Bob MacLean
@bobmaclean.bsky.social
Assistant Librarian (rare books), University of Glasgow Library Archives and Special Collections
Reposted by Bob MacLean
My new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class, is now listed in Verso's trade catalogue for 2026.
You can find it here: versobooks.com/en-gb/pages/...
You can find it here: versobooks.com/en-gb/pages/...
February 11, 2026 at 4:58 PM
My new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class, is now listed in Verso's trade catalogue for 2026.
You can find it here: versobooks.com/en-gb/pages/...
You can find it here: versobooks.com/en-gb/pages/...
Reposted by Bob MacLean
I nod and nod to my own shadow and thrust
A mountain down and down.
Between my feet a loch shines in the brown,
Its silver paper crinkled and edged with rust…
—Norman MacCaig, “Climbing Suilven”
from BETWEEN MOUNTAIN AND SEA: Poems From Assynt (Birlinn, 2018)
#poetry
birlinn.co.uk/product/betw...
A mountain down and down.
Between my feet a loch shines in the brown,
Its silver paper crinkled and edged with rust…
—Norman MacCaig, “Climbing Suilven”
from BETWEEN MOUNTAIN AND SEA: Poems From Assynt (Birlinn, 2018)
#poetry
birlinn.co.uk/product/betw...
February 10, 2026 at 12:40 PM
I nod and nod to my own shadow and thrust
A mountain down and down.
Between my feet a loch shines in the brown,
Its silver paper crinkled and edged with rust…
—Norman MacCaig, “Climbing Suilven”
from BETWEEN MOUNTAIN AND SEA: Poems From Assynt (Birlinn, 2018)
#poetry
birlinn.co.uk/product/betw...
A mountain down and down.
Between my feet a loch shines in the brown,
Its silver paper crinkled and edged with rust…
—Norman MacCaig, “Climbing Suilven”
from BETWEEN MOUNTAIN AND SEA: Poems From Assynt (Birlinn, 2018)
#poetry
birlinn.co.uk/product/betw...
Reposted by Bob MacLean
This is my new book (26/026). It's the 1st time in years that I'll be published as 'Shona' rather than 'S.G.'and I am very happy to be reclaiming my name. It's about a reading society formed in a northern Scottish town in the 1830s. Drama ensues. (My mother-in-law crocheted the shawl 🧶)
October 27, 2025 at 4:53 PM
This is my new book (26/026). It's the 1st time in years that I'll be published as 'Shona' rather than 'S.G.'and I am very happy to be reclaiming my name. It's about a reading society formed in a northern Scottish town in the 1830s. Drama ensues. (My mother-in-law crocheted the shawl 🧶)
Reposted by Bob MacLean
Book launch: The Cromarty Library Circle
25 Feb, Dunkeld: £5
@shonamaclean.bsky.social launches her latest novel, THE CROMARTY LIBRARY CIRCLE: a Scottish town on the cusp of change & the townspeople whose lives will be irrevocably altered over one tumultuous year
www.culturepk.org.uk/event/an-eve...
25 Feb, Dunkeld: £5
@shonamaclean.bsky.social launches her latest novel, THE CROMARTY LIBRARY CIRCLE: a Scottish town on the cusp of change & the townspeople whose lives will be irrevocably altered over one tumultuous year
www.culturepk.org.uk/event/an-eve...
An evening with Shona MacLean: The Cromarty Library Circle - Culture Perth & Kinross
Get ready to welcome the bestselling author of The Bookseller of Inverness to Birnam Arts!
www.culturepk.org.uk
February 2, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Book launch: The Cromarty Library Circle
25 Feb, Dunkeld: £5
@shonamaclean.bsky.social launches her latest novel, THE CROMARTY LIBRARY CIRCLE: a Scottish town on the cusp of change & the townspeople whose lives will be irrevocably altered over one tumultuous year
www.culturepk.org.uk/event/an-eve...
25 Feb, Dunkeld: £5
@shonamaclean.bsky.social launches her latest novel, THE CROMARTY LIBRARY CIRCLE: a Scottish town on the cusp of change & the townspeople whose lives will be irrevocably altered over one tumultuous year
www.culturepk.org.uk/event/an-eve...
