Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Manchester Museum asks visitors if Egyptian woman’s body should be taken off display

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Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 16

Yes, yes she should.

Asru, who lived 2,700 years ago, has been on display for two centuries but museum is trying to ‘decolonise’ exhibits

www.theguardian.com

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Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 10

Alas I'm afraid it is. We will hopefully be presenting on the project at the next Oculi Mundi conference though!

Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 10

Free event, everyone welcome! from 12pm - 2pm-ish in the 1900's Reading Room

Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 10

@drsurekhadavies.bsky.social 👀

Behind the scenes at the John Rylands Library

Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 9

This Friday 11th July from 12pm I will be introducing a newly produced full size reproduction of the stunning world map from 1546 we have been busy with at @thejohnrylands.bsky.social
Come explore the world seen through the eyes of a French renaissance king!

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Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 7

Papped in my natural habitat @thejohnrylands.bsky.social by @manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Kit Roberts ventures into the furthest reaches of The John Rylands Library as it celebrates its 125th birthday

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Donald Insall upgrades and refreshes Manchester’s John Rylands Library

Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 4

Rylands Next Chapter project featured on @news.architectsjournal.co.uk

The £7.6 million transformation of the Grade I-listed library is a collaboration with Nissen Richards Studio as exhibition designer

www.architectsjournal.co.uk

Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 2

It was cleaned back in 2017, the original image was from 2011! So it will be a bit cleaner, and WAYYYYY sharper! I took the old image from a balcony, this is 6 shots stitched, shot properly in our new lab!

Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 2

you'll also notice those 19th century poles are no longer obscuring the long edges!

Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 2

This one is the new high res version! we also have multispectral imaging results, soon Ramen Spectroscopy, FORS analysis and Photometric stereo imaging. we've been busy!

Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 2

@drsurekhadavies.bsky.social - All the 'monsters' now in HD!

Rylands BlogVotes For Women! Making Light Of The Fight

Reposted by Jamie Robinson

John Rylands Research Institute and Library @thejohnrylands.bsky.social · Jul 2

Learn more about this and other Suffragette collections in this blog post:

rylandscollections.com/2025/03/08/v...

The first blog in our series on Votes for Women, in honour of International Women’s Day.

Parent Work Title: Mappemonde

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Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 2

BIG news coming, but a sneak peak at a recent project at @thejohnrylands.bsky.social - the 1546 Mappemonde has been under some close scrutiny! New #imaging means the original 43mp image is now an astonishing *552 megapixels* the detail is extraordinary!

#map #heritageimaging #RHIL #conservation

luna.manchester.ac.uk

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Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jul 2

@thejohnrylands.bsky.social Batak MS 34 – Oracle Bones Five rib bones with magical script and figures, used as amulets and in divination. Batak Pustaha are magical texts containing magical formula, divinations, recipes and laws, written by tribal magician priests #magic

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Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jun 30

#Macro #photostacking #3d #photogrammetry on a teeny tiny frog amulet in the Gaster collection. This was worn as protection against maladies especially against diseases of the throat. it's on 17mm long!

Great work by @tonyrichards.bsky.social
@sketchfab.bsky.social

Gaster Amulet 40b - Amulet for protection - Download Free 3D model by The John Rylands Research Institute and Library (@TheJohnRylandsLibrary)

This is Gaster Amulet 40b, one of two metal pendants in the form of a small frog. This female frog is worn as protection against maladies especially against diseases of the throat. It measures 15mm ...

sketchfab.com

Rylands BlogDecoding & Encoding German MS 3 – Alchemy, Imagery, and Metadata

Reposted by Jamie Robinson

Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · May 25

Wrote a fun piece about updating the metadata for German MS 3 as part of my MA at @thejohnrylands.bsky.social #TEI #Alchemy #metadata #postgrad

Manager of the Rylands Heritage Imaging Lab and part-time MA Library and archives student Jamie Robinson introduces his placement creating enhanced metadata for an 18th-century mysterious alchemica…

Exploring metadata creation for early photographs with ChatGPT and DeepFace

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Reposted by Jamie Robinson

John Rylands Research Institute and Library @thejohnrylands.bsky.social · Jun 5

What do Joan of Navarre (c.1368 –1437), the importance of books in Late Medieval England, and a long-lost manuscript leaf that has finally been re-united with its original manuscript have to do with each other?

Read all about it in our latest blog post: rylandscollections.com/2025/06/06/d...

Image of illuminated Psalter relating to Joan of Navarre

Sketch of Joan of Navarre in regal dress

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Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · Jun 4

#AI, #facialrecognition and early photography collections at @thejohnrylands.bsky.social

The task Following our previous experiments with AI and images we were interested to see whether ChatGPT could be applied to a real world problem. The Langford Brooke Glass Plate Negatives collecti…

aiiamanchester.com

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Reposted by Jamie Robinson

John Rylands Research Institute and Library @thejohnrylands.bsky.social · Jun 2

Want to know more about The Secret Public?

Join curator Mat Bancroft for a free exhibition tour. Explore the influence of LGBTQ performers and activists on mainstream pop culture.

📅Thursday 5 June, 3pm. No booking required.

📷Gay Power, cover photograph by Diana Davies, 1970

Front cover of Gay Power newspaper. Headline reads 'The Girls in the Band: Centerfold'.

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Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · May 25

Wrote a fun piece about updating the metadata for German MS 3 as part of my MA at @thejohnrylands.bsky.social #TEI #Alchemy #metadata #postgrad

Rylands BlogDecoding & Encoding German MS 3 – Alchemy, Imagery, and Metadata

Manager of the Rylands Heritage Imaging Lab and part-time MA Library and archives student Jamie Robinson introduces his placement creating enhanced metadata for an 18th-century mysterious alchemica…

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Jamie Robinson @rylandsesoterica.bsky.social · May 2

Not one, but TWO full days of Dante action at @thejohnrylands.bsky.social !

sign up and info for day one - shorturl.at/rSxGT
sign up and info for day two - shorturl.at/6zA9W

#RHIL #Rylands #Dante