconds and if you need more, listen to the full 32 minute episode. 🌊
A tonic for the end of the week (and beyond). 🎧
Watch for 90 seconds and if you need more, listen to the full 32 minute episode. 🌊
A tonic for the end of the week (and beyond). 🎧
Reposted by Godwin_lives
Clematis flowering by a door at Miss Minnie Pate’s Cambridge University Type-Writing Office, 33 Trinity Street, Cambridge.
‘Yard, until 1923’ (detail), from Minnie Pate’s Scrapbook. MS Add. 7637 @theul.bsky.social
‘Yard, until 1923’ (detail), from Minnie Pate’s Scrapbook. MS Add. 7637 @theul.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Clematis flowering by a door at Miss Minnie Pate’s Cambridge University Type-Writing Office, 33 Trinity Street, Cambridge.
‘Yard, until 1923’ (detail), from Minnie Pate’s Scrapbook. MS Add. 7637 @theul.bsky.social
‘Yard, until 1923’ (detail), from Minnie Pate’s Scrapbook. MS Add. 7637 @theul.bsky.social
Reposted by Godwin_lives
The gentlest, firmest, weapon for us to use in the culture wars, from Goethe:
"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."
"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."
October 31, 2025 at 6:13 PM
The gentlest, firmest, weapon for us to use in the culture wars, from Goethe:
"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."
"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."
Reposted by Godwin_lives
Harebells still flowering in King’s Forest, near Bury St Edmunds. #WildflowerHour
October 26, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Harebells still flowering in King’s Forest, near Bury St Edmunds. #WildflowerHour
Reposted by Godwin_lives
First proofs have arrived (618 pages, excluding plates). Miles to go before I sleep ...
Anarchy in the UK: OUP hoists its standard for radical polymath #WilliamGodwin, author of Political Justice, 1793, & Caleb Williams, 1794; & (in timespan of this volume) Mandeville: A Tale of the Seventeenth Century, Of Population, History of the Commonwealth of England; & many more works. At press.
October 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM
First proofs have arrived (618 pages, excluding plates). Miles to go before I sleep ...
Reposted by Godwin_lives
Always take sentences using “the Cloud” or “the Internet” and try replacing those phrases with “A shed in Virginia” to see how they hold up. “Our service is fully based in a shed in Virginia”; “All my files are in a shed in Virginia”; “A shed in Virginia was designed to survive a nuclear war”, etc.
October 20, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Always take sentences using “the Cloud” or “the Internet” and try replacing those phrases with “A shed in Virginia” to see how they hold up. “Our service is fully based in a shed in Virginia”; “All my files are in a shed in Virginia”; “A shed in Virginia was designed to survive a nuclear war”, etc.
Reposted by Godwin_lives
John Nash painted 'The Viaduct,' (1916) just before he enlisted in the Artist's Rifles, it can be seen as a memorial to a way of life that was about to be lost forever. The picture is based on a watercolour Nash painted in Dorset and might depict the Cannington Viaduct.
October 19, 2025 at 3:12 PM
John Nash painted 'The Viaduct,' (1916) just before he enlisted in the Artist's Rifles, it can be seen as a memorial to a way of life that was about to be lost forever. The picture is based on a watercolour Nash painted in Dorset and might depict the Cannington Viaduct.
Reposted by Godwin_lives
Stunning day at Abbotsford, the house and estate of Sir Walter Scott in the Scottish Borders.
October 11, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Stunning day at Abbotsford, the house and estate of Sir Walter Scott in the Scottish Borders.
Reposted by Godwin_lives
Did the postboy fall or was he pushed? Travelling from Berwick to Alnwick in the era of the Marcher Laws was a perilous undertaking. To get to Alnwick the postboy would have had to ford the river Aln, the heavily fortified border between the East March and the Middle March. 1/2
From Berwick, Robert Gascoigne, a royal messenger, writes to Walsingham complaining of incompetence in the postal system the north-east; apparently letters took 17 hours to get from 30 miles from Berwick to Alnwick. The excuse was that the postman's boy fell in the water. 4/
October 15, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Did the postboy fall or was he pushed? Travelling from Berwick to Alnwick in the era of the Marcher Laws was a perilous undertaking. To get to Alnwick the postboy would have had to ford the river Aln, the heavily fortified border between the East March and the Middle March. 1/2
First proofs have arrived (618 pages, excluding plates). Miles to go before I sleep ...
