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March 2, 2026
Launch of our first Knowledge Exchange Week
Library and University Collections is delighted to announce its first Knowledge Exchange Week to take place 20 June -24 June 2016.
The programme is aimed at Library and Cultural Heritage Professionals from all backgrounds and career stages and we are inviting applications from the Erasmus partner universities and other academic institutions across Europe.
If you would like to discover more about the University of Edinburgh’s library and collections and share your own experiences with international colleagues then please follow the link below for further information.
http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/kew2016
Applications will be accepted during the period 5th February- 5th March 2016
Dating a Book
For the last couple of months I have had the pleasure of both volunteering with the DIU and now working a bit more seriously through my work placement as part of the MSc in Book History and Material Culture. My undergraduate degree is in Creative Writing and I primarily focus on Children’s Literature in my current studies, so the Digital Imaging Unit might seem like a strange fit for me at first glance. The exact opposite is true though. In the world of Children’s Literature, illustrations and images in general are essential to the construction and survival of texts. During my time here I have been working on compiling the metadata for our ECA Rare Books Image Collection. This project is dear to my heart for two reasons. 1) I am exposed to images and illustrations of every variety, both artistically and mechanically. 2) I learn something new every day. There are many books in this collection that are far out of my expertise and for that reason I am forced to research all sorts of things I have never even heard of. Because of this I have become a huge fan of nature lithography, Italian architecture and handmade books. The latter is what I would like to discuss today.
As I was researching the ECA Rare Book Collection, I found that many of the materials I was working with had no author and no date. Because of the nature of these type of handmade scrapbook-like works, there is no imprint or page of information on the piece. In this way, dating a work becomes a bit of a guessing game. If there is an attributed author or illustrator one can narrow down the production date to the lifetime of this person. If it is known to be made in a certain region by this person, for example, that can also narrow down the search for the date. It becomes a Sherlock Holmes kind of exploration to put all the pieces together and decide on a more narrow range of dates that a book could have been produced.
In this collection there are many examples of successful dating as well as some cases that have proved to be a bit trickier to pin down. I first noticed this when looking at a page from a hand created book titled by the cataloguer as ‘Album of printed initials, ornaments, illustrations and title pages, cut from books: collected as examples of typographical design, woodcut, engraving, illustration and ornament’. The particular page (see below) is of printed initials that have been cut from another book and then rearranged and adhered to the page as part of a collection of typographical designs, woodcuts, engravings, illustrations and ornaments. The book itself, or rather portfolio because the leaves are not bound together, has not been dated. The reason we know anything about the age of this book is from the age of the books in which were borrowed to create the new one. From some identified works, the collection of images comes from sometime around 1490 all the way to 1715. The pages themselves seem to have been compiled around 1880 to 1920.
A second example of dating from context is a curious photo album from Lord Elgin’s diplomatic missions to China. Unlike with the printed initials, these images have names attributed at points and even dates in the case below. Because of these acknowledgements, it becomes much easier to place this piece in history. Oddly enough though, some photographs are heavily annotated and others sit alone without any clues to what exactly they represent. We cannot be entirely sure when these were taken and if found out to be earlier or later than the other images, it could skew the data on the item as a whole.
A third very interesting undated book is that of calico samples that have been neatly cut and arranged, much like the printed initials from our earlier example. The manufacturers of these fabrics have been identified by the creator, which narrows down the date to the time in which these were all in business. The most helpful bit for this work though is a racehorse. One of the fabrics shows an image of ‘Gladiateur’, a racehorse who was accomplished from 1865-1866. This unsuspecting clue is mighty helpful when trying to confirm the time in which these fabrics would have been made and collected. If this particular horse had gone unnoticed, situated next to many other animal designs, we would know much less about this funny little collection.
One thing I didn’t expect to gain out of my work placement at the DIU was detective skills but it seems that I now know a bit more about how to date a book than I did a month ago. Unfortunately, there is one book that has no date and also has no catalogue information. This unique piece is a book of shawl designs that have been labelled and neatly placed on paper. There are some clues on these pieces that help us date it to a certain point (most noticeably the stamp from the Trustees for Manufacturers) but even with this it seems to remain quite mysterious. If you feel like testing your skills, feel free to check out the images of ‘Shawl Design’ at http://images.is.ed.ac.uk/luna/servlet/UoEwmm~3~3 and let me know if you find anything.
