Mark Burgess
@markburgess.bsky.social
Artist and writer
http://www.markburgess.co.uk
http://www.markburgess.co.uk
This thread reminded me of a study done some years ago by Lotte Hellinga and Hilton Kelliher of the Winchester Manuscript of Malory's Le Morte Darthur. By examining ink offsets they linked the manuscript to Caxton's printing studio.
Amazing thread! I'm thankful this week for book historians like @drleonj.bsky.social and for their reminders about the complexities that the tech bro hype obscures.
You know what we won't need once handwriting recognition software has done its thing? Archivists, curators, conservators, catalogers, codicologists, or paleographers. We won't need archives either. We won't need diplomatics, editorial theory, book or media history, or material culture studies 🗃️🧵
November 27, 2025 at 11:48 AM
This thread reminded me of a study done some years ago by Lotte Hellinga and Hilton Kelliher of the Winchester Manuscript of Malory's Le Morte Darthur. By examining ink offsets they linked the manuscript to Caxton's printing studio.
Reposted by Mark Burgess
Not good.
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Not good.
Excellent news!
Latest update from @britishlibrary.bsky.social says they are launching a new version of their main catalogue on Monday 8 December and around that time also launch an interim version of their Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue. Hooray!
www.bl.uk/stories/news...
www.bl.uk/stories/news...
Restoring our services – November 2025 update
In the coming weeks and months we will be restoring a number of key functions.
www.bl.uk
November 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Excellent news!
Reposted by Mark Burgess
"Warming is going to exceed 1.5°C. We are heading into “overshoot” within the next few years. The world is going to become more turbulent and more dangerous. So, what comes after failure?" Some thoughts from Johan Rockstrom & me 10 years after Paris Agreement.
theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
The world lost the climate gamble. Now it faces a dangerous new reality
The world bet on collective but voluntary action to keep global warming at a safe level.
theconversation.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:35 AM
"Warming is going to exceed 1.5°C. We are heading into “overshoot” within the next few years. The world is going to become more turbulent and more dangerous. So, what comes after failure?" Some thoughts from Johan Rockstrom & me 10 years after Paris Agreement.
theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
theconversation.com/the-world-lo...
Wonderful portrait. "Bad money drives out good." The same might be said of AI and creativity.
”Bad money drives out good.”
Sir Thomas Gresham, English merchant & financier, adviser to Tudor monarchs, founded London’s Royal Exchange in 1565; died #OTD 1571, left bequest to found Gresham College, London’s first higher education institution est.1597.
Portrait by Anthonis Mor c 1560 Rijksmuseum
Sir Thomas Gresham, English merchant & financier, adviser to Tudor monarchs, founded London’s Royal Exchange in 1565; died #OTD 1571, left bequest to found Gresham College, London’s first higher education institution est.1597.
Portrait by Anthonis Mor c 1560 Rijksmuseum
November 21, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Wonderful portrait. "Bad money drives out good." The same might be said of AI and creativity.
Reposted by Mark Burgess
A little more Nonsense …
November 18, 2025 at 8:26 PM
A little more Nonsense …
Reposted by Mark Burgess
If you're doing your holiday shopping and/or thinking about best to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday, 1 month from today, I have some news: Harvard UP's annotated editions of Austen's fiction (my own edition of Mansfield Park included) are now 25% off.
www.hup.harvard.edu/features/hap...
www.hup.harvard.edu/features/hap...
Happy 250th Birthday, Jane Austen — Harvard University Press
Celebrate with six gorgeous annotated editions of Jane Austen’s classics. “A sumptuous reading experience…richly illustrated with paintings, museum-quality photographs, and colorful Regency prints. A ...
www.hup.harvard.edu
November 16, 2025 at 3:57 PM
If you're doing your holiday shopping and/or thinking about best to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday, 1 month from today, I have some news: Harvard UP's annotated editions of Austen's fiction (my own edition of Mansfield Park included) are now 25% off.
www.hup.harvard.edu/features/hap...
www.hup.harvard.edu/features/hap...
Wonderful that Irish people like reading library books and that I get a little bit of money for the ones of mine they read (even though I'm in the UK). Thank you, Irish readers! #IrishPLR #Libraries #TinyJoys
November 6, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Wonderful that Irish people like reading library books and that I get a little bit of money for the ones of mine they read (even though I'm in the UK). Thank you, Irish readers! #IrishPLR #Libraries #TinyJoys
Bang on.
Guy Fawkes took the brilliantly original pseudonym “John Johnson” for his attempt to blow up Parliament today in 1605
We should make sure that anyone of that surname should not be allowed within a mile of the building.
We should make sure that anyone of that surname should not be allowed within a mile of the building.
November 5, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Bang on.
