Petra Clark
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petrabclark.bsky.social
Petra Clark
@petrabclark.bsky.social
1K followers 840 following 240 posts
Special Collections Librarian, former/forever Victorianist (Aestheticism & periodicals), and inveterate cat documentarian. Probably haunting the rare books stacks or stress baking.
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petrabclark.bsky.social
Petra Clark @petrabclark.bsky.social · Nov 12
I've been on here a while, but (re)introductions may be in order!
I'm an early-career librarian in Special Collections at the Uni of Delaware. I have a PhD in English (late 19thC print/visual culture) & co-run a Gothic lit book club. I tend to post about art/lit/fashion history, nature, & my cats.
A woman with long brown hair cocks her head and smiles at the viewer. She holds a fluffy black cat with big yellow eyes.
Reposted by Petra Clark
drbibliomane.bsky.social
Look at this excellent handkerchief from 1769 at the V & A museum: a showcase for #18thc practices of remediation. Made to imitate a quodlibet/medley print, a genre that itself aims to simulate, in a trompe l'oeil idiom, a scatter of small printed papers.
Imagine blowing your nose on that!
#scraps
Red and white printed square handkerchief, designed to make you think you are looking at an untidy heap of printed papers: a playing card, a receipt, portrait engravings, a play, sheet music, positioned every which way.
November 16, 2025 at 6:57 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
3 weekends, 3 spooky entertainments:

Yesterday, I saw Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" performed by UD's Resident Ensemble Players.
Last Sunday, I saw Guillermo Del Toro's amazing film "Frankenstein" on the big screen.
Two Sundays ago, I saw First State Ballet's rendition of "Dracula."
Closeup of a theatre program for And Then There Were None featuring the silhouette of a hanging woman and a spooky house. Red velvet theatre seating a d a stahe made to took like a fancy living room is visible in the background. Promo image from the 2025 film Frankenstein, featuring Oscar Isaac as Victor looking stern and pulling on red leather gloves. Jacob Elordi as the Creature looms behind him. Theatre program for the Dracula ballet, featuring a swooning man with three women looming over him, set against a red background.
November 9, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
publicdomainrev.bsky.social
Perverse, grotesque, sensuous, inimitable — our latest post gathers, in high resolution, a selection of 74 key works by the era-defining English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley (1872–98): publicdomainreview.org/collection/a...

And prints in our shop here: publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-ar...
Minimal, high-contrast illustration of two figures moving along a sweeping path beneath a large moon and layered clouds. Decorative garden scene in black and white: a robed figure with a long patterned train walks past a sundial, framed by an ornate pear-and-leaf border. Stylized black-and-white scene of a poised figure with a flowing skirt beside an impish musician playing a long-necked instrument; bubbles and chandeliers accent the composition. Black-and-white Art Nouveau illustration of three figures crowned with grape clusters and ivy, surrounded by vines in a high-contrast design.
November 6, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
sequentialscholars.bsky.social
Junji Ito’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s #Frankenstein was published in English in 2018 and won an Eisner Award for “Best Adaptation from Another Medium.” It’s both a faithful & idiosyncratic adaptation, showcasing Ito's mastery of horror storytelling within the comics medium.1/8 #Frankenstein
The English language trade dress cover for Junji Ito’s Frankenstein.
November 1, 2025 at 2:50 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
Bright chrysanthemums decorate Theo Nieuwenhuis' otherwise monochromatic design for November 1896. Fall is in full swing, but winter is close behind! 🍂
Two large orange flowers with many spiky petals sit in circles at the top of a calendar page otherwise decorated in grays and black: a frame of gray leaves, buds, and decorative borders surround the grid, with snail shells lined up in the last column.
November 1, 2025 at 3:49 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
It may be November, but it's not too late to enjoy Nieuwenhuis' moody blue grapes for October. 🍇
A calendar page with a thick border comprised of dark blue grape leaves and vines, and lighter blue grape bunches touched with pale yellow.
November 1, 2025 at 3:23 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
Happy Halloween!

Here's a spooky little pop-up display that I put together in Special Collections this week, featuring ghosts, witches, vampires, and monsters of all varieties. 🧡🖤
A flat glass display case containing a selection of books, ranging from the seventeenth century to roughly contemporary.
November 1, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Reposted by Petra Clark
erinbartram.bsky.social
If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.
CFP: A Time of Monsters
The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...
contingentmagazine.org
October 5, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
annakornbluh.bsky.social
Culture might seem a less consequential right than free assembly+ its infringement makes less spectacular news than repressive violence. But the repeal of the right to culture is grave.

honored to be with @isanchezprado.bsky.social in @hyperallergic.com today!

hyperallergic.com/1049388/how-...
How to Protect Your Right to Culture
The United States government’s coordinated repeal of the right to culture has grave consequences for the texture of our daily lives. But there are ways to fight back.
hyperallergic.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
merriam-webster.com
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
October 1, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
mychal3ts.bsky.social
🎶 Take a look, it's in a book 🎶

🥹 After nearly 20 years... Reading Rainbow is returning to motivate, help, and encourage kids to become avid readers with new episodes, new friends, new projects, and of course... new books! Make sure to follow the rainbow 📚🌈

#FollowTheRainbow
September 29, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
petrabclark.bsky.social
Me learning that Emily Dickinson was a big Brontë fan and that she requested this poem be read at her funeral:
a girl in a pink sweater is pointing and says yeah that makes sense
Alt: a girl in a pink sweater is pointing and says yeah that makes sense
media.tenor.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
petrabclark.bsky.social
A butterfly from August's calendar page has fluttered over to September's, settling in among the tansy leaves.

