Tuesday 25th March 2025, 10.15am (day 4,961)
A place I can still find reason to frequent now and again. There were a few students seen to be doing the same (none of mine, though…).
Among the books
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Tag Archives: books
The students do some work
Tuesday 18th October 2022, 10.15am (day 4,072)
Well, they can do some work now and again. It’s what they’re here for, after all. This morning, they discuss the book as an information technology — which it definitely is, and if you’re not sure why, then come to my next class. And yes, they are all Chinese and female, which is also the way it is in higher education at this time.
Prof Brown tells us how it is (or was)
Thursday 23rd June 2022, 12.35pm (day 3,955)
During this week at the London Rare Books School I have felt privileged to be taught by Professor Michelle Brown, second from the left here. What an awesome fund of knowledge she has, seemingly knowing absolutely everything that happened to everyone before about 1500 AD. Like being taught physics by Richard Fenynman, and the sort of experience that you just ain’t gonna get through Zoom, sorry.
Reflections of a limited existence
Tuesday 19th January 2021, 7.00pm (day 3,435)
The world is still out there, somewhere…. so we’ve been told. Across the valley, there’s a house that doesn’t seem to have removed its Christmas lights yet. Meanwhile, at home, the movie collection keeps a semblance of entertainment ticking over.
Phone box book swap
Wednesday 17th June 2020, 11.05am (day 3,219)
This is very Hebden Bridge. Strictly a one-person only library, however — which I guess at the present time is seen as healthy.
Chetham’s Library, Manchester
Wednesday 19th June 2019, 11.10am (day 2,855)
Now that’s a proper library. And I was here for scholarly purposes, too. Occasionally it is still possible to feel that in my profession, things are as they were a couple of centuries ago. I mean, in a good way.
Bookstall, Oxford Road
Tuesday 23rd April 2019, 1.50pm (day 2,798)
Back to work properly, but still a relatively balmy vibe over Manchester thanks to continuing good weather (it’s on the change, though), and a general lack of people of the academic persuasion. Why black and white today? Why not? I haven’t posted in monochrome for a while.
The chained library
Tuesday 12th March 2019, 10.55am (day 2,756)
A visit to Hereford today, and its cathedral, mainly to see the very famous and superb Mappa Mundi, or medieval map of the world, created in about 1300. A wonderful object but though I got many photos of the details, none of those would be my own art — so here’s a shot from the adjacent Chained Library. Hereford has long been a seat of learning and with books so valuable in olden times, they were chained to the shelves to prevent theft. We take knowledge and education for granted these days — although if Donald Trump keeps going with present policy, perhaps that will change soon.
Self-portrait in British Library
Wednesday 21st March 2018, 2.40pm (day 2,400)
There are worse places to come and do a couple of days’ work than London and worse buildings to spend the first day in than the British Library. I seem to have come out looking like the business end of a felt pen, but still, I quite like this one. Day 2,400 of the blog, a nice round number so I have updated the stats (if you really want to see how obsessively anal one can get with chronicling). I calculate day 2,500 should come at the end of June.
In the library
Thursday 3rd December 2015, 2.15pm (day 1,561)
I do sometimes still end up doing work in this place. I wonder whether the government think it is ‘productive’…
Being 42 