Josh Smith
@smithjj.bsky.social
Historian of libraries, books and politics in 18th/19thC Britain and US | AHRC/SGSAH PhD from StirUni | Prev RA on Eighteenth-Century Libraries Online and Books and Borrowing (https://borrowing.stir.ac.uk/)| Volunteer guide @ Leighton Library, Dunblane
Pinned
Josh Smith
@smithjj.bsky.social
· Nov 20
A happy first Bluesky post. Last week I successfully defended my thesis. Thanks to my examiners, Kelsey Jackson Williams and Richard Whatmore, and chair, Phia Steyn, for a wonderful viva and to my supervisors, @emmamacleod95.bsky.social and Katie Halsey, for their support over the last four years.
Reposted by Josh Smith
Happy publication day to "Dance and Sociability in the Long Eighteenth Century"! So many thanks to Bloomsbury and all of the contributing authors who worked with Mark, Ian, and me to bring this volume together! We could not have done it without you! #dancehistory #18thcentury
February 5, 2026 at 11:11 AM
Happy publication day to "Dance and Sociability in the Long Eighteenth Century"! So many thanks to Bloomsbury and all of the contributing authors who worked with Mark, Ian, and me to bring this volume together! We could not have done it without you! #dancehistory #18thcentury
Reposted by Josh Smith
And a DELIGHT to read this review of us! Thank you, @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social ! 😍
I’ve had the unenviable task of writing some reviews lately for which it was hard to find words both true and kind, so it was a DELIGHT to be invited to review @books-borrowing.bsky.social for @abojournal.bsky.social. Review free to read here: digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcont...
digitalcommons.usf.edu
February 3, 2026 at 5:10 PM
And a DELIGHT to read this review of us! Thank you, @sophiecoulombeau.bsky.social ! 😍
Reposted by Josh Smith
I’ve had the unenviable task of writing some reviews lately for which it was hard to find words both true and kind, so it was a DELIGHT to be invited to review @books-borrowing.bsky.social for @abojournal.bsky.social. Review free to read here: digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcont...
digitalcommons.usf.edu
January 30, 2026 at 8:10 PM
I’ve had the unenviable task of writing some reviews lately for which it was hard to find words both true and kind, so it was a DELIGHT to be invited to review @books-borrowing.bsky.social for @abojournal.bsky.social. Review free to read here: digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcont...
Reposted by Josh Smith
Lovely to see this review of @books-borrowing.bsky.social! I'm so proud to have been a part of this amazing project. 📖 borrowing.stir.ac.uk
February 3, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Lovely to see this review of @books-borrowing.bsky.social! I'm so proud to have been a part of this amazing project. 📖 borrowing.stir.ac.uk
Reposted by Josh Smith
Transcription Tuesday everyone!
Can you palaeography lovers help us out with this word? It should be a duration (of illness) - usually along the lines of 3 months, 4 years, instantaneous etc. Could be 'unknown' but we have to squint reeeaalllyy hard! What do you think?
#TranscriptionTuesday
Can you palaeography lovers help us out with this word? It should be a duration (of illness) - usually along the lines of 3 months, 4 years, instantaneous etc. Could be 'unknown' but we have to squint reeeaalllyy hard! What do you think?
#TranscriptionTuesday
January 27, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Transcription Tuesday everyone!
Can you palaeography lovers help us out with this word? It should be a duration (of illness) - usually along the lines of 3 months, 4 years, instantaneous etc. Could be 'unknown' but we have to squint reeeaalllyy hard! What do you think?
#TranscriptionTuesday
Can you palaeography lovers help us out with this word? It should be a duration (of illness) - usually along the lines of 3 months, 4 years, instantaneous etc. Could be 'unknown' but we have to squint reeeaalllyy hard! What do you think?
