Nora Epstein
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noraepstein.bsky.social
Nora Epstein
@noraepstein.bsky.social
❧ Newberry Library Instruction and Outreach Librarian
❧ Postdoc fellow with @paulmelloncentr.bsky.social
❧ interested in material bibliography, book history, woodcuts, & doodles
❧ she/her
❧ all opinions my own
I used the first editions (Poetry Magazine, 1914 & Collected Vol., 1916) of 'Chicago' in a Newberry class yesterday:
November 6, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Take Dorothy up on this! I just got her new book in the mail (+errata sheet!) and always assigned her work on controlled vocabulary on the St Andrews' Material Bibliography course. Scotland is lucky to have such a brilliant scholar in town!
also if you are in Edinburgh and want to show me a fancy secret library, archive, or museum, please reach out directly
If you happen to be in beautiful Edinburgh on 10 Dec, perhaps come to the Edinburgh Futures Institute to hear me talk about developing archival imaginary digital interactives! Maybe I will even explain what that means! Hopefully by then I'll know!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-users-...
November 4, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Bookpeople!
Does anyone know where I can buy uncut printed sheets to teach basic imposition and format (rather than the DIY sheets I typically print off on 8.5x11)? The Rare Book School's bibliographic format kits appear to be out of stock.
October 29, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
SO EXCITED TO SHARE THIS! Announcing the Newberry Medieval Minicomic Prize: two juried mini-grants of $250.00 each to support emerging artists l for the creation of a new minicomic that engages with medieval culture. More details available here:
www.newberry.org/calendar/new...
Newberry Medieval Minicomic Prize
Juried mini-grants for emerging comic artists interested in engaging with medieval culture.
www.newberry.org
September 8, 2025 at 4:31 PM
FYI:

Out of the Newberry's ~22k French pamphlets, 530 are on the imprisonment, trial and execution of Louis XVI (published between August 10, 1792 and Jan. 21, 1793).

Our doors are open today if you need a place to sit and think about a society with #NoKings.

www.newberry.org/collection/r...
June 14, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
Still processing my thoughts on “Cartooning the Medieval” and I’ve not yet managed to type anything up. @marniegalloway.bsky.social just shared her reflections and artist talk; I encourage you to read her wonderful post if you’re eager to know more about the event: open.substack.com/pub/marniega...
"Cartooning the Medieval" Artist Talk
On Thursday and Friday last week, I had the honor of being one of the invited guests of the experimental and truly wonderful conference “Cartooning the Medieval,” hosted by the Newberry Library and or...
open.substack.com
June 9, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Same.

Newberry: Case 3A 1572
April 10, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
Medievalist-friends! Interested in learning about comics and narrative art and meeting cartoonists for potential collaborations? Apply to join us in Chicago from 5-6 June 2025 for a crossover workshop at the Newberry Library entitled “Cartooning the Medieval”!! www.newberry.org/calendar/car...
Cartooning the Medieval
A symposium exploring the potential of comics and narrative art to create new opportunities for engaging with medieval culture.
www.newberry.org
March 12, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
In our introduction, Jessica Farrell-Jobst, @noraepstein.bsky.social and I argue that it is time to take gender seriously as a methodology in book history. You can read the chapter here (or ask any of us for a PDF): www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfil...
January 15, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
It’s out! Today is publication day for Gender and the Book Trades, from the conference of the same name in June 2021. Huge thanks to everyone who contributed and read drafts of this behemoth's xxii + 492 pages. We are so proud of it and hope you enjoy. brill.com/edcollbook/t...
Gender and the Book Trades
"Gender and the Book Trades" published on 01 Jan 2025 by Brill.
brill.com
January 15, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Happy Publication Day, ‘Gender and the Book Trades’!

I am deeply proud of this conference and my co-organizers, who edited this astonishingly good volume.

