James_AL_Downs
@magiclantern.bsky.social
Writer: 'Anton Walbrook' (2020) 'Joseph Pike' (2018) & 'A Carnal Medium' (2012), photohistorian, archivist of Middle East collections at Exeter University, runs the Digital Archive of the Middle East (https://dame.exeter.ac.uk/), collector & bibliophile
I like to imagine all these snails being set free to live their best lives in the French countryside but suspect this is not the case. However, it's a paywallled article so I will dream on in blissful ignorance
Thieves have stolen €90,000 worth of fine French snails destined for some of the country’s most prestigious restaurants
Thieves take €90,000 of snails meant for Michelin-starred restaurants
French police are on the trail of ‘experienced’ criminals who stole a whole year’s worth of produce from Jean-Mathieu Dauvergne’s L’Escargot des Grands Crus
www.thetimes.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM
I like to imagine all these snails being set free to live their best lives in the French countryside but suspect this is not the case. However, it's a paywallled article so I will dream on in blissful ignorance
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Life on Rome’s northern frontier: a 1,900-year-old military memo in which a Roman soldier records the combat tactics of the Britons, who he refers to as ‘Brittunculi’ — ‘wretched Brits’! 😳
From Vindolanda, Northumberland, 📷 by me
#RomanFortThursday
#Archaeology
From Vindolanda, Northumberland, 📷 by me
#RomanFortThursday
#Archaeology
![My photo shows a thin, rectangular, dark brown leaf of wood, which is broken in places. Across the surface are six lines of cursive Latin handwriting. The text is written in black ink which appears faded and faint. The Latin reads:
nenụ ...[.]n. Brittoneṣ
nimium multi ‣ equites
gladis ‣ non ụtụṇtur equi-
tes ‣ nec residunt
Brittunculi ‣ ụt ‣ iaculos
mittant
Translated as:
… the Britons are unprotected by armour (?). There are very many cavalry. The cavalry do not use swords nor do the wretched Britons mount in order to throw javelins.
On display at the British Museum.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:j56ydp325adovobhwpkzc6sp/bafkreiepntyce43pmmptw3xewwjw46tha2u4sqm7mptegttx5u2mqj527a@jpeg)
November 27, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Life on Rome’s northern frontier: a 1,900-year-old military memo in which a Roman soldier records the combat tactics of the Britons, who he refers to as ‘Brittunculi’ — ‘wretched Brits’! 😳
From Vindolanda, Northumberland, 📷 by me
#RomanFortThursday
#Archaeology
From Vindolanda, Northumberland, 📷 by me
#RomanFortThursday
#Archaeology
This should be an interesting read for anyone interested in the illegal trade in artefacts from the MENA regions
Can I promote my soon-to-be-published book? The Gospel According to Hobby Lobby (PublicAffairs 2026) “A revelatory account of how the family behind Hobby Lobby rose to political prominence and used their influence—and fortune—to push a radical religious agenda” bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
November 27, 2025 at 9:56 PM
This should be an interesting read for anyone interested in the illegal trade in artefacts from the MENA regions
One of the things that intrigues me at once about this is Leo's interest in visual culture and the new technologies of cinema and photography, with which he engaged enthusiastically - e.g his poem 'Ars Photographica' and film session with W.K. Dickson
"The Pope who Saw Demons in the Vatican"
The last Pope Leo - 13, not 14 - saw a demonic vision one day, in the late nineteenth century.
There is a fascinating story behind how this vision passed into Catholic folklore and what uses it was put to.
See more here:
robindouglas.org/2025/11/27/t...
The last Pope Leo - 13, not 14 - saw a demonic vision one day, in the late nineteenth century.
There is a fascinating story behind how this vision passed into Catholic folklore and what uses it was put to.
See more here:
robindouglas.org/2025/11/27/t...
The pope who saw demons in the Vatican
A piece of Catholic folklore This article examines the history of a piece of Catholic folklore – the story that Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) saw a vision of demons one morning in the Vatican. It…
robindouglas.org
November 27, 2025 at 9:04 PM
One of the things that intrigues me at once about this is Leo's interest in visual culture and the new technologies of cinema and photography, with which he engaged enthusiastically - e.g his poem 'Ars Photographica' and film session with W.K. Dickson
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Enrollment Opens for the CILT Level 3 Certificate in Logistics & Transport
Specifically for our Iraq and Kurdistan friends.
