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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 3h

I also have more info on my website: www.teachingmanuscripts.com/colours

Colours | Teaching Manuscripts

www.teachingmanuscripts.com

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 4h

Yes, I have a chapter on all the different pigments used in manuscripts. Also my website gives brief descriptions of all of them: www.teachingmanuscripts.com/colours

Colours | Teaching Manuscripts

www.teachingmanuscripts.com

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 6h

There's more information on making madder on my website: www.teachingmanuscripts.com/reds

Reds | Teaching Manuscripts

www.teachingmanuscripts.com

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 16h

Oh bad luck 😞. My plants often don’t survive the winter, but I was surprised by how much colour I got out of roots that were only two years old

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 16h

Absolutely ❤️

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 19h

Of course. As usual I forgot to document the process with photos, but I largely followed this excellent guide by Louis L. Bispo: sunsikell.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/h...

How to Make Madder Lake, part 1

Previous post: Preparation for Making Madder Lake. In the last post, I wrote that we’re beginning with about 100g of madder root and about 30g of potash alum. I also wrote that there was a bi…

sunsikell.wordpress.com

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 23h

Homegrown madder pigment. It's wonderful to create medieval pigment from something grown in your garden #bookhistory #medievalpigments #medievalsky

Dried madder roots in a bowl on some scales

Madder pigment being mulled on a glass slab

Madder pigment surrounded by examples of dried paint on paper and parchment

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 1d

Oooh, that made me wince 😬

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Reposted by Sara Charles

Poor Frank Raw @poorfrankraw.co.uk · 1d

£145

Poor Frank Raw @poorfrankraw.co.uk · 2d

DUTCH AUCTION in support of salivaryglandcancer.uk

In my shop, this piece is priced at £165. At noon every day (BST) the price drops by £10, until it sells.

First DM gets it. UK shipping only.

Half of what you pay will go to SGC UK.

Please repost for widest coverage. Thank you :)

Hand carved #lettering on Hopton Wood limestone. I AM WHAT I AM.

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 1d

You’re not working now. You’re giving me attention

Ragdoll cat plonked on top of laptop to prevent the human doing any work

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Reposted by Sara Charles

J.D. Sargan @jdsargan.bsky.social · 4d

It's true: I wrote a book. And what's more, the book is done and soon you'll be able to own a copy. And what's more more, if you want a hard copy you can order one for 50% off now, with the code SAR50. And if you want it digitally, it'll be open access!

www.arc-humanities.org/978180270163...

Trans Histories of the Medieval Book - Arc Humanities Press

Archival collections are political spaces: the decisions that govern whose histories are preserved, when, and by whom are not neutral. They reflect the commu...

www.arc-humanities.org

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 5d

👋

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 5d

So excited for this! #bookhistory #medievalsky #parchment #manuscripts

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Reposted by Sara Charles

Dr Eleanor Baker @eleanormaybaker.bsky.social · 5d

✨Book Curses✨ is included in the list of Bewitching Bodleian Bestsellers, so you should buy Book Curses and the 1000 piece puzzle of The World of Frankenstein. Or Book Curses and a Cthulhu pin badge. Or Book Curses and the Edgar Allen Toe socks.

Bewitching Bodleian Bestsellers

Celebrate the spooky season in style - from gothic literature to ghoulish accessories, the Booleian has you sorted!

bodleianshop.co.uk

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 6d

Welcome back, old friend! #bookhistory

Richard Ovenden @richove.bsky.social · 6d

MLGB is back!! Delighted that Medieval Libraries of Great Britain @bodleian.ox.ac.uk is now back online. We are also working had on plans for the next phase of the resource, enhancing & adding data & functionality. HUGE thanks to my colleagues for their hard & clever work mlgb.bodleian.ox.ac.uk

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Reposted by Sara Charles

Dr Danny Bate @dannybate.bsky.social · 8d

Really pleased with how this interview hosted by @colingorrie.bsky.social turned out, especially with his questions – Colin is himself such a skilled linguist that his questions fired up my own thoughts. His Yiddish/Hebrew writing reflections (48:40) was a stroke of genius.
youtu.be/5rlaMWduwyc?...

