Sara Barker
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sarakbarker.bsky.social
Sara Barker
@sarakbarker.bsky.social
7.9K followers 1.7K following 800 posts
Historian of early modern print, news, translation, pamphlets. Scotland/Yorkshire hybrid. Likes old printed things, France, rugby, embroidery. Always stops to talk to cats and dogs. Series editor MUP Studies in Early Modern European History. She/her.
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sarakbarker.bsky.social
Went over to York today and gave a paper in the building where *gives up trying to count* years ago, I paid my MA tuition fees.
I was invited to give the paper, I wasn't just pitching up and trying my luck. Although one of my pamphlets did involve the name Barker being translated to Barquer...
The front of Heslington Hall, a red brick ornate building with a crest at the top of the central part
November 12, 2025 at 6:36 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Started my working week off with a coffee in Esther Simpson because Leeds Campus is currently half building site, and this ended up being the simplest café to get to after I'd done various essential tasks. Now I get to try and get back to my office without too many diversions 🤞
Interior of coffee shop tables in a modern university building, including dividers made up of plants
September 1, 2025 at 10:08 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Aw, Google, mate, you could at least put "Sixteenth-century French serial killer" so this bloke doesn't get lots of odd looks when people search for "Gilles Garnier"
A Google search for "Gilles Garnier" who is described as "French serial killer" with most of the text links to the early modern Gilles, who was accused of cannibalism and being a werewolf, but there's also a very modern photograph of a man in a smart jacket and shirt at some kind of official event with a background showing a logo
August 20, 2025 at 9:37 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
I went notebook shopping today, for a very specific purpose, and although these did not make the final cut, they did make me laugh.

(Yes, I was worried someone of my acquaintance would be looking for info on the Great Contract & would get my thoughts on Leeds bus routes or my new haircut etc etc)
A notebook made from a worn hardback cover of Pollard's Henry VIII, on a bookshop shelf Another notebook made out of an older hardback, this one of James I A Tartan Club "Commonplace Notebook" covered in a red tartan A wee inner leaflet explaining what Commonplace books are
July 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Digitisation is great except when it isn't (like when it's actually a scan of a microfilm)
A digitised version of a C16 pamplet in French, on the Gallica platform, where the title page lettering is very very smudged
June 18, 2025 at 11:19 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Er, does this mean that somewhere there's a Manual Handling (Explicit version)?
Photo of a computer screen showing the launch screen for a training programme called "Manual Handling (Clean version)". There is a background picture of people in hi-vis carrying boxes
June 16, 2025 at 8:47 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
You know, it can be really good to do something stress-releasing at the start of the working day:
Photo of an email inviting me to take part in a survey for Key Travel
June 12, 2025 at 8:17 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Delighted to have colleague pals who know to swipe me merch
Three badges from the Royal Historical Society - a blue one that says "Trust me, I'm a historian", an orange one that says "This is what a historian looks like", and a deep red one that says "I know the value of history"
May 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
One of my best Christmas presents this year was a copy of the poster which I have up in my study, where I write about early modern pamphlets and often about their modern digital iterations too - so thank you! V interesting to read about the background.
A blue and white poster saying "there is nothing more ephemeral than a website" in a white frame, hung on a green wall
April 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Tu rigoles...
A completed jigsaw map of Paris with one piece missing. It's around Alésia, if you're interested.
April 20, 2025 at 11:30 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Oi, "MZ", stop nicking our stuff
Image from the Society of Authors saying #DoTheWriteThing and protect authors' livelihoods from the unlicensed use of their work in AI training. The image is on a turquoise background and includes cartoon images of protestors
April 3, 2025 at 9:42 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
I'm getting to reread a lot of NZD for work at the moment and it's not a bad life, I'll tell you that.
A table in a coffee shop with a mug of matcha latte and a copy of Natalie Zemon Davis's Society and Culture in Early Modern France
April 2, 2025 at 6:36 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
I realise i should probably prioritise the academic preparation for an upcoming work trip to Istanbul, but really, these were on the recommended reads wall in Waterstones, what was I meant to do in the face of such serendipity?
Three books on a wooden table - the Rough Guide to Istanbul, Alan Mikhail's "God's Shadow: The Ottoman Sultan who shaped the modern world" and Christopher de Bellaigue's "The Lion House: The Rise of Suleyman the Magnificent"
February 23, 2025 at 1:51 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
She didn't - by that point she had decided to bunk in with her sister
A small tabby cat and a small black cat curled up next to each other in a beige cat bed. There is a second empty cat bed next to them.
January 13, 2025 at 4:38 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
I will take this. Come on 2025, let's be having you.
Screenshot of a Merriam-webster post with a playable gif of words, suggesting that whatever word your screenshot lands on will be your word of 2025. The word, which is in black type on a white background, that i landed on is "Smackdown".
January 1, 2025 at 4:46 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
They do it less than they used when they were proper kittens, but every so often, Les Filles snuggle up together and it is delightful. Even if tonight, that also involved shoving me right to the end of the sofa.
A tabby cat lying in front of and partly on top of a black cat on grey blanket on a sofa. There are some multi coloured cushions behind them, and a book to the side of them.
December 20, 2024 at 10:50 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky 💙📚
#BookChallenge

20/20 (and an extra because it's my final day doing this)
The cover of Katherine May's "Wintering" The cover of Matthew Walker's "Why We Sleep"
December 17, 2024 at 11:44 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky 💙📚
#BookChallenge

19/20
The cover of David Gange's " The Frayed Atlantic Edge" , which shows a woodcut effect cliff, beach and sea scene
December 16, 2024 at 8:59 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky 💙📚
#BookChallenge

18/20
The front cover of Nan Shepherd's "The Living Mountain"
December 15, 2024 at 8:58 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Went to Burton Constable today and spent a lot of time asking the poor volunteers about the books in the library. They knew the oldest one was from "14-something" and it has lots of French works, so obviously I need to find out more...
Photo of a long gallery library with Christmas lights and a red carpet Exterior of Burton Constable House, a three storey Elizabethan house built of brick. There are Christmas decorations on and beside the main door
December 15, 2024 at 3:54 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky 💙📚
#BookChallenge

17/20
The front cover of "Q" by Luther Blisset, showing a skeletal figure holding a violin within a capital letter Q
December 14, 2024 at 7:49 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
(Bit late, because I fell asleep on the sofa after the end of term last night)

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky 💙📚
#BookChallenge

16/20
The front cover of "Alone in Berlin" by Hans Fallada, showing a blue toned image of a man in a hat walking through a formal park with a large classical building in the background
December 14, 2024 at 7:25 AM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky 💙📚
#BookChallenge

15/20
The cover of Ann Napolitano's Hello Beautiful which shows a painting of a woman's face with brown eyes and dark hair
December 12, 2024 at 3:57 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#Books
#BookSky 💙📚
#BookChallenge

14/20
The cover of Rebecca Solnit's "Wanderlust: A history of walking", which shows a black and white photograph of shadows of pedestrians on a pavement
December 11, 2024 at 3:27 PM
sarakbarker.bsky.social
Ahem
Picture of office bookshelves with various French history BD books, mainly about the French Wars of Religion, facing out into the room
December 10, 2024 at 5:47 PM