#Iraq #Kurdistan #SupplyChain #LeadershipDevelopment #CapacityDevelopment #SDGs
univsul.edu.iq/en/announcem...
Specifically for our Iraq and Kurdistan friends.
#Iraq #Kurdistan #SupplyChain #LeadershipDevelopment #CapacityDevelopment #SDGs
univsul.edu.iq/en/announcem...
Enrollment Opens for the CILT Level 3 Certificate in Logistics & Transport
The University of Sulaimani, in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) and the Emergency Logistics Team (ELT), is pleased to announce the opening of enrollment fo...
univsul.edu.iq
November 25, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Enrollment Opens for the CILT Level 3 Certificate in Logistics & Transport
Specifically for our Iraq and Kurdistan friends.
#Iraq #Kurdistan #SupplyChain #LeadershipDevelopment #CapacityDevelopment #SDGs
univsul.edu.iq/en/announcem...
Specifically for our Iraq and Kurdistan friends.
#Iraq #Kurdistan #SupplyChain #LeadershipDevelopment #CapacityDevelopment #SDGs
univsul.edu.iq/en/announcem...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Christmas present idea for the ghost story lover in your life? There's this gorgeous hardback, from @swanriverpress.bsky.social!
November 27, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Christmas present idea for the ghost story lover in your life? There's this gorgeous hardback, from @swanriverpress.bsky.social!
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
I'm old.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
November 27, 2025 at 4:21 AM
I'm old.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
If you're not, listen to this.
Get a guitar or some drums, or a trumpet. Pick up a brush, a pencil, some clay or a welder.
Just make shit. It doesn't have to be good (eventually it will be) just make music, art or write or whatever.
It's literally never been more important.
While I enjoyed listening to the Infinite Monkey Cage's 'What’s the deal with eels?' episode on Radio 4 in the car today (while en route to look at some Mandate era 8mm films & photographs from Palestine) I couldn't help thinking how much better it'd be if @greenleejw.bsky.social was on the panel
November 27, 2025 at 7:53 PM
While I enjoyed listening to the Infinite Monkey Cage's 'What’s the deal with eels?' episode on Radio 4 in the car today (while en route to look at some Mandate era 8mm films & photographs from Palestine) I couldn't help thinking how much better it'd be if @greenleejw.bsky.social was on the panel
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Vouchers now on sale for @radicalglasgowtour.bsky.social walking tours next year - raising funds for Glasgow City Mission and Gaza Soup Kitchen. Vouchers are £20 and are redeemable on all of our standard tours which'll run weekly Apr-Oct in 2026 radicalglasgowtours.bigcartel.com/product/rgt-...
RGT tour voucher - winter fundraiser
Support our winter fundraiser, raising funds for Gaza Soup Kitchen and Glasgow City Mission. Perfect gift for those hard-to-buy-for comrades! Each...
radicalglasgowtours.bigcartel.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Vouchers now on sale for @radicalglasgowtour.bsky.social walking tours next year - raising funds for Glasgow City Mission and Gaza Soup Kitchen. Vouchers are £20 and are redeemable on all of our standard tours which'll run weekly Apr-Oct in 2026 radicalglasgowtours.bigcartel.com/product/rgt-...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
The Courtauld has launched an art history teaching fund, following a new report which revealed a sharp decrease in the teaching of the subject to UK teenagers
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/11/27/c...
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/11/27/c...
November 27, 2025 at 6:31 PM
The Courtauld has launched an art history teaching fund, following a new report which revealed a sharp decrease in the teaching of the subject to UK teenagers
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/11/27/c...
www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/11/27/c...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
*small embarrassed voice*
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
A Provincial Market in Second-Hand Books: Book Sales in Devon, 1688–1725
Abstract. Comparatively little is known about England’s early book-auction trade outside of London and the university towns, with few catalogues surviving
doi.org
November 27, 2025 at 9:31 AM
*small embarrassed voice*
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
A little plug for my article on Devon book sales c. 1700, which has gone online open access. tl;dr book auctions weren't just a London/Oxbridge thing: a flourishing second-hand book market centred on Exeter included auctions from the 1680s.
doi.org/10.1093/libr...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
We are honoured to share Archiving Gaza in the Present, edited by Dina Matar & Venetia Porter. The book reveals how conflict erases lives and memory, even as archiving, art-making and testimony endure.