-Caitlin Holton, MSc Book History and Material Culture
Nashriyah: digital Iranian history
The University of Manchester Library has just launched today, 1 Feb 2016, their digital project Nashriyah: digital Iranian history. It provides free access to 12,000 pages of digital versions of Iranian newspapers and periodicals capturing key historical events as they happened.
These newspapers and periodicals, many of which have been only partially accessible inside Iran, cover the defining moments from the following three eras:
- The premiership of Mohammad Mossadegh and the August 1953 coup d’état against his government (1950-53).
- The 1979 Revolution.
- The late 1990s/early 2000s ‘reform era’ of former President Mohammad Khatami.
For more details and access, please follow click here.
What can your library do for you?
Did you know that reading is one of the best ways to relax? Even as little as six minutes of quiet reading can be enough to make a difference! The type of reading that people do in this library is usually more geared towards study than relaxation, but taking some time to have a break is really important.
That’s why we’re going to be popping up in the Main Library foyer in the next few weeks and months, running short activities to inspire, relax, distract, and motivate anyone that is using the library. We know how hard and stressful it can be to be a student, and we want you to know that the library is here for you!
One of the things we’ll be starting with is a little distraction activity – we’ve made a few examples already:
Want to come and have a go? You can make some friends like these in the Main Library foyer on Wednesday, February 10th. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter for other fun distractions!
Arkyves – new subscription
Following a successful trial last year, we now subscribe to Arkyves.
Arkyves: A Reference tool for the History of Culture is a database, treasure trove and toolbox for those interested in the History of Culture. It is a single access point for thematic searches across a wide variety of cultural heritage collections, contributed by partners like the Dutch Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Herzog August Bibliothek, and the university libraries of Milan, Utrecht, Glasgow, and Illinois. Ordering and re-ordering motifs, themes, stories and iconographic details in kaleidoscopic fashion, Arkyves will make you find many things you did not realize you were looking for.
Access Arkyves via the Databases AZ list or DiscoverED.
Playfair Revealed
The architect William Henry Playfair was born in Russell Square, London, July 1789. On the death of his father, Playfair was sent to reside with his uncle in Edinburgh. Professor John Playfair, mathematician and geologist and a leading figure in the Edinburgh Enlightenment, took control of his nephew’s education. Following his father’s profession, the young Playfair studied under William Starke of Glasgow. His first public appointment was the laying out of part of the New Town in Edinburgh in 1815.
University of Edinburgh (Old College): Transverse section through southern range
Then, after a visit to France in 1816, he established himself professionally by winning the commission in 1817 to complete the unfinished University buildings (leaving the front as designed by Robert and James Adam). He also designed the city’s Royal Terrace and Regent Terrace on the Calton Hill estate; the unfinished National Monument on Calton Hill; and, the Royal Scottish Academy and the National Gallery on the Mound. While Playfair’s most important works in Edinburgh have been executed in the Greek revivalist or classical style – earning for Edinburgh the title of ‘Athens of the North’ – he was competent in other styles too. He designed New College for the ten newly established Free Church of Scotland, a jagged-lined rendering of the Gothic style. He also built country houses and mansions in the Italianate and Tudor styles.
Playfair died in Edinburgh after a long illness on 27 May 1857. His Trustees donated his drawings to the University the following year.
Containing over 5,000 drawings, and with largely only a typescript catalogue of the briefest of descriptions, the collection presents many challenges. Despite these it is one of our most frequently consulted collections. As part of our move to ArchivesSpace, we managed to get a the overarching structure of the catalogue keyed and online.
Late last year we hosted a very productive seminar on Playfair, where academics, curators and others discussed Playfair, the collection and issues around both. This month sees the start of a project where we have two architecture students on placement who are going to make a detailed study of a subset of the drawings, identifying key information within them. This will be both general information (e.g. date, scale, type of drawing etc.) and also detail more specific to Playfair and the buildings. This will allow us to both improve the existing catalogue almost immediately and also draft an overarching schema for cataloguing the collection as a whole. This will then allow us to more accurately estimate the resource that would be required.