Theo Nieuwenhuis, Kalender voor 1896
A calendar page for September is framed by silvery fern-like leaves and golden yellow button-shaped flowers. A yellow and white butterfly sits near the bottom of the frame.
September 2, 2025 at 5:19 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
A butterfly from August's calendar page has fluttered over to September's, settling in among the tansy leaves.

Theo Nieuwenhuis, Kalender voor 1896
A calendar page for September is framed by silvery fern-like leaves and golden yellow button-shaped flowers. A yellow and white butterfly sits near the bottom of the frame.
September 2, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
petrabclark.bsky.social
#Caturday bird-watching 🌻
A gray cat in a raised cat bed and a black cat on the arm of a chair sit facing away from the viewer and looking out a sunny windoe at tall sunflowers. A male goldfinch perches on the back of a drooping sunflower head, his mouth full of a seed.
August 30, 2025 at 8:22 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
#Caturday bird-watching 🌻
A gray cat in a raised cat bed and a black cat on the arm of a chair sit facing away from the viewer and looking out a sunny windoe at tall sunflowers. A male goldfinch perches on the back of a drooping sunflower head, his mouth full of a seed.
August 30, 2025 at 8:22 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
August is nearly over, and I just realized I never shared this month's Nieuwenhuis calendar page! Here are some delicate wood sorrel plants and butterflies all the way from 1896. ☘️
A calendar page for August features a spare grid design decorated with light green plants. They have clover-like leaves and yellow buds. At the top are two stylized white and yellow butterflies.
August 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
Also, lest the anniversary go unremarked, July 27 was Billie's 5th Gotcha Day!
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

From scraggly stray to pampered prince:
A skinny black cat on a porch stares at the viewer from the other a glass door, looking somewhat forlorn. The same cat, now fluffy and filled-out, sits on top of a pile of books in a living room.
August 8, 2025 at 8:21 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
Happy #InternationalCatDay! 😻

Here are my two, Billie and Iggy.
A fluffy black cat lies on a green velvet sofa surrounded by blankets and pillows. He looks alert but cozy. A gray cat sits regally on a table in a sunny dining room with an open laptop in the foreground.
August 8, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
drjamesbailey.bsky.social
I’m coveting Wallace & Gromit’s entire cheese-centric library 📚
Books on Wallace and Gromit’s shelf: Waiting for Gouda, Fromage to Eternity, Grated Expectations, East of Edam Continued: Swiss Cheese Family Robinson, Brie Encounter, How Green Was My Cheese, Brighton Roquefort, The Hunt for Red Leicester
December 25, 2024 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
lisafdavis.bsky.social
I spend a lot of time looking at & teaching about parchment recycled in the early modern era, not just in bookbindings but any place where a piece of durable parchment might be of use, like this clothing pattern cut from a saga manuscript (Magnússon Institute 122 b fol.):
handrit.is/manuscript/v...
July 10, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Petra Clark
petrabclark.bsky.social
July, what a concept. Please enjoy Nieuwenhuis' bouquet of lilies from 1896, with strange fish, plants, and possibly tentacles filling in the negative spaces.
A calendar page for July is topped with three white lilies, whose stems and leaves take up most of the border, with fish, plants, and other small details appearing between them.
July 1, 2025 at 8:20 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
July, what a concept. Please enjoy Nieuwenhuis' bouquet of lilies from 1896, with strange fish, plants, and possibly tentacles filling in the negative spaces.
A calendar page for July is topped with three white lilies, whose stems and leaves take up most of the border, with fish, plants, and other small details appearing between them.
July 1, 2025 at 8:20 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
I had a lovely time at the #RBMS25 conference and visiting Yale for the first time. As anticipated, it's a beautiful campus with amazing collections. Now, onward to Massachusetts!
"Vesuvius in Eruption" watercolor by Turner at the Yale Center for British Art. The painting is rendered in luminous oranges, browns, and blues, the center of the eruption bright with heat. Interior of the Yale University Art Gallery: A gothic revival hall with tall bright windows to the right contains a number of vitrines filled with Greek pottery and beyond that plinths hold various marble heads. Interior of the Beineke Library: six stories of glass-encased rare books stacks loom at the center of a large open space inside a building. A page spread from the Voynich manuscript at the Beineke, featuring drawings of plants and indescipherable script.
June 27, 2025 at 4:47 PM
petrabclark.bsky.social
I got up extra early today and it's already sweltering (both of which I hate), but I'm currently on the train headed to New Haven to attend #rbms25 in person for the first time and very excited about it! Looking forward to meeting/reconnecting with folks over the next few days. 📚
June 24, 2025 at 1:24 PM