I contributed to the introduction, 'Gender as an Inclusive Model for Book History', and am happy to share a pdf.

brill.com/edcollbook/t...
Gender and the Book Trades
"Gender and the Book Trades" published on 01 Jan 2025 by Brill.
brill.com
January 15, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
Had the most magical week pre-holidays at the #NewberryLibrary: huge thanks to @noraepstein.bsky.social @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social and all the staff for such a warm welcome! Check out that double volvelle 👀 (Newberry Wing ZP 646 .R57 & Case NE 1070 .S33 1648)
December 31, 2024 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
Alexandra Franklin & @chapbookpro.bsky.social 2021 post where they created letterpress blocks w/detachable hats! after using largescale image analysis to notice the same "detachable hats" appearing across multiple historical print ballads: blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/theconveyor/... +
December 25, 2024 at 5:55 AM
Capital work on Koberger's 1486 edition of Boethius

i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
December 14, 2024 at 9:26 PM
In rare (and thrilling) #paperhistory news:

www.newberry.org/news/analysi...

"At approximately 49 sheets, the discovery increases the amount of maguey paper known to have survived by about four times."
Manuscript is Most Extensive Example of Pre-Columbian Maguey Paper in…
A collection of sermons by sixteenth-century Franciscan missionary Bernardino de Sahagún is rare example from the Nahuas.
www.newberry.org
December 5, 2024 at 1:50 AM
Do yourself a favor and follow @analulopez.bsky.social!

She is the Librarian for the Newberry's Ayer collection, one of the curators of the 'Indigenous Chicago' exhibit, and a brilliant and generous scholar. Plus her #bookhistory content is 10/10!
December 1, 2024 at 8:21 PM
I will never recover from witnessing perfect 16c. German bindings pulled out of a grocery bag, one by one, in the main lobby of the Newberry.

Fantastic bibliographic sleuthing, @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social!
Some Rare Bookish News!

Man and dog find 16th c. German books on the Chicago sidewalk; I (eventually) find their rightful owner! www.chicagotribune.com/2024/11/22/c...
November 27, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Last day to apply for Materiality, Mobility, Mind!

www.newberry.org/calendar/mat...

Graduate students, come to the Newberry and join the discussion about the transmission of early modern printed images!
Materiality, Mobility, Mind: Early Modern Printed Images
This graduate course will interrogate the culture of print and its many manifestations in the early modern period.
www.newberry.org
November 14, 2024 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
Now that it's public, I’m absurdly excited to say that I’ve been awarded a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh for a transnational project on collaborations between women at all levels of the early modern book trade!

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/the-bri...
The British Academy awards over £15.9 million in Postdoctoral Fellowships to 45 outstanding SHAPE early career researchers
The Postdoctoral Fellowships will see the funding spread over a three-year period, with the goal of completing a significant piece of publishable research. The scheme gives award holders a foundation ...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
August 7, 2024 at 3:43 PM
I'm deeply bummed to miss my RSA book history panel today, but this new addition (edition?) arrived weeks ahead of schedule.

I encourage everyone to see @ewatson.bsky.social & Chelsea Reutcke deliver their brilliant bibliographic research this afternoon.
March 23, 2024 at 6:14 PM
I added to my list of phrases never uttered until working at the Newberry:
 
 "I was looking at our Septembertestament, you know, the one with the rubricated nipples…"

collections.newberry.org/asset-manage...
February 21, 2024 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
I'm teaching an RBS course on the history of typography this summer! At the Newberry!
rarebookschool.org/courses/typo...
The History of Typography | Rare Book School
Course Length: 30 hours  Course Week: 4-9 August 2024  Format: in person, Newberry Library in Chicago, IL  Fee: $1,395 This course will provide a general overview of the history of typography and rela...
rarebookschool.org
February 9, 2024 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Nora Epstein
Thank you to the Newberry Library for getting me to the Magnificent Mile just in time for peak tweed season! And the Grad Conference was fabulous too!
@summerblocklizer.bsky.social @noraepstein.bsky.social @yasminehachimi.bsky.social
February 4, 2024 at 3:44 AM
Guests are coming over, time to break out the fine stemware!

[grabs the 2001 Burger King commemorative Lord of the Rings glass goblets from the top shelf.]
December 26, 2023 at 6:18 PM
Today is my first day as the Newberry Library’s Instruction and Outreach Librarian. Thanks to all the Newberry staff for such a warm welcome!
October 24, 2023 at 6:54 PM