Due to both the arrangement of the collection and familiarity (at least to some degree) with the building in question, the project will focus on drawings of Old College. We began with drawings covering the west range and south-west corner. These originally housed Chemistry, Practice of Physic and the Natural History Museum and, even at first glance, the drawings are yielding all sorts of information, such as Playfair’s work pattern – he was generally producing one drawing per day. He also produced a number of detailed drawings at 1:1 scale. There is also much evidence of his innovative use of structural iron work.
This project is a collaboration with Dr Richard Anderson (School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture), whose students, Federica and Xue, are contributing their expertise to a fascinating exploration of one of our most treasured collections.
British Politics
The Library has recently purchased back issue access to the e-journal British Politics. This now ensures that the Library has full access to this e-journal from 2006 (vol. 1) onwards.
Published by Palgrave Macmillan, British Politics is a peer-reviewed academic journal designed to promote research in British political studies. It incorporates a range of research papers and review articles from all theoretical perspectives, and on all aspects of British politics.
The Library already had access to several years of this journal via other e-journal collections, however, this purchase ensures the Library has full and permanent access to this e-journal from it’s first volume and issue onwards.
You can access British Politics via DiscoverEd.
Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for Social and Political Science
German prisoners in Britain, 1916 – at Donington Hall near Derby, in Dorchester, in Handforth, and at Eastcote
IMAGES FROM A BOOK IN OUR COLLECTIONS ENTITLED GERMAN PRISONERS IN GREAT BRITAIN (published circa 1916 by Tillotson & Son Ltd., Printers, Bolton & London)
The photographs in the volume had been taken ‘in response to a request made by the American Ambassador in Berlin’.
Cover of the work ‘German prisoners in Great Britain’, c.1916. (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
Apparently they were to ‘form part of the Wurtemberg War Exhibition’ (Württembergische Kriegs-Ausstellung), held in Stuttgart, May-September 1916.
Donington Hall – German officers assembling for roll-call (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
The exhibition had been organised by the Württemberg Red Cross, under the auspices of the king and queen of Württemberg and the Royal Württemberg War Ministry. Württemberg at the time retained considerable autonomy within Germany and had its own royal family, with its capital at Stuttgart.
Donington Hall – the dining-hall (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
This fact reflected the complex political structure of Imperial Germany – Württemberg being a kingdom (formerly a duchy) that had become part of the German Empire in 1871.
Donington Hall – one of the dormitories (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
The foreword to the book claims that ‘the prisoners were left entirely free to choose whether they would be photographed or not’. The text continues:
The photographers had explicit instructions that no prisoner was to be photographed without his content, and that neither compulsion nor persuasion was to be employed to induce anyone to form part of a group
Dorchester Camp – a general view of the site (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
The photographs which appeared in the book illustrate 6 of the largest prisoners’ camps in Great Britain: Donington Hall, Alexandra Palace, Dorchester Handforth, Lofthouse Park, and Eastcote.
Dorchester Camp – group of prisoners, some of whom have come from the Somme (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
Donington Hall is an 18th century ‘gothic’ house near Derby which had been requisitioned by the War Office of the British government during the Great War for use as a prisoner of war camp.
Dorchester Camp – prisoners and their pet rabbits (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
It housed German officers who were waited on and served by their lower military ranks who were billeted in huts in the grounds.
Handforth – Unter-Offiziers’ gardens (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
One of Donington Hall’s celebrated in-mates was the German aviator, aerial explorer, and author, Gunther Plüschow (1886-1931) who had explored and filmed Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego from the air.
Handforth – parcels arriving from home (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
As an imprisoned German naval pilot (May 1915) Plüschow successfully escaped from Donington Hall during a storm (July 1915) and made for the neutral Netherlands.
Handforth – model ship built by Kaiserliche Marine prisoners (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
Dorchester Camp, Dorset, received its first prisoners of war in August 1914. The camp was set up at the town’s empty artillery barracks at Poundbury. At its height, the camp housed 4,500 men – equivalent to almost half of the town’s resident population.
