From a musicological perspective, early modern crowds are a source of both fascination and frustration. We know that large numbers of people attended the many and varied spectacles that punctuated urban life at this time, in light of which it is only logical to assume they must have had an opinion about the plethora of…

We were sorry to learn of the passing of Bruce Smith in June 2024. Bruce’s Acoustic World of Early Modern England: Attending to the ‘O’ Factor (1999) is a foundational text in sound and sensory studies, drawing attention to the phenomenology of sound and how it played a crucial role in understanding ways in which…

Speakers ¶ Jenni Hyde (Lancaster University) ¶ Jan-Friedrich Mißfelder (University of Basel) ¶ Una McIlvenna (Australian National University) ¶ Rachel Willie (Liverpool John Moores University, Chair)     Some of the earliest forms of news dissemination occurred in ballads. Lacking a teleological relationship with newsbooks, these forms of news production created spaces for engagement with…

David Rogers writes about his work investigating mysterious symbols discovered in the front of a prayer book by Dr Emilie Murphy.     In September 2021, I was doomscrolling twitter and spotted Dr Emilie Murphy’s tweet asking if anyone recognised this text. I was immediately interested and contacted her to discuss further. Emilie explained that…

The next Soundscapes in the Early Modern World Research Seminar will be on Monday 2nd October at 10.00am BST. Matthew Champion (Melbourne), will talk on ‘Ringing the Changes: Sound, Temporality, and Reformations Chair: Dolly MacKinnon (Queensland) All welcome!    

The next Soundscapes in the Early Modern World Research Seminar will be on Tuesday 13th June at 4.00pm BST. Diane Oliva (Michigan), will talk on ‘Seismic Affects: Sensing Earthquakes in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World’   Chair: Sarah Koval (Harvard)   All welcome!