Anarchy in the UK: OUP hoists its standard for radical polymath #WilliamGodwin, author of Political Justice, 1793, & Caleb Williams, 1794; & (in timespan of this volume) Mandeville: A Tale of the Seventeenth Century, Of Population, History of the Commonwealth of England; & many more works. At press.
October 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM
First proofs have arrived (618 pages, excluding plates). Miles to go before I sleep ...
Did the postboy fall or was he pushed? Travelling from Berwick to Alnwick in the era of the Marcher Laws was a perilous undertaking. To get to Alnwick the postboy would have had to ford the river Aln, the heavily fortified border between the East March and the Middle March. 1/2
From Berwick, Robert Gascoigne, a royal messenger, writes to Walsingham complaining of incompetence in the postal system the north-east; apparently letters took 17 hours to get from 30 miles from Berwick to Alnwick. The excuse was that the postman's boy fell in the water. 4/
October 15, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Did the postboy fall or was he pushed? Travelling from Berwick to Alnwick in the era of the Marcher Laws was a perilous undertaking. To get to Alnwick the postboy would have had to ford the river Aln, the heavily fortified border between the East March and the Middle March. 1/2
Reposted by Godwin_lives
The Bishop of Birmingham has written to the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick about his comments about Handsworth
October 7, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The Bishop of Birmingham has written to the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick about his comments about Handsworth
Reposted by Godwin_lives
Thinking this morning about the importance of writing, reading, creative practice. Not only do the stories we tell have political power, writing allows us to reconnect with parts of ourselves and subverts the noise we've all gotten so used to.
Wishing everyone a quiet moment this weekend.
Wishing everyone a quiet moment this weekend.
October 3, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Thinking this morning about the importance of writing, reading, creative practice. Not only do the stories we tell have political power, writing allows us to reconnect with parts of ourselves and subverts the noise we've all gotten so used to.
Wishing everyone a quiet moment this weekend.
Wishing everyone a quiet moment this weekend.
Reposted by Godwin_lives
It's #NationalPoetryDay! The perfect opportunity to share Robert Fergusson's translation of Horace's ode on the importance of seizing the day. In rich Scots, Fergusson gives us the keys to a good life: staying in the moment and surrounding ourselves with friends and conviviality.
#RobertFergusson
#RobertFergusson
October 2, 2025 at 3:15 PM
It's #NationalPoetryDay! The perfect opportunity to share Robert Fergusson's translation of Horace's ode on the importance of seizing the day. In rich Scots, Fergusson gives us the keys to a good life: staying in the moment and surrounding ourselves with friends and conviviality.
#RobertFergusson
#RobertFergusson
R. S. Thomas, ‘The Bright Field’, from Laboratories of the Spirit (1975) #NationalPoetryDay
October 2, 2025 at 3:39 PM
R. S. Thomas, ‘The Bright Field’, from Laboratories of the Spirit (1975) #NationalPoetryDay
Reposted by Godwin_lives
On Sunday, #Zürich residents voted 52.8% in favor of increasing parking fees for cars according to weight.
The owner of a BMW X2 (Diesel), which weighs 1,675 kilograms, will now pay equivalent of €717 Euros per year to park on a public street. (Before, about €321.)
Direct democracy!
The owner of a BMW X2 (Diesel), which weighs 1,675 kilograms, will now pay equivalent of €717 Euros per year to park on a public street. (Before, about €321.)
Direct democracy!
September 30, 2025 at 3:40 PM
On Sunday, #Zürich residents voted 52.8% in favor of increasing parking fees for cars according to weight.
The owner of a BMW X2 (Diesel), which weighs 1,675 kilograms, will now pay equivalent of €717 Euros per year to park on a public street. (Before, about €321.)
Direct democracy!
