Managed three (shortish) sessions in the British Library this week, in spite of the various tribulations militating against it - i.e. the prescription saga, also had various demands made upon my Expert Knowledge in various fields. And however much I have the facts at my fingertips, I still have to take the time to write them out, and in some cases ( Read more... )

I was massively exasperated during the week by something that came across my Twitterfeed by somebody moaning that early modern handwriting was illegible and that archivists not transcribing things was systematic oppression.
Okay, I do not think the person (who I think has advanced degree/s) is a historian by training and it's possible, even if ( Read more... )

Dept of, Point Thahr, Misst:
How feminism sold out by becoming cool. It's a review of a book which sounds like a meritorious diatribe against the commodification of feminism into a consumer item: and then the reviewer says: 'I wish Zeisler had tried harder to reconcile feminism and capitalism.' WOT.
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Dept of, What Does 'Recent' Mean Here?
The ( Read more... )

Yes, well, o sigh, 'pink Viagra' gets FDA approval:
Addyi gains US marketing licence after third attempt, but questions remain about its effectiveness, potential side-effects and the true need for the drug: includes some good solid sense from the ever-reliable Dr Petra Boynton: Dr Petra Boynton, an agony aunt and psychologist who has researched ( Read more... )

Well, actually the first one I meant to link to I can't find on Guardian website: advance article on forthcoming British Library exhibition on Elizabeth Barrett (Browning) b. 1806, happy 200th, half of one of the most famous-ever virtually-met couples. Foregrounds EBB's feminism, but I don't really think there's much of a case for turning Mr ( Read more... )