Reposted by Mark Burgess
Protest is fundamental to our democracy - we rightly celebrate people like Nelson Mandela who changed the world through protest
But this govt is clamping down on our protest rights with increasingly authoritarian laws
Thanks @greenpeaceuk.bsky.social for making this point so powerfully
But this govt is clamping down on our protest rights with increasingly authoritarian laws
Thanks @greenpeaceuk.bsky.social for making this point so powerfully
November 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Protest is fundamental to our democracy - we rightly celebrate people like Nelson Mandela who changed the world through protest
But this govt is clamping down on our protest rights with increasingly authoritarian laws
Thanks @greenpeaceuk.bsky.social for making this point so powerfully
But this govt is clamping down on our protest rights with increasingly authoritarian laws
Thanks @greenpeaceuk.bsky.social for making this point so powerfully
Reposted by Mark Burgess
For those no longer on X- here is Sam's post about his mother:
#PrunellaScales #SamWest #ExitTheLemming
#PrunellaScales #SamWest #ExitTheLemming
October 28, 2025 at 12:38 PM
For those no longer on X- here is Sam's post about his mother:
#PrunellaScales #SamWest #ExitTheLemming
#PrunellaScales #SamWest #ExitTheLemming
I have moved the 19th Centuryists feed again as it was missing too many posts. Hopefully this new iteration will be better.
#19thCentury
bsky.app/profile/mark...
#19thCentury
bsky.app/profile/mark...
October 28, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I have moved the 19th Centuryists feed again as it was missing too many posts. Hopefully this new iteration will be better.
#19thCentury
bsky.app/profile/mark...
#19thCentury
bsky.app/profile/mark...
Apologies for the #TinyJoys feed disappearing earlier today - I have moved it again after it was missing too many posts. Hopefully this new iteration will be better.
bsky.app/profile/mark...
bsky.app/profile/mark...
October 28, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Apologies for the #TinyJoys feed disappearing earlier today - I have moved it again after it was missing too many posts. Hopefully this new iteration will be better.
bsky.app/profile/mark...
bsky.app/profile/mark...
Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness.
These two have brought me a lot of happiness - and other things - over the years. I shall always be grateful for E H Shepard's & A A Milne's genius.
These two have brought me a lot of happiness - and other things - over the years. I shall always be grateful for E H Shepard's & A A Milne's genius.
October 24, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness.
These two have brought me a lot of happiness - and other things - over the years. I shall always be grateful for E H Shepard's & A A Milne's genius.
These two have brought me a lot of happiness - and other things - over the years. I shall always be grateful for E H Shepard's & A A Milne's genius.
Reposted by Mark Burgess
Stephen is so consistently funny, but this is especially strong 👇😆
![1
Nurse:
It’s become a real problem in this area
2
Nurse:
We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction
3
Show a building sign posted:
Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic
With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it
Nurse:
Ministers, Spads, Researchers…
4
Nurse:
Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely
[Nurse on phone taking a call]
Ok - we’ll be right over
5
Nurse:
We just have a gentle chat
[Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster
Minister:
I understand your concerns…
6
Nurse:
Are you OK love?
Minister:
Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters
7
Nurse:
That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian
[Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters]
Nurse 2:
Give us your phone, love
8
Nurse:
At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to
[We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.]
9
Minister:
YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR
[woman looks baffled]
10
woman:
I just want a bus service
Minister:
LOOK AT MY FLAG
[produces a St George's flag]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreicahofq6s4xow7vowj7dx6odw6ejdwr4kwcmzta7qwi4hg2nvywji@jpeg)
October 20, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Stephen is so consistently funny, but this is especially strong 👇😆
More recognition for women artists, please.
Acquisition news!
Yale Center for British art acquired a painting by Elizabeth Emma Soyer. Soyer died an 29, she left only a small oeuvre.
Women artists rule! 💪
Yale Center for British art acquired a painting by Elizabeth Emma Soyer. Soyer died an 29, she left only a small oeuvre.
Women artists rule! 💪
October 18, 2025 at 9:40 AM
More recognition for women artists, please.
Reposted by Mark Burgess
So all living Israeli hostages have come home. A huge emotional weight off our shoulders. We can no longer postpone the next steps.
Many of us, perhaps even most of us, are going to stay on the streets for our remaining and ongoing struggles:
⬇️
Many of us, perhaps even most of us, are going to stay on the streets for our remaining and ongoing struggles:
⬇️
October 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
So all living Israeli hostages have come home. A huge emotional weight off our shoulders. We can no longer postpone the next steps.
Many of us, perhaps even most of us, are going to stay on the streets for our remaining and ongoing struggles:
⬇️
Many of us, perhaps even most of us, are going to stay on the streets for our remaining and ongoing struggles:
⬇️
Reposted by Mark Burgess
PSA: I have now become THAT person who blabs on about pre-ordering her book. Tbf, it is 25% off online @waterstones.bsky.social w/code OCTOBER25 (only through Friday!) so you might as well treat yourself 💅🏻
#18thc #skystorians #history @yalepress.bsky.social
www.waterstones.com/book/the-mas...