The owner of a BMW X2 (Diesel), which weighs 1,675 kilograms, will now pay equivalent of €717 Euros per year to park on a public street. (Before, about €321.)
Direct democracy!
Reposted by Godwin_lives
Read our response to the Government’s announcement that university maintenance grants will be reintroduced for certain courses, funded through a levy on international student fees
https://bit.ly/4gPz7uO
https://bit.ly/4gPz7uO
British Academy responds to government announcement on university maintenance grants
The British Academy has issued a response to the government's announcement on using a proposed levy on international students to fund maintenance grants.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
September 30, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Read our response to the Government’s announcement that university maintenance grants will be reintroduced for certain courses, funded through a levy on international student fees
https://bit.ly/4gPz7uO
https://bit.ly/4gPz7uO
Reposted by Godwin_lives
September 29, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Godwin_lives
On the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (#OTD 1825), here’s my memoir of growing up on the East Coast Main Line, where I witnessed of the demise of the steam age. #Railway200
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/n...
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/n...
New Post: A Railway Memoir in Archipelago
This piece by Pamela Clemit was first published in Archipelago, 2.2 (Spring 2023), 152-61. The essay is a recollection of her early childhood years as a station master’s daughter, and an eleg…
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com
September 27, 2025 at 9:07 AM
On the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (#OTD 1825), here’s my memoir of growing up on the East Coast Main Line, where I witnessed of the demise of the steam age. #Railway200
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/n...
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/n...
Reposted by Godwin_lives
The poet Tony Harrison has died. For me, he was the most important poet of my lifetime. He gave speech to the tongue-tied and used the masks of classical theatre to amplify the voices of the working class.
September 27, 2025 at 7:25 PM
The poet Tony Harrison has died. For me, he was the most important poet of my lifetime. He gave speech to the tongue-tied and used the masks of classical theatre to amplify the voices of the working class.
On the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (#OTD 1825), here’s my memoir of growing up on the East Coast Main Line, where I witnessed of the demise of the steam age. #Railway200
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/n...
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/n...
New Post: A Railway Memoir in Archipelago
This piece by Pamela Clemit was first published in Archipelago, 2.2 (Spring 2023), 152-61. The essay is a recollection of her early childhood years as a station master’s daughter, and an eleg…
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com
September 27, 2025 at 9:07 AM
On the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (#OTD 1825), here’s my memoir of growing up on the East Coast Main Line, where I witnessed of the demise of the steam age. #Railway200
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/n...
pamelaclemit.wordpress.com/2024/10/25/n...
Reposted by Godwin_lives
Worrye not about 'being productive,' for thou art not a product. Thou art a star daunsinge yn a hopeful skye. A signal blinking across centuryes and worldes. Thou art a song performid just once and perfectlye.
September 19, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Worrye not about 'being productive,' for thou art not a product. Thou art a star daunsinge yn a hopeful skye. A signal blinking across centuryes and worldes. Thou art a song performid just once and perfectlye.
Reposted by Godwin_lives
'Even when women were mentioned, the report found they were more often victims than protagonists, with the women murdered by Jack the Ripper more likely to be taught in lessons than the female code breakers at Bletchley Park during the second world war 1/2
School history lessons minimise the role of women, report finds
Campaigners say key stage 3 curriculum plays to misogny and teaches a ‘false version of the past’
www.theguardian.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:17 AM
'Even when women were mentioned, the report found they were more often victims than protagonists, with the women murdered by Jack the Ripper more likely to be taught in lessons than the female code breakers at Bletchley Park during the second world war 1/2
Reposted by Godwin_lives
Volume IV of the OUP edition of William Godwin’s letters, now at press, includes an extensive description of his 1816 visit to Abbotsford, together with four letters to Sir Walter Scott (d. OTD 1832), all written in 1824, the same year that Edwin Landseer painted this portrait of Scott at home.
September 21, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Volume IV of the OUP edition of William Godwin’s letters, now at press, includes an extensive description of his 1816 visit to Abbotsford, together with four letters to Sir Walter Scott (d. OTD 1832), all written in 1824, the same year that Edwin Landseer painted this portrait of Scott at home.