Richard Coulton
@rxcoulton.bsky.social
88 followers 80 following 6 posts
I research eighteenth-century literature and culture and teach English + Digital Humanities at QMUL. Graduate supervision principally around history of gardening and plant humanities.
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Reposted by Richard Coulton
sadiahqureshi.bsky.social
This collaborative PhD project with the LSE and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, on Planting Decolonization: Plantation Science and Empire in the Twentieth Century, sounds amazing.

I’m sure many of you might be interested.

#STS #HPS #HistSci

www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...
LSE Collaborative Studentship with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
LSE Collaborative Studentship with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
www.lse.ac.uk
Reposted by Richard Coulton
hunterianmuseum.bsky.social
📢Come and work at the Hunterian Museum 📢

RCS England Museums is seeking a dynamic, highly motivated and empathetic individual to develop, deliver and promote inspiring public and professional Museum engagement programmes, on site and online.

👇👇👇

hunterianmuseum.org/news/vacancy...
Vacancy - Museums Engagement Manager
hunterianmuseum.org
Reposted by Richard Coulton
trichocolea.bsky.social
Yesterday I was @cuherb.bsky.social checking out its collection of Sussex #bryophytes, most of which were collected by William Nicholson (1866-1945), though there are also some from Thomas Laflin (1914-1972), and even William Mitten (1819-1906)

1/5 #bryology
Some of the drawers at the Cambridge Herbarium containing mosses One of Nicholson's moss packets, opened to show its contents, the pleurocarp Anomodon viticulosus, which was in fact from the collection of William Mitten, and had been supplied by the New York Botanical Garden
Reposted by Richard Coulton
trevorabranch.bsky.social
Foundations: please step up and take over the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL). This is an absolutely essential scanned archive of all of the old journals and books from the 1500s to about 1920. Has been indispensable for my research.
about.biodiversitylibrary.org/call-for-sup...
Call for Support: – About BHL
about.biodiversitylibrary.org
Reposted by Richard Coulton
greenleejw.bsky.social
It's Tuesday. You're dragging yourself through the world, one cup of coffee at a time. Can nothing liven up this day?

How 'bout a thread of eel ships on maps? These maps are what got me into eels in the first place!

"Cool!" you say. "But wait...what's an eel ship?"

Well...
1/14
Two eel ships on the Thames, between Paulus Warfe and Qeen Hythe, from Hollar's 1647 "Long View of London." You know they're the eel ships because they're labeled "the Eel Ships."

This is a rather long thread, and so the alt-text will be greatly diminished today. It takes a while to write narrative alt-text, and I don't have it in me to do a 14-post thread. I'd have to plan ahead for that, and I certainly am not that guy.
Reposted by Richard Coulton
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
late for #DigitalFriday but I think this is a useful article for the (comparatively few) people really saying "there's no use case for AI" - it's super important that we don't let slop genAI boosters muddy the waters & confuse their ecocidal theft-based tech with this careful, worthwhile stuff:
MIT student prints AI polymer masks to restore paintings in hours
Removable transparent films apply digital restorations directly to damaged artwork.
arstechnica.com
Reposted by Richard Coulton
willwyeth.bsky.social
Interesting new work on the legacies of British slavery, taking here an holistic view of income
and wealth.

Bonus: if you buy the related book straight from the publisher, they offer a whopping 50% discount if you subscribe to the newsletter. Get buying!!

theconversation.com/tracing-the-...
Tracing the Drax family’s millions – a story of British landed gentry, slavery and sugar plantations
Journalist and historian Paul Lashmar has published extensive research into the wealthy and influential Drax family of Dorset.
theconversation.com
Reposted by Richard Coulton
dieworkwear.bsky.social
Not true.