History of the alphabet: a conversation with Danny Bate

YouTube video by Colin Gorrie

youtu.be

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Reposted by Sara Charles

Dr Delyth Badder @folklorewales.com · 8d

Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.

After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵

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Reposted by Sara Charles

Dr Eleanor Baker @eleanormaybaker.bsky.social · 10d

I am very much looking forward to giving a paper at the @tetraseminar.bsky.social on Middle English book curses and perceptions of the material text! Book-historical horror suitable for the season🕯️🔔📖

TeTra | Text and Transmission Research Seminar @tetraseminar.bsky.social · 10d

Next Thursday 9 October, Eleanor Baker (@eleanormaybaker.bsky.social) will explore the world of Middle English book curses. All welcome!

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Reposted by Sara Charles

Dr Eleanor Baker @eleanormaybaker.bsky.social · 11d

A new @guildmedmak.bsky.social blog post is out, just in time for reading over your mid-afternoon tea break. This blog post is written by the inimitable @saracharles.bsky.social ('Sara of the Scriptorium').

The Guild of Medievalist Makers @guildmedmak.bsky.social · 11d

Its the start of autumn and what better way to usher in the season than with a new Meet a Medievalist Maker blogpost! We are delighted to introduce @saracharles.bsky.social, author of The Medieval Scriptorium: Making Books in the Middle Ages. Read all about Sara's 'historical remaking' below👇

Meet a Medievalist Maker: Sara Charles — The Guild of Medievalist Makers

www.guildmedmak.com

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 11d

Ooh, Sara of the Scriptorium has a good ring to it 🥰

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Reposted by Sara Charles

The Guild of Medievalist Makers @guildmedmak.bsky.social · 11d

Its the start of autumn and what better way to usher in the season than with a new Meet a Medievalist Maker blogpost! We are delighted to introduce @saracharles.bsky.social, author of The Medieval Scriptorium: Making Books in the Middle Ages. Read all about Sara's 'historical remaking' below👇

Meet a Medievalist Maker: Sara Charles — The Guild of Medievalist Makers

www.guildmedmak.com

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Reposted by Sara Charles

Stori3d Past @stori3dpast.bsky.social · 11d

I love watching experimental archaeology. Not because they find out definitively how something used to be done -- that almost never happens. But because they find how it was never done.

Every time you can prove that "No, X doesn't work," you are one tangible step closer to learning what does & did.

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Reposted by Sara Charles

Catherine Clarke @cathamclarke.bsky.social · 12d

I'm hugely honoured and very excited to be giving this year's Historical Research #Lecture at @ihr.bsky.social, on 'Can popular #history be radical? Historical research and writing for the #public'. Tuesday 4 November, all welcome. More info in AltText. Book here: www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

In this lecture, Catherine Clarke will re-visit the question of what makes history radical, asking what kind of radical history we need in our public life and contemporary context today. In particular, she’ll explore ways in which popular history – trade publishing for a wide public audience – has the capacity to be radical, drawing on experiences and examples from her own new book A History of England in 25 Poems (Penguin Allen Lane, September 2025). Catherine’s lecture will move towards a manifesto for how research-led, scholarship-driven popular history can and does make necessary, vital public interventions – from opening inclusive conversations and confronting the rise of AI, to modelling radical empathy and imagination.

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Reposted by Sara Charles

Matthew Holford @matthewholford.bsky.social · 13d

Next Wednesday 8th October, 12.30-1.30: Jiří Vnouček on "A Tale of Two Parchments" - insular and continental parchment preparation.
In person: @bodleian.ox.ac.uk Weston Library, Lecture Theatre
Or livestreamed.
Free: book here visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/oct25/...

A tale of two parchments

In this talk, Dr. Jiří Vnouček discusses differences in species choice and membrane preparation of 'Insular' and 'Continental' parchment used for book-making in the early Middle Ages.

visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk

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Sara Charles @saracharles.bsky.social · 13d

This is so beautifully written:

James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · Nov 2

The art of persuasion with a 3-pound hammer, or stonecutting…

a 🧵 for anyone interested in the tedious magic of working stone:

a collection of stonecutting hammers, mallets, and dummies

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