#18thc #skystorians #history @yalepress.bsky.social
www.waterstones.com/book/the-mas...
The Masquerade by Meghan Kobza | Waterstones
Buy The Masquerade by Meghan Kobza from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
October 16, 2025 at 10:26 AM
PSA: I have now become THAT person who blabs on about pre-ordering her book. Tbf, it is 25% off online @waterstones.bsky.social w/code OCTOBER25 (only through Friday!) so you might as well treat yourself 💅🏻
#18thc #skystorians #history @yalepress.bsky.social
www.waterstones.com/book/the-mas...
#18thc #skystorians #history @yalepress.bsky.social
www.waterstones.com/book/the-mas...
Reposted by Mark Burgess
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300... finally a cover for the exhibition catalogue! Strange Beauties will open in February 2026 at National Museum Cardiff, and will travel to @nationalgalleries.bsky.social, Yale Center for British Art, and National Museum of Women in the Arts, finishing up in 2027.
Gwen John - Yale University Press London
The first comprehensive survey in 40 years brings new scholarly attention and a feminist perspective to the Welsh painter with a singular vision of female in...
yalebooks.co.uk
October 16, 2025 at 8:52 AM
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300... finally a cover for the exhibition catalogue! Strange Beauties will open in February 2026 at National Museum Cardiff, and will travel to @nationalgalleries.bsky.social, Yale Center for British Art, and National Museum of Women in the Arts, finishing up in 2027.
Reposted by Mark Burgess
Deep breath. My publisher @johnmurrays.bsky.social informs me that my book about 🇬🇧,
"Fantastic Kingdom“
which will come out in June 2026,
is now available to pre-order, and that @waterstones.bsky.social is offering a 25% preorder discount this week.
www.waterstones.com/book/fantast...
"Fantastic Kingdom“
which will come out in June 2026,
is now available to pre-order, and that @waterstones.bsky.social is offering a 25% preorder discount this week.
www.waterstones.com/book/fantast...
Fantastic Kingdom by Helene von Bismarck | Waterstones
Buy Fantastic Kingdom by Helene von Bismarck from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
www.waterstones.com
October 14, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Deep breath. My publisher @johnmurrays.bsky.social informs me that my book about 🇬🇧,
"Fantastic Kingdom“
which will come out in June 2026,
is now available to pre-order, and that @waterstones.bsky.social is offering a 25% preorder discount this week.
www.waterstones.com/book/fantast...
"Fantastic Kingdom“
which will come out in June 2026,
is now available to pre-order, and that @waterstones.bsky.social is offering a 25% preorder discount this week.
www.waterstones.com/book/fantast...
Reposted by Mark Burgess
Morning, #journorequest.. have you lost your job/work to AI? And is it doing a rubbish job? I'm looking for case studies for a broadsheet piece, who have been 'replaced' by AI, or find their work has dwindled. If you know anyone/that's you, please message me! Thanks very much. [email protected]
October 14, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Morning, #journorequest.. have you lost your job/work to AI? And is it doing a rubbish job? I'm looking for case studies for a broadsheet piece, who have been 'replaced' by AI, or find their work has dwindled. If you know anyone/that's you, please message me! Thanks very much. [email protected]
"Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone"
On this day nurse #EdithCavell and #PhilipeBaucq were shot at dawn for helping allied soldiers to escape Belgium during the First World War. This is a letter from one of those soldiers.
October 12, 2025 at 8:18 PM
"Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone"
Reposted by Mark Burgess
Alt text: Two images. 1. A headline. The leader of the Conservative party saying, "We need to curb students taking rip off degrees such as English." 2. A bar of chocolate they gave away at the Tory Party conference that says, "When Labour negotiates Britain loses." Britain is spelt B-R-I-T-I-A-N.
October 8, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Alt text: Two images. 1. A headline. The leader of the Conservative party saying, "We need to curb students taking rip off degrees such as English." 2. A bar of chocolate they gave away at the Tory Party conference that says, "When Labour negotiates Britain loses." Britain is spelt B-R-I-T-I-A-N.
For Jane Austen fans...
@drbibliomane.bsky.social , I thought you'd like this (if you don't know about it already) :
www.cartoonkate.co.uk/pages/patchw...
#18thC #19thC #JaneAusten
www.cartoonkate.co.uk/pages/patchw...
#18thC #19thC #JaneAusten
Patchwork Jane Austen Sneak Peek
Reverend Stanier Clarke mansplains to Jane Austen how to write a novel. Henry Austen is very ill after eating mercury salts. Patchwork: a graphic biography
www.cartoonkate.co.uk
October 9, 2025 at 9:16 AM
For Jane Austen fans...