Beth DeBold
@elizaaudacis.bsky.social
History PGR at Newcastle University | apprenticeship, women, and gender in the long 18c English book trade | previous librarian | New Englander in Old England | no terfs | she/her
TFW you’re rehearsing for the Christmas concert and the conductor shouts up to the organist “Miles, I want apocalyptic levels of organ” and you know you’re going to be able to feel it in your sternum
a man in a plaid shirt is sitting in a chair with his eyes closed and holding a bag of food
ALT: a man in a plaid shirt is sitting in a chair with his eyes closed and holding a bag of food
media.tenor.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:59 PM
TFW you’re rehearsing for the Christmas concert and the conductor shouts up to the organist “Miles, I want apocalyptic levels of organ” and you know you’re going to be able to feel it in your sternum
I am heavily invested in handwriting & historical documents. Historians need to weigh carefully whether time spent transcribing documents is “wasted,” or whether it actually helps thought processes & skills. This is not to say these tools should not be used.
Just consider the cost of “time saved.”
Just consider the cost of “time saved.”
New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition
One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved
newsletter.dancohen.org
November 25, 2025 at 8:11 PM
I am heavily invested in handwriting & historical documents. Historians need to weigh carefully whether time spent transcribing documents is “wasted,” or whether it actually helps thought processes & skills. This is not to say these tools should not be used.
Just consider the cost of “time saved.”
Just consider the cost of “time saved.”
Reposted by Beth DeBold
it’s important to remember that we can trust this application of machine learning—wrapped, alas, inside a chatbot—because we who are endowed with actual intelligence can independently verify the accuracy of the transcriptions.
New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition
One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved
newsletter.dancohen.org
November 25, 2025 at 7:41 PM
it’s important to remember that we can trust this application of machine learning—wrapped, alas, inside a chatbot—because we who are endowed with actual intelligence can independently verify the accuracy of the transcriptions.
The Friendsgiving turkey has arrived and is looking particularly plump
November 21, 2025 at 11:16 AM
The Friendsgiving turkey has arrived and is looking particularly plump
JQ has met snow directly for the first time today; as with everything, he met it with bonne humeur and a desire to see if something good to eat might result
November 20, 2025 at 9:55 AM
JQ has met snow directly for the first time today; as with everything, he met it with bonne humeur and a desire to see if something good to eat might result
Reposted by Beth DeBold
Palaeography 🧵! Or why it can take a historian a while to confirm what they already suspected must be the case and not really get any further than they were—but this time with confidence 😂
I'm working with documents that list the incomes of medieval French lordships, so a lot of it is about grain.
I'm working with documents that list the incomes of medieval French lordships, so a lot of it is about grain.
November 19, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Palaeography 🧵! Or why it can take a historian a while to confirm what they already suspected must be the case and not really get any further than they were—but this time with confidence 😂
I'm working with documents that list the incomes of medieval French lordships, so a lot of it is about grain.
I'm working with documents that list the incomes of medieval French lordships, so a lot of it is about grain.
I do find it funny that there are two (2) kinds of special collections library job:
1. You speak 18 languages; never sleep; have worked in a library for 50 years; published the definitive work on whatever the Board thinks is Most Important; salary of a billion dollars
2. You give book ($5/hour)
1. You speak 18 languages; never sleep; have worked in a library for 50 years; published the definitive work on whatever the Board thinks is Most Important; salary of a billion dollars
2. You give book ($5/hour)
November 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM
I do find it funny that there are two (2) kinds of special collections library job:
1. You speak 18 languages; never sleep; have worked in a library for 50 years; published the definitive work on whatever the Board thinks is Most Important; salary of a billion dollars
2. You give book ($5/hour)
1. You speak 18 languages; never sleep; have worked in a library for 50 years; published the definitive work on whatever the Board thinks is Most Important; salary of a billion dollars
2. You give book ($5/hour)
Curator of Rare Books at Folger listing is live. You’d be working with some first class people! amherst.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/FSL_Em...
Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Rare Books and Prints
The Folger Shakespeare Library knows that an exceptional staff is the backbone of any great organization. We hire exceptionally qualified individuals who are committed to the mission, vision, and valu...
amherst.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Curator of Rare Books at Folger listing is live. You’d be working with some first class people! amherst.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/FSL_Em...
Interesting revelation from the Newcastle University town hall w/ VC Chris Day today; apparently Russell Group VCs all had dinner w/ Reform leadership 2 weeks ago to try and “engage” with them. Wonder if they’ve also tried to “engage” with other parties like the Greens, who are doing well in polls?
November 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Interesting revelation from the Newcastle University town hall w/ VC Chris Day today; apparently Russell Group VCs all had dinner w/ Reform leadership 2 weeks ago to try and “engage” with them. Wonder if they’ve also tried to “engage” with other parties like the Greens, who are doing well in polls?