I see you're a luxury watch dealer. I'm also interested in watches. Let me show you how free and easy migration has allowed you to earn a living. 🧵
Corey Wiley on Twitter writes: "You don’t get it. 
Foundational immigration law is morally just and has been established over millennia. Disrespecting these rules and ideals is very offensive to folks who highly value civilized society"
Reposted by Richard Coulton
jbhist.bsky.social
If you want to ask any questions about this post, get in touch with me!
rxcoulton.bsky.social
New ship's log just dropped on our TEI Publisher site, the voyage of the King William (1699-1701) -- plot its route, read the daily entries, and search ships, people and places encountered at digitaltexts.qmul.ac.uk/eic_journeys @e-editiones.bsky.social #skystorians
EIC Manuscript Journeys
Explore visualized East India Company ships' documents from the early eighteenth century, transcribed and curated by Matthew Mauger and Richard Coulton at QMUL.
digitaltexts.qmul.ac.uk
Reposted by Richard Coulton
angleseyhistory.bsky.social
Does anyone know the location of the missing Telford milestone near Holyhead? 82 of the distinctive markers along the Holyhead Road/A5 from Shrewsbury survive, but the one 2 miles from the port has disappeared.
www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-w...
Reposted by Richard Coulton
lucybrewer.bsky.social
I briefly mentioned that I’ve started a PhD with Greenwich Uni where I’ll be looking at female gardeners and environmentalists in the long 19th century. Who are the best people to follow here into that topic? Any ideas? #history #victorian #19C #gardening #gardeners #environment 🌱
Reposted by Richard Coulton
timbale.bsky.social
'[Learning occurs, wrote Herbert Simon,] "only as a result of what the student does and thinks." The assignment itself is a MacGuffin, with the shelf life of sour cream and an economic value that rounds to zero dollars. It is valuable only as a way to compel student effort and thought.'
Opinion | Is AI Enhancing Education or Replacing It?
Technology should facilitate learning, not substitute for it.
www.chronicle.com
Reposted by Richard Coulton
people-plants-2025.bsky.social
Registration is now OPEN for our conference 'Plants and People'! Please sign up for attendance and workshops through our website: sites.google.com/view/plants-...

Thanks to @sshmedicine.bsky.social @camhistory.bsky.social & the Material Culture Forum for their generous assistance.
Plants and People
Conference Details
sites.google.com
Reposted by Richard Coulton
rxcoulton.bsky.social
Please share: funded 4 yr PhD with #UlsterMuseum and @qmul.ac.uk funded by @ukri.org from Oct 2025. Would suit someone with interests in natural history and Ireland in c18-c19. Potential focus on #DigitalHistory #HistSTM #EnvHums. Apply by 23 May @ 5pm.

www.qmul.ac.uk/sed/english/...
Pages from John Templeton's Hibernian Flora manuscript describing and depicting Orobanche alba (native Broomrape plant).
Reposted by Richard Coulton
mrfw17thc.bsky.social
New article!

'Seeing Women in the Early English and Dutch East India Companies' is now available as an Advance Article with Historical Research.

It's been years of work, but I'm proud of this one. I hope #earlymodern #skystorians enjoy it!

Some context below:

academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
Validate User
academic.oup.com
Reposted by Richard Coulton
jackdashby.bsky.social
Have a listen! 📻
I'll be chatting about #NaturesMemory: Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History #Museums, with the legendary @cerysmatthews.bsky.social at 11ish today on BBC Radio 6 Music. 🤩
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
A screenshot of the episode's page
A Joyous Exploration: Jack Ashby and Hannah Barry
Cerys Matthews

Cerys handpicks your Sunday soundtrack and welcomes zoologist Jack Ashby to discuss his new book Natures Memory: Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History Museums, sharing stories on enormous mounted whale skeletons to cabinets of impossibly tiny insects.

She also explores Peckham's art scene with gallerist and curator, Hannah Barry who runs non-profit art organisation Bold Tendencies, established in the rooftop space of South London's multi-storey carpark.

Author Alice Vincent leaves a message on her new book, Hark looking at how women listen and Cerys reaches into her mixed record bag from her vintage and classic collection, in addition to her favourite new finds this week.
Reposted by Richard Coulton
trichocolea.bsky.social
Might anyone be able to identify this plant, please? It is within James Petiver's Hortus Siccus Americanus, which was probably assembled around 1710. The label is hard to read, but includes the text 'ad: Mary[?] Rickson at ye Coffin in St Albans'

#botany #pteridophytes
A dried pressed herbarium specimen of a plant from about 1700