Reposted by Bob MacLean
New our blog, @jamesafox.bsky.social on Robert Burns and the how-to of barrel gauging 📏🛢📖🍺
howtobook.hypotheses.org/5697
#bookhistory #robertburns #taxes
howtobook.hypotheses.org/5697
#bookhistory #robertburns #taxes
February 3, 2026 at 1:50 PM
New our blog, @jamesafox.bsky.social on Robert Burns and the how-to of barrel gauging 📏🛢📖🍺
howtobook.hypotheses.org/5697
#bookhistory #robertburns #taxes
howtobook.hypotheses.org/5697
#bookhistory #robertburns #taxes
Reposted by Bob MacLean
Applications for our rare books librarian position at the University of Arizona are open until Feb 9 (next week)
We have a fab diverse collection, great people to work with, and amazing Mexican food.
arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
I'm not on the search, please feel free to reach out w qs!
We have a fab diverse collection, great people to work with, and amazing Mexican food.
arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
I'm not on the search, please feel free to reach out w qs!
Librarian, Rare Books (Assistant or Associate)
CHARACTERISTIC DUTIESAcquire, appraise, and
preserve collections of primary and significant research value, especially rare
books.In partnership
with ...
arizona.csod.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Applications for our rare books librarian position at the University of Arizona are open until Feb 9 (next week)
We have a fab diverse collection, great people to work with, and amazing Mexican food.
arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
I'm not on the search, please feel free to reach out w qs!
We have a fab diverse collection, great people to work with, and amazing Mexican food.
arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
I'm not on the search, please feel free to reach out w qs!
Reposted by Bob MacLean
First London Palaeography Seminar of 2026 coming up! Eyal Poleg, no less, speaking on 'The Science of Erasures' - Tuesday 3rd February, 5:30pm Senate House and online. To learn more and to register:
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
January 26, 2026 at 10:37 AM
First London Palaeography Seminar of 2026 coming up! Eyal Poleg, no less, speaking on 'The Science of Erasures' - Tuesday 3rd February, 5:30pm Senate House and online. To learn more and to register:
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Bob MacLean
This year's Stevenson Lecture will examine the library assembled at Auchincruive House in Ayr by Glasgow merchant Richard Oswald (c.1705–1784) — in light of Oswald’s extensive profits from the transatlantic slave trade.
📅 25 Feb, 6pm
📍 Senate House, London
This event is free, booking is required.
📅 25 Feb, 6pm
📍 Senate House, London
This event is free, booking is required.
Stevenson Lecture 2026 | Richard Oswald’s Library: Slavery, Collecting, and the Invention of Rare Books
ies.sas.ac.uk
January 23, 2026 at 3:23 PM
This year's Stevenson Lecture will examine the library assembled at Auchincruive House in Ayr by Glasgow merchant Richard Oswald (c.1705–1784) — in light of Oswald’s extensive profits from the transatlantic slave trade.
📅 25 Feb, 6pm
📍 Senate House, London
This event is free, booking is required.
📅 25 Feb, 6pm
📍 Senate House, London
This event is free, booking is required.
Reposted by Bob MacLean
The most exciting #BookHistory talk of the season is coming up next week!
Join us @ransomcenter.bsky.social or online as Ann Blair delivers the 2026 Pforzheimer lecture. This talk has Erasmus, Gessner, and volumes both large &small!
Learn more: www.eventbrite.com/e/pforzheime...
#booksky 🗃️📜📚
Join us @ransomcenter.bsky.social or online as Ann Blair delivers the 2026 Pforzheimer lecture. This talk has Erasmus, Gessner, and volumes both large &small!
Learn more: www.eventbrite.com/e/pforzheime...
#booksky 🗃️📜📚
January 15, 2026 at 9:14 PM
The most exciting #BookHistory talk of the season is coming up next week!
Join us @ransomcenter.bsky.social or online as Ann Blair delivers the 2026 Pforzheimer lecture. This talk has Erasmus, Gessner, and volumes both large &small!
Learn more: www.eventbrite.com/e/pforzheime...