The UK government is spending nearly £40k+ a year for 4 years on me, a US citizen, to be here and get my PhD. Yet no one is talking about taking my grandmother’s earrings or seizing my bank account. How did I “earn” that, & someone else also leaving 1 country for a better future in another, not?
This is a new low from a govt plumbing the depths of performative cruelty in hopes that the public won’t notice they have no answers to the real issues facing this country
A sensible, humane govt would focus on safe routes to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings
A sensible, humane govt would focus on safe routes to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings
November 17, 2025 at 10:40 AM
The UK government is spending nearly £40k+ a year for 4 years on me, a US citizen, to be here and get my PhD. Yet no one is talking about taking my grandmother’s earrings or seizing my bank account. How did I “earn” that, & someone else also leaving 1 country for a better future in another, not?
Reposted by Beth DeBold
Nice one, Zadie Smith.
November 12, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Nice one, Zadie Smith.
Can’t emphasize how much I want to go back in time and ask everyone doing anything I care about to not do anything important like dying or being elected to the Stationers’ Court of Assistants between January and 26 March so I don’t have to deal with calendar reconciliation
November 13, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Can’t emphasize how much I want to go back in time and ask everyone doing anything I care about to not do anything important like dying or being elected to the Stationers’ Court of Assistants between January and 26 March so I don’t have to deal with calendar reconciliation
“Lest we forget,” everyone says, actively and violently forgetting
November 11, 2025 at 11:48 AM
“Lest we forget,” everyone says, actively and violently forgetting
I often bring knitting with me to conferences; this project came together almost entirely during the Women & the Household conference I just attended, and is finally complete. Meet Harold Fatmus:
November 10, 2025 at 11:35 PM
I often bring knitting with me to conferences; this project came together almost entirely during the Women & the Household conference I just attended, and is finally complete. Meet Harold Fatmus:
Reposted by Beth DeBold
Great look into the comprehensiveness of EEBO and EEBO-TCP and what that means for using those tools. Highly recommend for all computational bibliographers and early modernists doing large-scale work with EEBO
November 9, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Great look into the comprehensiveness of EEBO and EEBO-TCP and what that means for using those tools. Highly recommend for all computational bibliographers and early modernists doing large-scale work with EEBO
The fact that the UK is continuing to ban bringing back cheese from the EU should be considered a hate crime
November 8, 2025 at 8:03 PM
The fact that the UK is continuing to ban bringing back cheese from the EU should be considered a hate crime
More sights from Antwerp: the cathedral, Bakkerij Goossens, and Elfde Geboed
November 8, 2025 at 5:24 PM
More sights from Antwerp: the cathedral, Bakkerij Goossens, and Elfde Geboed
Spending a dreamy morning at the Hendrik Conscience library with the conference group and @svanimpe.bsky.social, who is a walking encyclopedia
November 8, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Spending a dreamy morning at the Hendrik Conscience library with the conference group and @svanimpe.bsky.social, who is a walking encyclopedia
Belgium will fry anything except bicycles
November 7, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Belgium will fry anything except bicycles
Ready for day 1 to talk about women, households, and books!
November 6, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Ready for day 1 to talk about women, households, and books!
So Antwerp is incredible; obsessed with Jeanne Rivière, matriarch of the Plantins
November 5, 2025 at 10:10 PM
So Antwerp is incredible; obsessed with Jeanne Rivière, matriarch of the Plantins
I am in Antwerp for the Women & the Household in the Early Modern Book Trade conference (I’m very excited) and I have to say, in terms of hotel art, I really won the lottery
November 4, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I am in Antwerp for the Women & the Household in the Early Modern Book Trade conference (I’m very excited) and I have to say, in terms of hotel art, I really won the lottery
Thinking of my family, friends, and loves on this US election day. Go vote, please. It IS worthwhile; it DOES matter, even if it’s “just” for your school board and local officials.
November 4, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Thinking of my family, friends, and loves on this US election day. Go vote, please. It IS worthwhile; it DOES matter, even if it’s “just” for your school board and local officials.
Brits: so is NYC next to California
My American mother: I saw the Cambridge train attack on the news and was scared you might be involved despite living in Newcastle and not traveling
My American mother: I saw the Cambridge train attack on the news and was scared you might be involved despite living in Newcastle and not traveling
November 4, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Brits: so is NYC next to California
My American mother: I saw the Cambridge train attack on the news and was scared you might be involved despite living in Newcastle and not traveling
My American mother: I saw the Cambridge train attack on the news and was scared you might be involved despite living in Newcastle and not traveling
Happy Halloween! 🎃
October 31, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Happy Halloween! 🎃