#TranscriptionTuesday
Reposted by Josh Smith
🗓️✍️ It’s #NationalHandwritingDay today. Many of Dunblane's historic Leighton Library books have handwritten notes by Robert Leighton in margins, smallest is "De imitatione Christi" by Thomas a Kempis #HandwritingDay
▶️ youtu.be/rGms2Gu50fk
▶️ youtu.be/rGms2Gu50fk
January 23, 2026 at 8:07 AM
🗓️✍️ It’s #NationalHandwritingDay today. Many of Dunblane's historic Leighton Library books have handwritten notes by Robert Leighton in margins, smallest is "De imitatione Christi" by Thomas a Kempis #HandwritingDay
▶️ youtu.be/rGms2Gu50fk
▶️ youtu.be/rGms2Gu50fk
Reposted by Josh Smith
Here’s the beginning of our film about Raeburn’s rediscovered portrait of Robert Burns. Watch the whole film at blackiehouse.org
January 22, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Here’s the beginning of our film about Raeburn’s rediscovered portrait of Robert Burns. Watch the whole film at blackiehouse.org
Reposted by Josh Smith
Save the Date: 14th International Walter Scott Conference in Edinburgh, 2027
Details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6280
Details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6280
Save the Date: 14th International Walter Scott Conference in Edinburgh, 2027 – BARS Blog
www.bars.ac.uk
January 22, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Save the Date: 14th International Walter Scott Conference in Edinburgh, 2027
Details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6280
Details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6280
Reposted by Josh Smith
Some breaking art historical news for you - a lost portrait of Robert Burns by Sir Henry Raeburn was unveiled today at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. It’s been missing for more than 200 years.
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1/3
January 22, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Some breaking art historical news for you - a lost portrait of Robert Burns by Sir Henry Raeburn was unveiled today at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. It’s been missing for more than 200 years.
1/3
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Reposted by Josh Smith
Okay my ‘radio voice’ made me cringe, I described an elegy as a sonnet (?), and flopped at the Austen question (!)
but the whole show was a really great deep dive on Charli’s fans and my little segment touched on the nineteenth century’s contemporary relevance in pop culture 😊
but the whole show was a really great deep dive on Charli’s fans and my little segment touched on the nineteenth century’s contemporary relevance in pop culture 😊
January 22, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Okay my ‘radio voice’ made me cringe, I described an elegy as a sonnet (?), and flopped at the Austen question (!)
but the whole show was a really great deep dive on Charli’s fans and my little segment touched on the nineteenth century’s contemporary relevance in pop culture 😊
but the whole show was a really great deep dive on Charli’s fans and my little segment touched on the nineteenth century’s contemporary relevance in pop culture 😊
Reposted by Josh Smith
Mark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.
The Carney doctrine
Open comment thread on the PM's Davos speech
paulwells.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Mark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.
Reposted by Josh Smith
"According to the poll book, one of those voting was William Fatt, who was identified as a ‘chimneysweeper’ from Pye Street."
Dr Robin Eagles on identifying a new Black voter at the 1749 Westminster by-election.
@georgianlords.bsky.social
Dr Robin Eagles on identifying a new Black voter at the 1749 Westminster by-election.
@georgianlords.bsky.social
Steps towards identifying new Black voters in 18th-century Westminster and Hertfordshire
Dr Robin Eagles explains the potential discovery of further Black voters taking part in the same contest and subsequent polls in Hertfordshire.
historyofparliament.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:30 PM
"According to the poll book, one of those voting was William Fatt, who was identified as a ‘chimneysweeper’ from Pye Street."
Dr Robin Eagles on identifying a new Black voter at the 1749 Westminster by-election.
@georgianlords.bsky.social
Dr Robin Eagles on identifying a new Black voter at the 1749 Westminster by-election.
@georgianlords.bsky.social
Reposted by Josh Smith
And a massive thank you to our keynote speaker Dr Michael Shaw (@glaikitscone.bsky.social) who delivered a paper on ‘Queering Scottish Periodicals in the Long Nineteenth Century’. It was a real treat to learn about Michael’s research in local archives and to reflect on queerness and national idenity
January 16, 2026 at 11:10 AM
And a massive thank you to our keynote speaker Dr Michael Shaw (@glaikitscone.bsky.social) who delivered a paper on ‘Queering Scottish Periodicals in the Long Nineteenth Century’. It was a real treat to learn about Michael’s research in local archives and to reflect on queerness and national idenity
Reposted by Josh Smith
Do any #18thC literary (specifically Pope) scholars out there, have an opinion about JW Croker's edition of Pope's correspondence, particularly with regard to dating?