Learn more or order your own copy on our website.
Learn more or order your own copy on our website.
November 20, 2025 at 11:04 AM
We are honoured to share Archiving Gaza in the Present, edited by Dina Matar & Venetia Porter. The book reveals how conflict erases lives and memory, even as archiving, art-making and testimony endure.
Learn more or order your own copy on our website.
Learn more or order your own copy on our website.
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Out now with @saqibooks.bsky.social! "Archiving Gaza in the Present brings together voices from Palestine and beyond to document the cultural erasure and to explore how creative and archival practices resist it."
November 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Out now with @saqibooks.bsky.social! "Archiving Gaza in the Present brings together voices from Palestine and beyond to document the cultural erasure and to explore how creative and archival practices resist it."
New blogpost on an interesting photograph album from the Pamir Boundary Commission of 1895, now digitised and available on DAME (the Digital Archive of the Middle East), documenting negotiations about border demarcation in Afghanistan
specialcollections.exeter.ac.uk/2025/11/21/t...
specialcollections.exeter.ac.uk/2025/11/21/t...
November 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
New blogpost on an interesting photograph album from the Pamir Boundary Commission of 1895, now digitised and available on DAME (the Digital Archive of the Middle East), documenting negotiations about border demarcation in Afghanistan
specialcollections.exeter.ac.uk/2025/11/21/t...
specialcollections.exeter.ac.uk/2025/11/21/t...
Last week I was reading the late Roy Mottahedeh's 'The Mantle of the Prophet' and was struck by what he wrote (in 1984) about the staggering rate of Tehran's growth
www.iranintl.com/en/202511209...
www.iranintl.com/en/202511209...
November 26, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Last week I was reading the late Roy Mottahedeh's 'The Mantle of the Prophet' and was struck by what he wrote (in 1984) about the staggering rate of Tehran's growth
www.iranintl.com/en/202511209...
www.iranintl.com/en/202511209...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
My new favorite kind of meme is "here are detailed instructions on how to turn off AI". 🔨
November 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM
My new favorite kind of meme is "here are detailed instructions on how to turn off AI". 🔨
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
News to me, but apparently this article is out now in #openaccess!
I study the perfuming and ritualization of spaces associated with the memory of the Prophet Muhammad in early Islamic Medina. Part of a special issue on Scents in Medieval Material Culture
www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1...
I study the perfuming and ritualization of spaces associated with the memory of the Prophet Muhammad in early Islamic Medina. Part of a special issue on Scents in Medieval Material Culture
www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1...
November 26, 2025 at 3:08 AM
News to me, but apparently this article is out now in #openaccess!
I study the perfuming and ritualization of spaces associated with the memory of the Prophet Muhammad in early Islamic Medina. Part of a special issue on Scents in Medieval Material Culture
www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1...
I study the perfuming and ritualization of spaces associated with the memory of the Prophet Muhammad in early Islamic Medina. Part of a special issue on Scents in Medieval Material Culture
www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Some of you may know that I curate a huge reading list if Palestinian fantasy, science fiction, and horror. It is not up to date… Please comment if you identify as Palestinian, or if you know of something that should be in the list! Please share for visibility. soniasulaiman.com/readpalestin...
Read Palestinian Speculative Fiction Reading List
The following is a growing reading list for the #ReadPalestinianSpecFic challenge. This is a work in progress to create a list of all available Palestinian speculative fiction. Novels: Novels by Na…
soniasulaiman.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Some of you may know that I curate a huge reading list if Palestinian fantasy, science fiction, and horror. It is not up to date… Please comment if you identify as Palestinian, or if you know of something that should be in the list! Please share for visibility. soniasulaiman.com/readpalestin...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Are you interested in how people thought about the past in Middle Ages? Want to understand the books they wrote about it? We have an online short course for you! Book now for January 2026 👇 #MedievalSky palaeography.uk/study/short-...
Writing History c. 1000-1250: An Introduction to the Manuscript Sources – a short course taught by Charlie Rozier, Manuel Muñoz García and Laura Cleaver
The course will run online from 14:00-17:00: Monday 26 January – Thursday 29 January 2026. The past was a popular subject for writers in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries, partic…
palaeography.uk
November 21, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Are you interested in how people thought about the past in Middle Ages? Want to understand the books they wrote about it? We have an online short course for you! Book now for January 2026 👇 #MedievalSky palaeography.uk/study/short-...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Italian Authorities Arrest 55 Suspects in Major Archaeological Looting Probe in Sicily.
