Professor Faye Hammill on Hospitality in the Glossy Magazines of the 1920s and 1930s

Professor Faye Hammill kicked off the new seminar series with a talk that spanned three glossy magazines from the early 20th century: Vanity FairTatler, and the Toronto-based Mayfair.

Reflecting on trends in the field of periodical studies, Hammill observed that the periodical itself tends not to be the object of knowledge. Rather, magazines and newspapers are used to illuminate other genres, or to tell us something about the periodical’s historical context.

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ABC for Book Collectors

This post is part of a series about useful books and online resources for students of book history and material culture, written by current MSc students at the University of Edinburgh.


If asked, I would say that I am equal parts book history student and book collector; not only do these identifications intersect nicely, but I find it difficult to imagine any student escaping a book history degree without one or two volumes that in some way highlight their specific interests within the field. ABC for Book Collectors by John Carter and Nicolas Barker is a delightful illustration of this intersection. It is both an amazing resource for understanding the sometimes nebulous terminology that sometimes seems rife within the field of bibliography as well as a genuinely interesting read.

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Dr Elspeth Jajdelska, ‘Who Was Johnson’s Common Reader’?

Dr Elspeth Jajdelska, of the University of Strathclyde, delivered the final in a series of stunning lectures this fall at the University of Edinburgh. Her paper laid out a careful examination of the identity of Dr. Johnson’s “Common Reader.”

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