Trying to unpick an unhelpful March letter and work out whether Croker had located it in the correct year. Suspect not (by context).
Trying to unpick an unhelpful March letter and work out whether Croker had located it in the correct year. Suspect not (by context).
January 15, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Do any #18thC literary (specifically Pope) scholars out there, have an opinion about JW Croker's edition of Pope's correspondence, particularly with regard to dating?
Trying to unpick an unhelpful March letter and work out whether Croker had located it in the correct year. Suspect not (by context).
Trying to unpick an unhelpful March letter and work out whether Croker had located it in the correct year. Suspect not (by context).
Reposted by Josh Smith
The first great American 250th anniversary date of the year arrives this Friday: the publication of Thomas Paine's COMMON SENSE, which occurred on January 9, 1776.
Many sources have the date as January 10, 1776. This is incorrect. But what accounts for the confusion???? Friends, follow me.
Many sources have the date as January 10, 1776. This is incorrect. But what accounts for the confusion???? Friends, follow me.
January 5, 2026 at 5:20 PM
The first great American 250th anniversary date of the year arrives this Friday: the publication of Thomas Paine's COMMON SENSE, which occurred on January 9, 1776.
Many sources have the date as January 10, 1776. This is incorrect. But what accounts for the confusion???? Friends, follow me.
Many sources have the date as January 10, 1776. This is incorrect. But what accounts for the confusion???? Friends, follow me.
Reposted by Josh Smith
My article “‘In Just Seven Days, I Can Make You a Man’: Queerness and Masculinity in Frankenstein (1818) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)” has been published in the Keats Shelley Review! 👇🏼
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
‘In Just Seven Days, I Can Make You a Man’: Queerness and Masculinity in Frankenstein (1818) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
This article examines the intersections of queerness, masculinity and heteronormativity in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) and its queer adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). While R...
www.tandfonline.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:53 PM
My article “‘In Just Seven Days, I Can Make You a Man’: Queerness and Masculinity in Frankenstein (1818) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)” has been published in the Keats Shelley Review! 👇🏼
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Josh Smith
Did you spot news segment on tonight’s STV News programme about Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library with STV news reporter Joanne Bonnar, speaking with library’s Josh Smith, Alastair MacDonald, Celia Aitken & Dan Gunn.
Watch it on STV Player on 5.20pm News programme for Sunday 28 December…/👇
Watch it on STV Player on 5.20pm News programme for Sunday 28 December…/👇
December 28, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Did you spot news segment on tonight’s STV News programme about Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library with STV news reporter Joanne Bonnar, speaking with library’s Josh Smith, Alastair MacDonald, Celia Aitken & Dan Gunn.
Watch it on STV Player on 5.20pm News programme for Sunday 28 December…/👇
Watch it on STV Player on 5.20pm News programme for Sunday 28 December…/👇
Reposted by Josh Smith
#ArchiveAdventCalendar theme 18 is #ArchiveElves. Perhaps Archives Elves for Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library this year have to be project team of Books & Borrowing 1750-1830 (in which Leighton Library collection & borrower records feature, & several members of team are…/👇
December 18, 2025 at 10:14 AM
#ArchiveAdventCalendar theme 18 is #ArchiveElves. Perhaps Archives Elves for Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library this year have to be project team of Books & Borrowing 1750-1830 (in which Leighton Library collection & borrower records feature, & several members of team are…/👇
Reposted by Josh Smith
A nice surprise this morning: my article on prison reform from below is out!
I believe it’s open access but let me know if you can’t get a copy and would like one.
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
I believe it’s open access but let me know if you can’t get a copy and would like one.
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
Prison reform from below: London, c.1780–1830*
Abstract. This article explores the history of the English prison reform movement from ‘below’ – that is, from the perspective of prison inmates. By highli
academic.oup.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:17 AM
A nice surprise this morning: my article on prison reform from below is out!
