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magiclantern.bsky.social
James_AL_Downs
@magiclantern.bsky.social
4.3K followers 4.4K following 5.5K posts
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
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exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
Believe it or nut - it's already October! 🍂

We hope you all have a lovely weekend.

📷 Illustration of oak, hazelnut & hornbeam from ‘The Flowering Plants of Great Britain’ (1855) by Anne Pratt [Baring-Gould Library 0691]

#FridayFlowers #FlowersOnFriday #RareBooks
Photograph of an opened book featuring a full-page colour illustration of leaves, flowers and fruit of the Common British Oak, the Hazelnut tree and the Hornbeam tree.
October 2, 2026 at 10:44 AM
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exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
Good morning to everyone, but especially to all the raccoons, for today is their special day!

This woodcut of a raccoon was printed in 1635 in 'Historia Naturae, Maxime Peregrinae' by Juan Eusebio Nieremberg.

📷 Baring-Gould Library 0689 Folio

#InternationalRaccoonAppreciationDay #RareBooks
Cropped image of a page in an opened book. In the centre of the page is a large woodcut illustration of a raccoon. The title in Latin above it reads 'Mapach'.
October 1, 2026 at 9:20 AM
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matthewteller.com
I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope y’all have fun reading it 😍
Front cover of new book “Finding Aladdin” by Matthew Teller
October 1, 2026 at 11:44 AM
magiclantern.bsky.social
Algerian Cinema: From Colonial Images to a New Generation

algeriaconnect.com/algerian-cin...
Algerian Cinema: From Colonial Images to a New Generation | Algeria Connect
From revolutionary war footage to Cannes premieres, Algerian cinema spans over a century of filmmaking. Explore the key films, filmmakers and movements that shaped one of Africa's most consequential f...
algeriaconnect.com
October 1, 2026 at 9:11 AM
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exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
Today is National Sporting Heritage Day!

Did you know our University Archive contains items relating to university sports going back more than a century, including reports, photographs, sportswear, balls, and even trophies?

Here's a small selection!

📷 EUL UA

#NSHD2026 #SportingHeritage #Archives
Sports column's relating to men and women's hockey from an early issues of St Luke's College Student's Magazine Black and white photograph of men and women wearing tennis attire and holding tennis racquets Flattened rugby ball, on which is printed 'Middlesex Seven-A-Side St Luke's (18pts) vs. Ldn Welsh (5pts) Twickenham 1952'. The ball is also signed with several signatures, presumably of players on the rugby team. Inter College Athletic Contests tropy of the University College of the South West
September 30, 2026 at 9:16 AM
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publicdomainrev.bsky.social
Born #onthisday in 1547, Miguel de Cervantes, author of one of the most illustrated books of all time, #DonQuixote. Read Rachel Schmidt on how the varying approaches to illustrating it have reflected + impacted its reading through the centuries: publicdomainreview.org/essay/p... #otd
September 29, 2026 at 11:48 AM
magiclantern.bsky.social
Working late tonight trying to trim 150 words off this article so I can get it under 10,000 words in order to submit - down to the most hard-hearted 'Kill your darlings' stage which I always find hard. Hopefully it will be worth it in the end #Palestine
Negative image from a glass plate photograph, showing two figures picking fruit from a tree
September 28, 2026 at 9:35 PM
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thismanyyearsago.bsky.social
64 years ago, on the 27th of September 1962, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring was published. It handled the environmental harm caused by the pesticide DDT and the disinformation spread by the chemical industry. Carson managed to sway public opinion and even policy. #otd #history 🗃️
Rachel Carson photo credit: Science History Images / Alamy
September 27, 2026 at 5:00 AM
magiclantern.bsky.social
Today I passed a Sainsbury's petrol station in Exeter with diesel at £1.99 but have since heard that in parts of Scotland the £2 per litre threshold has been crossed. I still remember my dad's incredulity in Scotland in the 1970s when he first had to pay £1 for a gallon.
Photo of an Esso petrol station price chart showing diesel at the cost of £2.06 per litre, with pine trees in the background
September 27, 2026 at 12:42 PM
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royalhistsoc.org
This week the Society launched a new programme to support research bit.ly/4iFNuF0

The RHS / Social History Archive Partnership offers free access to resources in @socialhistarchive.bsky.social, published by DC Thomson.

