Emma Smith (@oldfortunatus.bsky.social)

@laurenworking.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 9:39 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

Just noticed that my chat w/ Suzannah Lipscomb for Not Just the Tudors aired recently – we talk about Henry VIII's cash problem, North American tricksters & shamans, Cleopatra's earring, & Jacobean fears of being duped into wearing fakes:

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

@ceebarnacles.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 2:03 PMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

“a trail of books sold under duress …”
“that many of these books were acquired in circumstances morally dubious at best, clearly illegal and unethical at worst, can no longer be ignored.”
Say #provenance - you hear the loudest ‘Shush!’ in the library…
#bookhistory
theconversation.com/when-europes...

@oldfortunatus.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 4:44 PM

Oo I love both of those for difference reasons: Stewart for disturbing witches and the domestic details; Eccleston for the clock and the porter

@oldfortunatus.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 12:23 PM

I like Coen with Denzel Washington - the Michael Fassbender one is slow but has some amazing visuals

@starcrossed2018.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 8:02 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

And that's the exposition done; MANY QUESTIONS... #ProdigalPrince #SlowShakespeare
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
The poster for the 1964 @the-rsc.bsky.social Henry IV & the tomb on which it's based. Henry is the only monarch buried in Canterbury Cathedral, with his 2nd wife Joan of Navarre

A poster for a theatrical production. The lower part of the image is two tone, dark pink and dark blue, of the head and shoulders of a king's tomb effigy, with crown, beard, robe. Text reads Henry IV Part 1. Above the text reads Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company in.

A photograph of part of a medieval tomb. The heads and shoulders of a king (front) and queen. They're wearing crowns and a lot of jewels, which have been gilded and jewels painted red. The alabaster is greyish; there's lots of detail in the carving.

@drvarshap.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 8:17 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

Fun Sunday today at Royal Academy! I shall be speaking my heart out about how the Indian child in *A Midsummer Night’s Dream* keeps haunting visual artists both as presence and as absence! @royalacademy.bsky.social

@carolecadwalla.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 10:08 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

NEW: Prime Minister Andy Burnham finally breaks a decade of UK govt silence…& reveals there was ‘clear’ Russian interference in the Brexit vote. 1/

@starcrossed2018.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 10:13 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

Henry: maybe Hotspur & Hal were switched at birth? #ProdigalPrince #SlowShakespeare
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
Richard Coyle as King Henry in Player Kings 2024: immaculate dress uniform (Marshal of the Royal Air Force) right down to the medals, a year after the coronation of Charles III.

A photograph of a character in a play. Three-quarter length, a middle-aged man wearing elaborate dress uniform: a dark blue tunic over black trousers with a red stripe. A gold and red belt with enormous tassels; a blue sash, lots of gold braid and medals. He's wearing white gloves. He looks serious and worried, and is standing in front of a tan curtain.

@oldfortunatus.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 12:44 PM

I see ya

@callanjd.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 2:55 PMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

This, by @starcrossed2018.bsky.social, has been my early autumn companion, and it’s such a wonderful and illuminating read. I love this eloquent observation about early modern making.

Book Textile Shakespeare by Hester Lees-Jeffries on table with plant, tray, and lit candle

surely made a difference that Shakespeare
(and Marlowe) grew up in an environment in which a single hide, already technologically and culturally transformed but still residually animalic, was cut into tiny, two-dimensional pieces in order to be crafted into complex, intricate, three-dimensional objects, objects which relied, for the full expression of their meaning and purpose, upon their embodiment, being inhabited and animated by human actors, whose body parts, and skin, they both concealed and resembled.
Recognising this, however, need not simply be a default to biography, to the facts (known or imagined) of a single life.

@ravoon.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 7:05 PMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

Nice poem this, from the Nobel Laureate

@profchander.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 10:16 PMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

“Patricia Akhimie, the show’s curator, spent two years developing the library’s most expansive temporary exhibition since its 2024 gallery renovation, with the help of six research fellows and a team of assistants.”

@tylercurtain.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 11:44 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

I can't begin to explain how great Anne Carson's work is.

@catherinefletcher.info Oct 8, 2026, 10:50 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

Well this is miserable news. Free Thinking was one of the few spaces in broadcasting for serious (not PR-led) discussion about arts and humanities.

@edelsemple.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 12:16 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

Another glimpse at my Introduction to the OWC #Shakespeare #Pericles, this time introducing two of the play’s female characters. Follow along for more and tune into my #OxfordWorldsClassics @engfac.bsky.social webinar with Prof Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social on Tuesday 2 Nov! (1/5)

@starcrossed2018.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 8:02 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

Westmorland: big battle! don't know who won? #ProdigalPrince #SlowShakespeare
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
One of the most influential recent Henry IVs: dir. Phyllida Lloyd @donmarwarehouse.bsky.social, first in 2014, within the frame of a women's prison. Jade Anouka, centre, as HOTSPUR.

@carissaveliz.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 12:23 PMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

Ecstatic to share that #Prophecy has been shortlisted for the FT #BBYA26! I'm so honoured. Writing Prophecy was an amazing adventure, but it was hard and risky, and it being well received and appreciated fills me with joy.

www.ft.com/content/d0b2...

@oldfortunatus.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 10:20 AM

Maybe what we need is to work on a collaborative bid that includes research time for you. I’m in. I’m not sure the PhD route is the best….

@edelsemple.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 5:27 PMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

Here’s a flavour of my Introduction to the OWC #Shakespeare #Pericles, this time focusing on the play’s sources and genre. Follow along for more and tune into my #OxfordWorldsClassics @engfac.bsky.social webinar with Prof Emma Smith @oldfortunatus.bsky.social on 2 Nov.! (1/5)

@starcrossed2018.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 9:30 AMReposted by @oldfortunatus.bsky.social

King Henry: I thought we'd have a HOLY war now? #ProdigalPrince #SlowShakespeare
www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo...
Jasper Britton as Henry in the opening scene of 1 Henry IV @the-rsc.bsky.social 2014, its design (des. Stephen Brimson Lewis) emphasising the religious context & language here.