Category Archives: Uncategorized

A few days ago I was idly browsing instagram (my instagram feed is full of posts from various archive services) when I came across the item above. It had been misclassified as a packet loose tea – when it in … Continue reading →

Recently I posted the following on Mastodon in response to a post about a recent article on why some Aussie pubs have tiled interiors The urban myth is of course that during the time of the six o’clock swill beer … Continue reading →

I follow quite a number of blogs, including the University of St Andrews Special Collections blog which deals with the rarer early printed books in their collection. Every year in the run up to Christmas they do a series of … Continue reading →

I’ve been puzzling over the labels on a lot of old bottles, mostly of aromatic oils, I’ve been documenting down at Chiltern. I was assuming that because some of the bottles looked to be nineteenth century (the glass had a … Continue reading →

A few weeks ago I wrote about using a Linux based laptop for research and documentation. At the time I suggested that you could use a local install of Notable to keep work in progress notes – I suggested Notable … Continue reading →

Last night, J and I started watching the David Tennant version of ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’. It’s a complete romp, and very enjoyable for that, ideal Sunday night viewing. It’s been years since I read the book, but … Continue reading →

A few days ago I retweeted the following from the Yorkshire Post Rare book laced with poison found by Leeds librarian who came across a list of toxic tomes https://t.co/7AI9BOnpMd pic.twitter.com/quBi44l9QM — doug moncur (@moncur_d) October 30, 2022 Strangely, I … Continue reading →

I was looking at the Facebook paleography group recently and came across the following post Now I’ve seen the reverse N before in old grave markers in country areas in Scotland. If you look at the inscription you can see … Continue reading →

Recently I reread a couple of early Len Deighton novels – the Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin – which I ‘d picked up cheaply online. I always thought that Len Deighton was underrated as teller of spy stories as … Continue reading →

I have an interest in Egyptology, or more importantly the impact of the re discovery of ancient Egypt on the culture of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Europe and America, from patent medicines with vaguely pharaonic packaging through buildings … Continue reading →