Dr Zoe Screti

I am a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Voltaire Foundation and a Research Fellow of Harris Manchester College. I joined the Voltaire Foundation in 2022 as the Astra Foundation Research Fellow in Manuscript Studies during which time I worked on the Catalogue of Manuscripts Relating to Voltaire (CMV). Prior to this, I completed my PhD at the University of Birmingham where my doctoral research was supported by a College of Arts and Law Scholarship. I was awarded the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry's New Scholar Award in 2020 and a research grant from the Scientific Instruments Society in 2023. Alongside my research, I am an Associate Member of the 'Équipe Écritures et Lumières' at the Institut des textes et manuscrits modernes, Paris, and Communications Officer for the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS). I also teach undergraduate papers on the history of science, eighteenth-century British history, the early modern period from global perspectives, and historical methods.

Research Interests

I am a social and cultural historian of early modern Europe specialising in manuscript use and archival practices. My current research project, 'Burn This: The Destruction of Personal Papers During the European Enlightenment' explores the intentional loss of personal papers during in the long eighteenth century, using archival silences to evaluate the purposeful concealment of potentially damaging aspects of peoples' lives and personalities at a time when the rising cult of celebrity made public personas all the more important. Combining innovative digital humanities techniques with my expertise in manuscript studies and the historical understanding of literary and social early modern practices, my project charts the complex relationship between socio-cultural expectations and attitudes towards preservation, nuancing understanding of archival loss whilst simultaneously providing an analysis of the cultures which encouraged such practices.

I also have research interests in the history of science. My doctoral thesis examined the relationship between religious reform and alchemy in early modern England (c.1450-1640), using manuscripts and their marginalia to demonstrate the significant impact that the Reformation had on alchemy in England, especially within godly communities. I am currently preparing a monograph based on this research titled: Alchemy Reformed: The Making of Godly Alchemy, 1450-1652. Additionally, I guest edited, and contributed to, a special issue of the British Journal for the History of Science: Themes in 2025 which explored visual and figurative representations in pre-modern sciences.

You can follow me on Bluesky: @zoescreti.bsky.social