#booksky 🗃️📜📚
Join us @ransomcenter.bsky.social or online as Ann Blair delivers the 2026 Pforzheimer lecture. This talk has Erasmus, Gessner, and volumes both large &small!
Learn more: www.eventbrite.com/e/pforzheime...
#booksky 🗃️📜📚
Back to work! Happy New Year, all!
January 5, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Back to work! Happy New Year, all!
Reposted by Bob MacLean
December 31, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Bob MacLean
“The tell isn’t that fake citations look wrong. It’s that they look too right. Too convenient. Too perfectly aligned with whatever point the AI is making“
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
How to Spot AI Hallucinations Like a Reference Librarian
The verification tricks that would make fact-checkers weep with joy.
open.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:08 PM
“The tell isn’t that fake citations look wrong. It’s that they look too right. Too convenient. Too perfectly aligned with whatever point the AI is making“
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...
Yes, you haven’t seen it? I’m away on holiday just now with just my phone but if I can’t manage to work it out I’ll send once I get back
December 18, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Yes, you haven’t seen it? I’m away on holiday just now with just my phone but if I can’t manage to work it out I’ll send once I get back
Yes thanks, found it. I forgot to say. A reference and citation to it in a forthcoming article on the Scottish reception of ‘Argenis’ (I hope, at least! At submitted stage just now)
December 18, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Yes thanks, found it. I forgot to say. A reference and citation to it in a forthcoming article on the Scottish reception of ‘Argenis’ (I hope, at least! At submitted stage just now)
Reposted by Bob MacLean
Books = amazing tech. Here's an offertory book recording donations on shabbat. To heed the prohibition on writing during sabbath the page has a grid with holes that correspond to an amount. Thread goes thru the hole pledged; when paid, thread comes out. jewishmuseum.org.uk/50-objects/c...
December 11, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Books = amazing tech. Here's an offertory book recording donations on shabbat. To heed the prohibition on writing during sabbath the page has a grid with holes that correspond to an amount. Thread goes thru the hole pledged; when paid, thread comes out. jewishmuseum.org.uk/50-objects/c...
Reposted by Bob MacLean
Palaeographers: you definitely should consider applying to this illustrious fund:
We are still accepting applications to the Neil Ker Memorial Fund 2026, open to both early career and established scholars of any nationality. Awards are tenable for a maximum of 12 months. Find out more and apply: https://bit.ly/4hO0Oo1
December 11, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Palaeographers: you definitely should consider applying to this illustrious fund:
Reposted by Bob MacLean
Following on from his article on Peter McLagan, Scotland's first Black MP, Dr Martin Spychal has explored the life of his father, Peter McLagan senior, and his ownership of enslaved people in Demerara (modern-day Guyana):
historyofparliament.com/2025/12/11/p...
historyofparliament.com/2025/12/11/p...
Peter McLagan senior (1774-1860): enslaver, plantation owner and landed proprietor - The History of Parliament
Dr Martin Spychal explores the life of Peter McLagan senior (1774-1860). A farmer’s son from Perthshire, McLagan senior acquired considerable wealth as an enslaver and plantation owner in Demerara…
historyofparliament.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Following on from his article on Peter McLagan, Scotland's first Black MP, Dr Martin Spychal has explored the life of his father, Peter McLagan senior, and his ownership of enslaved people in Demerara (modern-day Guyana):
historyofparliament.com/2025/12/11/p...
historyofparliament.com/2025/12/11/p...
Reposted by Bob MacLean
"There seems a love in hair, though it be dead.
It is the gentlest, yet the strongest, thread of our frail plant..." -Leigh Hunt, "On a Lock of Milton's Hair" (The author of #ParadiseLost was born #OnThisDay in 1608.)
(More on Hunt's hair collection: sites.utexas.edu/ransomcenter...)
#poetry 🗃️📜
It is the gentlest, yet the strongest, thread of our frail plant..." -Leigh Hunt, "On a Lock of Milton's Hair" (The author of #ParadiseLost was born #OnThisDay in 1608.)
(More on Hunt's hair collection: sites.utexas.edu/ransomcenter...)
