BBTI began in 1983, under the direction of Professor Peter Isaac, with support from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Sir James Knott Charitable Trust. Support was later received from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. BBTI data have been derived from a range of published sources, both printed and electronic, and from forms submitted by the many scholars and local researchers who have generously contributed their findings. [Principal printed sources from which records have been derived include: the Dictionaries of the Printers and Booksellers who were at work in England, Scotland and Ireland 1557-1775 (Bibliographical Society, 1907-1932); Ramsden's Bookbinders of the United Kingdom (outside London) 1780-1840 (Batsford, 1954) and Todd's A Directory of Printers and others in Allied Trades: London and vicinity 1800-1840 (Printing Historical Society, 1972).] Electronic data have been generously supplied by the British Library from the Eighteenth-Century Short-Title Catalogue and by Michael Turner from his records of Stationers.

The potential of BBTI as a research tool is indicated by the willingness with which scholars have contributed records over almost twenty years. A grant of £175,000 from the AHRB's Resource Enhancement Scheme will fund three years of development work, including the transfer of the existing database to the Web, the addition of many more thousands of new records, and several research projects using the BBTI database, including a study of book-trade networks in the Midlands. The longer-term future of the BBTI is guaranteed by the commitment of the University of Birmingham and by the project's close liaison with the Arts and Humanities Data Service.

The research strength of the University of Birmingham's English Department in the history of the book and the transmission of texts makes it an ideal home for the BBTI. The project, directed by Maureen Bell and with Peter Isaac chairing the Management Group, will form the hub of a research group (staff, postgraduates and postdoctoral researchers) working on aspects of book history. John Hinks, who has joined the Department as the BBTI Research Fellow, has recently completed doctoral work on the history of the book trade in Leicester and is already familiar with BBTI in its present form, both as a user and contributor of data. Under his editorial guidance, the Web version of the BBTI will become the centrepiece of a new Birmingham Web-portal for the exchange and dissemination of research information concerning book-trade history.

PhD Studentship: Digital Resource of Anglo-Saxon Palaeography
The Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London, is pleased to announce a PhD studentship in digital methods in palaeography funded by a European Research Council project, the 'Digital Resource of Palaeography, Manuscripts and Diplomatic'. The studentship is to be held in CCH as part of a PhD in Digital Humanities.

Context
The aim of Digital Resource of Palaeography is to bringing the methods and resources of digital humanities to bear on palaeographical exploration, citation and teaching of late Anglo-Saxon script. It involves a web resource which will allow scholars to rapidly retrieve digital images, verbal descriptions, and detailed characterisations of the writing, as well as the text in which it is found and the content and structure of the manuscript or charter. It will incorporate different ways of searching, using images, maps, timelines and image-processing as well as conventional text-based browsing and searching. The palaeographical content will focus on a case-study of vernacular English script from the eleventh century, but the project will allow scholars to test and apply new general developments in palaeographical method which have been discussed in theory but which have hitherto proven difficult or impossible to implement in practice. Some further details of the project are available on the KCL news pages.

The studentship
Applicants should propose a research project which can benefit from and contribute to the Digital Resource in Palaeography project but which remains distinct from it. Possibilities may include the detailed study of a particular manuscript or small group of manuscripts from the corpus of eleventh-century vernacular English script. A comparative study could apply the research methodologies of the ERC project to a different corpus, perhaps focusing on the products of a single scriptorium or scribe, looking at variance and variation in script; or focusing on a corpus (such as manuscript fragments) that has proven difficult to manage with conventional approaches. Another possibility may be more methodological, focusing on the possibilities and limits of Digital Humanities in palaeographical scholarship.

The student will be based at King's College London, in the Centre for Computing in Humanities and will benefit from the CCH PhD Seminar. A second supervisor will be assigned according to the requirements of the project. It is also expected that the student will maintain contact with other departments in KingÕs, such as History or English. The student will also have access to resources and seminars across the University of London more widely, including Senate House Library and its Palaeography Room, the Institute of Historical ResearchÕs seminars and library, and seminars and expertise at the Institute of English Studies.

Value
For the three years of the studentship (starting no later than October 2011) the grant is c. £14,000 per annum. Students liable to pay fees at the overseas rate are welcome to apply, but should make sure that they can cover the difference between the award and the full overseas fee. The studentship must be held full-time.