Applications for 6-month access to Archive content invited #Skystorians 1/2
Society launches new programme for researchers, in partnership with The Social History Archive - RHS
The Society is pleased to launch a new programme for researchers, in partnership with The Social History Archive, published by DC Thomson. The Social History Archive is a comprehensive online archive ...
bit.ly
September 26, 2026 at 1:21 PM
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blisterpearl.bsky.social
The new AI captchas are really something
ᵛⁱᵃ ˣᴷᶜᴰ
This image is XKCD #2228: "Machine Learning Captcha" by Randall Munroe, which satirizes how verification tests might exploit human fear and judgment during a hypothetical robot takeover. text: TO PROVE YOU'RE A HUMAN, CLICK ON ALL THE PHOTOS THAT SHOW PLACES YOU WOULD RUN FOR SHELTER DURING A ROBOT UPRISING.
September 18, 2026 at 4:46 AM
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tim606.bsky.social
Buy Chloe's pylons before I do. I have no wall space and very little money so you'd be doing me a solid x
chloecumming.bsky.social Chloe Cumming @chloecumming.bsky.social · 6d
On the subject of I’m a person and I need money, but also woo, art, smashing! I do still have lots of pylons in my shop. www.chloecumming.com/inkwater
Rusty reddy dark pylon Leaning ink pylon with watercolour, browns and greens Two small staccato pylons on a green hill with pink in the sky Windswept pylon in golden autumnal place
September 26, 2026 at 4:26 PM
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chloecumming.bsky.social
On the subject of I’m a person and I need money, but also woo, art, smashing! I do still have lots of pylons in my shop. www.chloecumming.com/inkwater
Rusty reddy dark pylon Leaning ink pylon with watercolour, browns and greens Two small staccato pylons on a green hill with pink in the sky Windswept pylon in golden autumnal place
September 26, 2026 at 9:38 AM
magiclantern.bsky.social
I bought these glass negatives in an antique shop the other day as a sneak peek in the box revealed they definitely weren't photographs of antiquities from Avebury & Silbury (or if they were, explosive revelations await us) As it turns out, the images aren't as exciting as I hoped: but still pleased
Photograph of six glass negatives on a light box next to their original box, which has a handwritten note about Avebury and Silbury, and the year 1922, on the lid. The images show cuneiform and hieroglyphic inscriptions plus part of the Rosetta stone
September 26, 2026 at 11:25 AM
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johnnymains.co.uk
Work is looking very non-existent for the end of the year - if you're able to throw the price of a coffee my way, I'd be more than thankful.

buymeacoffee.com/johnnymains
Johnny Mains
I look for lost ghosts in old fiction. I try and bring back authors lost to time. I also write my own fiction/non-fiction.I edit books for the British Library like CELTIC WEIRD, SCOTLAND THE STRANGE,
buymeacoffee.com
September 12, 2026 at 2:24 PM
magiclantern.bsky.social
The kids are alright
kojamf.bsky.social KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 6d
blush_band32
BLUSH
KISS MARRY KILL LIVE!
September 25, 2026 at 8:32 PM
magiclantern.bsky.social
It's been a good summer of folk horror reading thanks to @davidmbarnett.bsky.social and now autumn brings a close (possibly?) to this uniquely wonderful quartet
Photo of four paperback books, three piled horizontally with their titles - Withered Hill, Scuttler's Cove and Scratch Moss - visible on the spines, with the fourth, Twisted Pike, standing upright and showing the red shape of a dog-like creature on the front cover
September 25, 2026 at 6:46 PM
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twesq.bsky.social
this is fantastic and I learned something new
September 20, 2026 at 8:22 PM
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dhlabexeter.bsky.social
Job Vacancy!

