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The Canon Industry
Several years ago I went to a lecture in Cambridge given by Norman Davies, the historian of Central and Eastern Europe. The most memorable part of that evening was when my wife and I – both starving students at the time – ate so many canapés at the reception afterwards that a grim-faced member of…
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The First Scottish Enlightenment: Contract Signed!
It’s a real pleasure to write that as of last week I’ve signed a contract with Oxford University Press for The First Scottish Enlightenment: Rebels, Priests, and History, with a manuscript due-date of spring 2018. Going into the second book project I felt as if I understood the process much better than when I was working…
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The Future of Early Modern Scottish Studies
What a great conference! I probably shouldn’t say that quite so unreservedly, given that I was one of the organisers, but last weekend’s conference on “The Future of Early Modern Scottish Studies” really did exceed all expectations. Over two days we had twenty-two speakers from across Europe and America, two roundtable discussions, five debate-filled coffee…
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Future of Early Modern Scottish Studies Conference Registration is OPEN
I’m very pleased to announce that registration is now open for the Future of Early Modern Scottish Studies conference and can be accessed via the University of St Andrews’s online shop. At only £20 for two days, a wine reception, and the conference dinner – thanks to the School of History and the Institute for Scottish…
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Lightning Talk on Carved Stones
It’s always nice to discover recordings of talks you forgot had ever been recorded. Point yourself in this direction for a four-minute lightning talk from last year answering the question, “why am I spending so much time wandering the countryside looking for carved stones”? Dr Kelsey Jackson Williams Copyright © 2016 Kelsey Jackson Williams
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Peeling Back the Layers of an Eighteenth-Century Book
Amongst my weaknesses may be counted a taste for collecting the books I study. This led me, a few days ago, to be in the happy condition of owning a copy of Alexander Nisbet’s System of Heraldry, 2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1722-42), one of the heftier sets of antiquarian folios to be published by the eighteenth-century Scottish book…
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Future of Early Modern Scottish Studies Programme Announced
It’s a real pleasure to finally be able to announce the fantastic line-up we have in store for us at January’s conference on the Future of Early Modern Scottish Studies. You can find the full programme here, but suffice it to say that there will be everything from globalisation studies to book history and from…
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New Article – Antiquarianism: A Reassessment
I’m very pleased to write that a paper I’ve been working on for quite some time now, “Antiquarianism: A Reassessment”, will be forthcoming in the first 2017 issue of Erudition and the Republic of Letters. ERL is a relatively new journal – the brainchild of the immensely learned and collegial Mordechai Feingold – and well worth…
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Stravaigin: Innis Bhuidhe, Killin
The highland village of Killin is bisected by the River Dochart which splits just below the old bridge there to form an island: Innis Bhuidhe (“yellow island” in Gaelic). Last week the Historian and I were in Killin. Having obtained the gate keys from the local librarian, we made our way onto the island itself,…
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Cardinal Richelieu’s Scottish Poet
Amongst the many remarkable things preserved in the Scottish Catholic Archives is a small, richly-bound manuscript book: This is the album amicorum or friendship book of George Strachan, a young Scot from the Mearns, who travelled to the continent for his education at the end of the sixteenth century. Strachan’s story is a remarkable one –…
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Kelsey Jackson Williams 