Category Archives: History of the Book

Constructing European Historical Narratives

Posted on August 11, 2025 by briansandberg

Constructing European Historical Narratives in the Early Modern World, edited by Hilary J. Bernstein, Fabien Montcher, and Megan Armstrong, is being published by Iter Press and will be released in paperback in December 2025. I enjoyed contributing an essay on … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, French History, French Wars of Religion, History of the Book, Mediterranean World, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History | Leave a comment

Academic Presses Making Deals with AI Companies

Posted on July 30, 2025 by briansandberg

I am alarmed to discover that Johns Hopkins University Press, one of the leading academic presses in the world is making deals with AI companies to license their titles to “train” LLMs. Here is an urgent question for friends who … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Academic Publishing, Civil Rights Issues, Digital Humanities, Higher Education, History of the Book, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Information Management, Legal history, United States History and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and Modern America

Posted on July 28, 2025 by briansandberg

Charlie English has published an essay in The New York Times on the role that George Orwell’s 1984 played in the Cold War, drawing comparisons to the book being banned in the United States in the twenty-first century. English is … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Freedom, Academic Publishing, Authoritarianism, Civil Rights Issues, Education Policy, Empires and Imperialism, European History, European Studies, High School History Teaching, History in the Media, History of the Book, Human Rights, Humanities Education, Information Management, Intellectual History, international relations, Political Culture, Political History of the United States, Political Theory, Public History, The Past Alive: Teaching History, United States History and Society, World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Secretary of Defense Texted Detailed Attack Plans

Posted on March 26, 2025 by briansandberg

Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence) and John Ratcliffe (Director of the Central Intelligence Agency) testified yesterday to the Senate Intelligence Committee that there were no classified details in the text communications in the Signal group formed by Michael Waltz … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil-Military Relations, History of News, Information Management, Maritime History, Political History of the United States, Security Studies, Strategy and International Politics, United States Foreign Policy, United States History and Society, War, Culture, and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Renaissance Society of America Conference in Boston

Posted on March 24, 2025 by briansandberg

I participated in the Renaissance Society of America Conference in Boston over the extended weekend. I enjoyed participating in a panel on “Piracy and Privateering in the Early Modern Mediterranean.” I gave a paper on Marseille as a base for … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, Cultural History, Current Research, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, History of Science, History of the Book, History of Violence, Mediterranean World, Militias and Paramilitaries, Renaissance Art and History, Warfare in the Early Modern World, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

Documenting a Purge

Posted on February 15, 2025 by briansandberg

Historians utilize documents to analyze historical events, developments, and patterns. Journalists also rely heavily on documents in their reporting on contemporary events, leading some news organizations to claim that journalism is the “first draft of history.” While this claim may … Continue reading →

Posted in History in the Media, History of News, Information Management, Political Culture, Political History of the United States, Public History, United States History and Society | Leave a comment

Newberry Summer Institutes in Paleography

Posted on January 6, 2025 by briansandberg

The Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library will be offering Summer Institutes in Spanish Paleography and/or Nahuatl/Nawat during Summer 2025. Northern Illinois University graduate students in History and the Humanities are encouraged to apply to participate in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Atlantic World, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, European History, Graduate Work in History, History of the Book, Lectures and Seminars, Manuscript Studies, Mediterranean World, Paleography, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Map Digitization at the Newberry Library

Posted on October 25, 2024 by briansandberg

The Newberry Library has digitized a major collection of early modern European and world maps printed in Italy. “The Newberry has recently completed the digitization of over 750 maps printed in Italy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Franco … Continue reading →

Posted in Cartographic History, Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Empires and Imperialism, European History, European Studies, History of the Book, Italian History, Manuscript Studies, Maritime History, Mediterranean World, Museums and Historical Memory, Warfare in the Early Modern World, World History | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Natalie Zemon Davis and Early Modern History

Posted on October 23, 2023 by briansandberg

I deeply saddened to learn today that renowned early modern historian Natalie Zemon Davis has died. Natalie Zemon Davis was a brilliant historian of early modern French, European, Mediterranean, and global history. Natalie’s essays on unruly women, women’s honor, gender … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, French History, French Wars of Religion, History of the Book, Languedoc and Southern France, Mediterranean World, Rare Books and Pamphlets, Reformation History, Religious Violence, Women and Gender History, World History | Leave a comment

NIU Book Lab and Printing Presses

Posted on October 11, 2023 by briansandberg

We are launching an exciting new project at Northern Illinois University to create a NIU Book Lab, which will focus on the history of the book, printing presses, and print culture! The Northern Illinois University Libraries have created a crowdfunding … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival Research, Cartographic History, Cultural History, Early Modern Europe, Early Modern France, Early Modern World, European History, European Wars of Religion, French Revolution and Napoleon, French Wars of Religion, History of the Book, Information Management, Material Culture, Mediterranean World, Museums and Historical Memory, Northern Illinois University, Political Culture, Public History, Rare Books and Pamphlets, Reformation History, Renaissance Art and History, Undergraduate Work in History, World History | Leave a comment