I believe it’s open access but let me know if you can’t get a copy and would like one.
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
I believe it’s open access but let me know if you can’t get a copy and would like one.
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
Reposted by Josh Smith
#ArchiveAdventCalendar theme 1 is #presents. Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library shop has host of present ideas, from place-mats & coasters, to mugs, tote-bags & more
☕️ Support us at our Christmas Coffee Morning on Sat 6 Dec 10am-12 noon in Dunblane Cathedral Hall
…/👇
☕️ Support us at our Christmas Coffee Morning on Sat 6 Dec 10am-12 noon in Dunblane Cathedral Hall
…/👇
December 1, 2025 at 9:12 AM
#ArchiveAdventCalendar theme 1 is #presents. Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library shop has host of present ideas, from place-mats & coasters, to mugs, tote-bags & more
☕️ Support us at our Christmas Coffee Morning on Sat 6 Dec 10am-12 noon in Dunblane Cathedral Hall
…/👇
☕️ Support us at our Christmas Coffee Morning on Sat 6 Dec 10am-12 noon in Dunblane Cathedral Hall
…/👇
This was such great fun.
Listen below for some highlights from the PhD including the only individual to be fined for a late borrowing from the Leighton, an unlikely library friendship, and the conspiracy theories of library members.
Listen below for some highlights from the PhD including the only individual to be fined for a late borrowing from the Leighton, an unlikely library friendship, and the conspiracy theories of library members.
Newly available, here’s recording on Leighton Library YouTube channel of Leighton Library 2025 Geraldine Goddard Memorial Lecture, “Enlightenment & Conspiracy at the Leighton Library, 1780-1832’ presented by Dr Josh Smith on Sat 15 Nov
▶️ youtu.be/rFYkUOsluyw
▶️ youtu.be/rFYkUOsluyw
Leighton Library 2025 Geraldine Goddard Memorial Lecture by Dr Josh Smith
YouTube video by Leighton Library Dunblane
youtu.be
November 28, 2025 at 10:57 AM
This was such great fun.
Listen below for some highlights from the PhD including the only individual to be fined for a late borrowing from the Leighton, an unlikely library friendship, and the conspiracy theories of library members.
Listen below for some highlights from the PhD including the only individual to be fined for a late borrowing from the Leighton, an unlikely library friendship, and the conspiracy theories of library members.
Reposted by Josh Smith
📢 Happy to announce that registration is now OPEN for our conference, 'Sex in the Long Nineteenth Century' (15 Jan. 2026) 📢
Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/sex-in-the...
Provisional Programme here: www.rrrjournal.com/_files/ugd/d...
Please share widely!
Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/sex-in-the...
Provisional Programme here: www.rrrjournal.com/_files/ugd/d...
Please share widely!
Sex in the Long Nineteenth Century
The Romance, Revolution and Reform journal's annual conference
www.eventbrite.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:33 AM
📢 Happy to announce that registration is now OPEN for our conference, 'Sex in the Long Nineteenth Century' (15 Jan. 2026) 📢
Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/sex-in-the...
Provisional Programme here: www.rrrjournal.com/_files/ugd/d...
Please share widely!
Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/sex-in-the...
Provisional Programme here: www.rrrjournal.com/_files/ugd/d...
Please share widely!
Reposted by Josh Smith
#Museum30 theme 27 is #achievement. It’s been remarkable achievement for Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library to have undertaken major restoration of 17th century building. Help us achieve next phase to redevelop Undercroft to create accessible welcome, interpretation, engagement and exhibition…/👇
November 27, 2025 at 8:10 AM
#Museum30 theme 27 is #achievement. It’s been remarkable achievement for Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library to have undertaken major restoration of 17th century building. Help us achieve next phase to redevelop Undercroft to create accessible welcome, interpretation, engagement and exhibition…/👇
Reposted by Josh Smith
Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library is open for Dunblane Christmas Extravaganza, and we’ll have a stall also at St Blane’s Church Hall
November 26, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library is open for Dunblane Christmas Extravaganza, and we’ll have a stall also at St Blane’s Church Hall