Anniversary of Andrew Lang TAGS: Andrew Lang | Fairy Books | Leonora Blanche Alleyne | Scottish Literature March 31 marks the 175th anniversary of the birth of one of Scotland’s most prolific and versatile writers, Andrew Lang (1844-1912). The author or co-author of 249 volumes, Lang worked …Continue reading →

Plaque Unveiled to Edinburgh University’s First Nobel Prize Winner TAGS: Charles Glover Barkla | Hermitage of Braid | Nobel Prize Today, at the Hermitage of Braid, Principal Peter Mathieson will unveil a plaque commemorating Edinburgh University’s first Nobel Prize winner, physicist Charles Glover Barkla (1877–1944). Barkla is one of a …Continue reading →

Sydney Goodsir Smith Stands for Rector TAGS: Sydney Goodsir Smith In 1951, students voting for a new Rector of Edinburgh University faced a choice between a quite extraordinary range of candidates. The election of actor Alistair Sym in 1948 had …Continue reading →

Hugh MacDiarmid and Mary Poppins: An Unpublished Letter in EU Archives TAGS: Hugh MacDiarmid | PL Travers An unpublished letter from Mary Poppins author P. L. Travers to Hugh MacDiarmid in Edinburgh University’s C. M. Grieve Archive casts further light on the surprising relationship between the two …Continue reading →

MacDiarmid in ‘Thistleonica’: A Poem from a Forgotten Front TAGS: Andrew Graham Grieve | Christopher Murray Grieve | Hugh MacDiarmid The Papers of Andrew Graham Grieve (Gen. 2236) include a poem from a forgotten front of the First World War written by his older brother Christopher Murray Grieve, later to …Continue reading →

Elizabeth Wiskemann, First Woman Professor and War-Hero A university figure that deserves far greater recognition is our first woman professor Elizabeth Wiskemann (1899-1971), who held the Montague Burton Chair of International Relations from 1958 to 1961. Although …Continue reading →

Connected Collections ‘Connected Collections’, Library of Innerpeffray, 29 November 2014 Last Saturday, I was at the wonderful Library of Innerpeffray, Scotland’s oldest lending library (founded ca. 1680) for ‘Connected Collections’, a workshop …Continue reading →

William Soutar’s Caricatures of Hugh MacDiarmid TAGS: Hugh MacDiarmid | Scotish Literary Papers | William Soutar A few days ago I gave a talk to the Friends of William Soutar in Perth on the friendship between Soutar and his fellow Scots poet Hugh MacDiarmid, as illustrated …Continue reading →

New Guide to Scottish Literary Papers TAGS: George Mackay Brown | Hugh MacDiarmid | Norman MacCaig | Scottish Literary Papers | Sydney Goodsir Smith A new online guide to some of our major collections of Scottish literary papers is now available on the Centre for Research Collections website. It provides an overview of fourteen …Continue reading →

Waverley 200 Waverley 200: An Exhibition Marking the Bicentenary of Sir Walter Scott’s Seminal Novel CRC Display Wall, 6th Floor, Main Library, George Square, 2 April-4 July Tis 200 years since … …Continue reading →