My name is Nick Poyntz and I am a postgraduate at Birkbeck studying part-time for an MA in early modern history. I did my undergraduate degree at Peterhouse, Cambridge. This is me, giving a nod to a Holbein portrait of a distant ancestor and namesake.

The original Mercurius Politicus was edited by Marchamont Nedham, and was one of the officially-licensed newsbooks of the English Commonwealth. I’ve appropriated its title to blog about my work towards the MA.

My main area of focus is England during the first half of the seventeenth century. As you might guess from this blog’s title, my pet obsession is print and print culture, although I’m also interested in how print interacted with other cultural and political forms of expression. My MA thesis will look at newsbooks, power and communication in England in the 1650s. I’m also interested in what other disciplines like bibliography, sociology and art history can bring to the study of this period.

What you’ll tend to find here is posts on what I’m working on, whether that’s sources I’m looking at, secondary works I’m reading, or just something interesting I’ve found on Early English Books Online. I’m always interested to hear from people who come across this blog, so if you want to get in touch leave a message on this page or e-mail me at:

mercuriuspoliticusATgooglemailDOTcom

This blog’s theme is a slightly edited version of Tarski.