#poetry 🗃️📜
December 9, 2025 at 11:29 PM
"There seems a love in hair, though it be dead.
It is the gentlest, yet the strongest, thread of our frail plant..." -Leigh Hunt, "On a Lock of Milton's Hair" (The author of #ParadiseLost was born #OnThisDay in 1608.)
(More on Hunt's hair collection: sites.utexas.edu/ransomcenter...)
#poetry 🗃️📜
It is the gentlest, yet the strongest, thread of our frail plant..." -Leigh Hunt, "On a Lock of Milton's Hair" (The author of #ParadiseLost was born #OnThisDay in 1608.)
(More on Hunt's hair collection: sites.utexas.edu/ransomcenter...)
#poetry 🗃️📜
Reposted by Bob MacLean
A Book Peddler
Master of the Canesso Peddler
ca. 1670–90
(Met Museum)
Master of the Canesso Peddler
ca. 1670–90
(Met Museum)
December 9, 2025 at 9:24 PM
A Book Peddler
Master of the Canesso Peddler
ca. 1670–90
(Met Museum)
Master of the Canesso Peddler
ca. 1670–90
(Met Museum)
Reposted by Bob MacLean
This is such a sad story! An important collection that had been sent for digitisation (though why from Kent to Scotland, I'm not sure) 📜 www.bbc.com/news/article...
Museum staff 'devastated' after drawings worth £500,000 destroyed
About 1,700 military drawings from the Royal Engineers Museum were destroyed in the theft last month.
www.bbc.com
December 3, 2025 at 10:01 PM
This is such a sad story! An important collection that had been sent for digitisation (though why from Kent to Scotland, I'm not sure) 📜 www.bbc.com/news/article...
Delighted to see this published. It was very rewarding and worthwhile collaborating with you on this Matthew, well done 👍
My JRCPE article about Dr Archibald Hewan and Glasgow's medical libraries is out! You can read it for FREE via the link. Hewan was the first black physician to serve as a missionary in Africa. #histstm #histsci #hps #BookHistory #churchhistory #AfricanHistory journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Dr Archibald Hewan (1832–1883) and the University of Glasgow’s medical libraries - Matthew Daniel Eddy, Robert MacLean, Emma Yan, 2025
Background: We provide historical context for the recently discovered University of Glasgow Library records of Archibald Hewan (1832– 1883), the first Black med...
journals.sagepub.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Delighted to see this published. It was very rewarding and worthwhile collaborating with you on this Matthew, well done 👍
Ah fantastic, thanks. I’ll check tomorrow to see if we have a subscription and if we don’t (yet) I’d be very grateful for a copy. Thanks!
November 19, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Ah fantastic, thanks. I’ll check tomorrow to see if we have a subscription and if we don’t (yet) I’d be very grateful for a copy. Thanks!
This sounds very interesting. Has this chapter now been published? Would you mind sharing the details please?
November 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
This sounds very interesting. Has this chapter now been published? Would you mind sharing the details please?
Reposted by Bob MacLean
A wonderfully elaborate binding for Mrs Elizabeth Colles, from the early seventeenth century. It contains three linguistic works, including Thomas Thomas’s Dictionary (Cambridge, 1610). @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Rel.d.61.2. #herbook
November 14, 2025 at 12:58 PM
A wonderfully elaborate binding for Mrs Elizabeth Colles, from the early seventeenth century. It contains three linguistic works, including Thomas Thomas’s Dictionary (Cambridge, 1610). @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Rel.d.61.2. #herbook
Reposted by Bob MacLean
Holy shit, just learned about the typewriter art of Montserrat Alberich Escardívol, a Catalan typist. Using an extra wide typewriter and 180 color ribbons, she built up elaborate images from simple characters like 'm' and '.' and ';'. Here is her typewritten painting of the Cathedral of Barcelona.
November 12, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Holy shit, just learned about the typewriter art of Montserrat Alberich Escardívol, a Catalan typist. Using an extra wide typewriter and 180 color ribbons, she built up elaborate images from simple characters like 'm' and '.' and ';'. Here is her typewritten painting of the Cathedral of Barcelona.