For this role the candidate should have expertise in 3D modelling, photogrammetry, immersive design and visualisation in cultural heritage and humanities contexts. This post is available from 2 November 2026 on a fixed-term basis until 31/10/2027. careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/12...
September 24, 2026 at 11:23 AM
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exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
'...we sometimes come across other caravans. Of course they aren't nearly so lovely as ours!...'

Theo Brown's 'The Joy of Caravanning' was digitised by @dhlabexeter.bsky.social. You can find it on our Digital Collections site! ➡️ specialcollectionsarchive.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/908

📷 EUL MS 388/94
Illustration of three people viewing a different caravan. The man points a stick at it, while the young girl looks towards us. The text below the illustration reads: 'In the course of our wanderings (for we often goe [sic] for walks,) we sometimes come across other caravans. Of course they waren't nearly [underlined] so lovely as ours! Mr Brown demonstrating on one.'
September 24, 2026 at 11:06 AM
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exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social
For International Caravan Day, we’re sharing a favourite from the archives!

This delightful childhood notebook by folklorist Theo Brown captures a caravan holiday on Dartmoor in the 1920s through a series of charming stories and illustrations.

📷 EUL MS 388/94

#InternationalCaravanDay #Archives
Illustration of a caravan being being pulled up a steep hill by a van, with two people pushing the caravan from behind. The title above reads 'The Joys of Caravanin' and the text under the illustration reads: 'The Long Pull up a hill on Dartmoor. (Note the 'shovers' behind!)'. Illustration of a person standing on the steps of a caravan holding a brush. The text next to the illustration reads 'Then, of course, there are lots of dormestic [sic] jobs to be done be-fore one settles for the night - for instance, the can needs a sweep after the journey -'. Illustration of sleeping arrangements in the caravan, with one person sleeping above, and two people sleeping below. One person below is comforting a dog who is barking. The person above is saying 'Dry up' and the person below is saying 'Shut up'. The text next to the illustration reads: 'After a long day's journey, we feel we have earned some sleep, but if we have earned it, we don't get it. This is Mrs Brown trying to console the dog, who has just awakened the camp by its savage barks because it thinks it has heard a sound without.' Illustration showing a caravan being pulled down a hill by a vehicle, and is followed by several other vehicles. A sun smiles over the hills. The text below the illustration reads: 'The lorry arrives & we shackle up. Then we start. This is the long push down a hill on Dartmoor. (note [?]) We are keeping back a carabanc, ['and' crossed out] a Daimber (jolly good one too!) and a bycycle (a brand new Raleigh!). There are dosens more over the top of the hill really.'
September 24, 2026 at 11:06 AM
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aerialembroidery.bsky.social
80 hours of embroidery! This aerial landscape is directly inspired by Dartmoor and I'd say I have another 30-ish hours to go? I'm now starting to fill in the fields for the sheep, the tor area will be done last as I'm still deciding whether I want a slope or not 😅 I hope you like it! #art
An embroidery hoop containing a sewn aerial-view landscape. It depicts a moorland scene in a range of green shades, about 70% completed.
September 23, 2026 at 7:50 PM
magiclantern.bsky.social
Lee Rawlings sat in a chair, all set for tonight's dramatic reading of H.G. Wells' 'The Invisible Man.'
Photo of a cloth-covered table in a pub basement, with stone floor and walls. On top of the table is a glass head, with sunglasses and a hat
September 21, 2026 at 6:15 PM
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csmc-hamburg.bsky.social
Seal impressions can reveal ownership, reading practices, and the journeys of manuscripts across collections. A new DFG-funded project is creating a database of seals from manuscripts in the Islamic world. It will link images and descriptions and develop tools for automated recognition
New DFG Project for Exploring Seal Impressions
uhh.de
September 21, 2026 at 3:31 PM
magiclantern.bsky.social
Next time I pass this way I'll be more organised and arrange in advance to obtain the key for access, as I'd really like to see the interior of this chapel
Photo of an olf wooden chapel foor with cobwebs beneath the handle
September 20, 2026 at 6:28 PM