#looting #heritagecrime #tombaroli #metaldetecting #transnationalorganisedcrime #illicitexcavations
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/11/ital...
#looting #heritagecrime #tombaroli #metaldetecting #transnationalorganisedcrime #illicitexcavations
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/11/ital...
Italian Authorities Arrest 55 Suspects in Major Archaeological Looting Probe in Sicily
"A blog about art crimes, illicit trafficking, forgery, art theft and cultural heritage protection."
art-crime.blogspot.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Italian Authorities Arrest 55 Suspects in Major Archaeological Looting Probe in Sicily.
#looting #heritagecrime #tombaroli #metaldetecting #transnationalorganisedcrime #illicitexcavations
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/11/ital...
#looting #heritagecrime #tombaroli #metaldetecting #transnationalorganisedcrime #illicitexcavations
art-crime.blogspot.com/2025/11/ital...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the walruses, for today is their special day!
To celebrate World Walrus Day, here is an illustration of a walrus from the book 'Animated Nature' (1828) by Georges-Louis Leclerc.
📷 Reserve 590 BUF
#WorldWalrusDay #WalrusDay #RareBooks
To celebrate World Walrus Day, here is an illustration of a walrus from the book 'Animated Nature' (1828) by Georges-Louis Leclerc.
📷 Reserve 590 BUF
#WorldWalrusDay #WalrusDay #RareBooks
November 24, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the walruses, for today is their special day!
To celebrate World Walrus Day, here is an illustration of a walrus from the book 'Animated Nature' (1828) by Georges-Louis Leclerc.
📷 Reserve 590 BUF
#WorldWalrusDay #WalrusDay #RareBooks
To celebrate World Walrus Day, here is an illustration of a walrus from the book 'Animated Nature' (1828) by Georges-Louis Leclerc.
📷 Reserve 590 BUF
#WorldWalrusDay #WalrusDay #RareBooks
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
NEW ARTICLE: Yemeni coins trace relations between pirates, merchants, and enslavers that traversed the North American, Arabian, & Madagascar coasts in the 1690s and shed light on colonial material exchange.
#vastearlyamerica #arthistory
journalpanorama.org/article/a-tr...
#vastearlyamerica #arthistory
journalpanorama.org/article/a-tr...
A Trail of Coins from Yemen to New York: Pirates, Plunder, and Enslavement in the World of Margrieta van Varick, ca. 1695 - Panorama
Panorama is a peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication dedicated to American art and visual culture (broadly defined). The journal is intended to provide a high-caliber international forum for d...
journalpanorama.org
November 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM
NEW ARTICLE: Yemeni coins trace relations between pirates, merchants, and enslavers that traversed the North American, Arabian, & Madagascar coasts in the 1690s and shed light on colonial material exchange.
#vastearlyamerica #arthistory
journalpanorama.org/article/a-tr...
#vastearlyamerica #arthistory
journalpanorama.org/article/a-tr...
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
Classic Short Fiction: Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani’s ‘My Secret Picture’
Palestinian short-story writer, publisher and translator Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani (1914-1974) writes about love, loyalty, and gender expectations in the early twentieth century.
Palestinian short-story writer, publisher and translator Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani (1914-1974) writes about love, loyalty, and gender expectations in the early twentieth century.
Classic Short Fiction: Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani’s ‘My Secret Picture’
Palestinian short-story writer, publisher and translator Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani (1914-1974) writes about love, loyalty, and gender expectations in the early twentieth century.
arablit.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Classic Short Fiction: Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani’s ‘My Secret Picture’
Palestinian short-story writer, publisher and translator Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani (1914-1974) writes about love, loyalty, and gender expectations in the early twentieth century.
Palestinian short-story writer, publisher and translator Mahmoud Saif al-Din al-Irani (1914-1974) writes about love, loyalty, and gender expectations in the early twentieth century.
Reposted by James_AL_Downs
The secret mission to save Gaza's historical artefacts
Palestinians scramble to save centuries-old books and manuscripts before they are lost
With a ceasefire in effect in Gaza, a restoration team is painstakingly retrieving historical manuscripts, rare volumes, and archival documents from beneath the rubble of a destroyed mosque.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 23, 2025 at 12:10 AM
The secret mission to save Gaza's historical artefacts