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.
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.
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.
This is very Hebden Bridge. Strictly a one-person only library, however — which I guess at the present time is seen as healthy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I do sometimes still end up doing work in this place. I wonder whether the government think it is ‘productive’…
While citizens of the USA were presumably celebtrating their Independence Day today, I had a day spent mostly at home writing. These books caught my eye later on though, bathed in a small pool of afternoon sunlight. It would be nice to claim our Joe was a voracious reader but I think these are on their way to the car boot sale. Indeed it would probably embarrass him to reveal to the world there are still around 20 Thomas the Tank Engine books visible here. So I won’t point that out.
Being 42 