History editor
Tobias Wren
Oxford
Tobias is a former archivist who reads account books for fun. His Chronicles follow one object, recipe or guild through the centuries, footnotes and all.
Their writing
Chronicles
A year of medieval bread
I baked from a single 1390 household book every week for a year. The bread was better than I expected, and the rules around it were stranger.
Tobias Wren
Chronicles
The monks who invented the footnote
Medieval readers argued in the margins. The tiny notes they left around the text became glosses, then commentaries, then the humble footnote.
Tobias Wren
Chronicles
The ink recipe that outlived an empire
Oak-gall ink was mixed the same way in Rome, Baghdad, Canterbury and the US Treasury. It is the longest-running recipe in the history of writing.
Tobias Wren
Their first piece is on its way.
¶ The masthead
Written by hand
Six regular writers and one illustrator, most of whom still make the things they write about.
¶ The five categories
Five ways in
Every post belongs to one of five categories, and each has its own coat of arms. Pick a shield and read everything under it.
Essays
Azure, a chevron Or
Long arguments for slow, well-made things.
Chronicles
Gules, a bend Or
History, told through the hands that made it.
Craft
Or, a fess Sable
Step by step: ink, gold, wood, iron and bread.
Field notes
Vert, a pale Or
Walks, workshops and the places still working.
Conversations
Purpure, a saltire Or
Long interviews with people who make things.
¶ The Thursday letter
One letter, every Thursday.
The week’s long read, one thing worth making, and a note from the margins. Free, no tracking pixels, and you can leave in one click.
18,400 readers in 61 countries. Sent at 7 a.m. your time.