Eastcote – bakery (from book held at Centre for Research Collections, RB.P.1034)
A print-works in Handforth, near Wilmslow, Cheshire, became a prison camp for Germans with 1,000 housed their by November 1914, and 2,000 by April 1915.
Eastcote prisoner of war camp was in Northamptonshire, and was also known as Pattishall Camp. It would eventually come to house more than 4500 German prisoners of war.
Dr. Graeme D. Eddie, Assistant Librarian Archives & Manuscripts, Centre for Research Collections
This blog-post was created by using the volume itself, and with information found on BBC pages and those of the Imperial War Museum and the National Army Museum
A Fond Farewell
For the last ten weeks I have been working with Project Conservator, Emily Hick to conserve and rehouse a collection of rare Greek books. The weeks have gone racing by and now my internship has come to an end. In light of this, I would like to share a bit more about my internship experience at the Centre for Research Collections.
Working on the Blackie project with Emily has been a great way to gain insight into the planning and management of conservation projects. One of my responsibilities as intern was to record the time it took me to complete each task and the materials I used in the process. This was a really useful exercise as it made me think of how I could work more efficiently and be more resourceful with materials. I now feel that I am better equipped to plan and manage conservation projects myself in the future.
One of the great advantages of working on a project involving Greek books is that I can’t stop and read them! However, I have occasionally found some quirky things in the collections to distract me. My favourite by far is this doodle on the endpaper of an eighteenth century book. The image is of George Dunbar, professor of Greek at Edinburgh University from 1807 to 1851. It looks as if it may have been drawn by one of his students!?
Sketch of George Dunbar, Professor of Greek at Edinburgh University from 1807 -1851
My background is in Preventive Conservation so the internship has been an excellent opportunity to become more familiar with paper conservation. I have been able to learn a lot more about the interventive treatments of paper just by observing Emily and the other conservators at work. As most cultural heritage collections contain paper objects and books, the value of this knowledge cannot be understated. I thoroughly enjoyed having a go at some basic interventive conservation treatments during a Conservation Taster Day held at the CRC, where I learned to do tear repairs and infills on de-accessioned documents.
Having fun making tear repairs during the conservation taster day
As a Preventive Conservator, I feel it is important to have a broad understanding of all materials and objects found in cultural heritage collections. Therefore, it has been particularly helpful for me to visit different parts of the University’s collections to learn how they are cared for. I have been able to visit the Musical Instrument Collections, the Anatomy Museum and the Art Collections. I was fascinated to learn about the treatments and techniques employed in the conservation of musical instruments. During my visit to the anatomy museum I was interested to learn about the practical ethical challenges in caring for collections of human remains.
Musical instrument conservation studio
Throughout the internship I have had access to training, which has significantly improved my knowledge and skills in both preventive and remedial conservation. I have received training on rehousing, disaster planning and designing collections databases. The training will undoubtedly improve my chances of finding employment once the internship concludes. I have also been able to get an idea of what is involved in running a staff training day by assisting Emma Davey, Conservation Officer, in preparing for the disaster response and salvage training.
Learning to make temporary boxes for books
Building wind tunnels during salvage training
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with the Conservation Department at the CRC. I have been encouraged to get involved in all aspects of the Department’s work, from conservation and collections care, to public engagement activities. As a new graduate, the internship has allowed me to put the knowledge gained from my Masters degree into practice and given me more confidence in my abilities. The conservation team have all been very supportive and have given me lots great advice on career development. All in all, I think an internship with the CRC is an excellent opportunity for a new graduate, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone starting out in conservation.
American National Biography Online (for trial)
We have been offered a free trial of American National Biography Online until 11th Feb 2016. To access the trial, please go to the Library’s E-resources Trials webpage and select this resource from the list, or go directly to American National Biography Online, or simply search for American National Biography in DiscoverEd and follow the link http://discovered.ed.ac.uk/44UOE_VU1:default_scope:44UOE_ALMA51149999870002466 for the e-book entry. You can use Trial Feedback Form to send your comments.
American National Biography offers portraits of more than 19,000 men and women — from all eras and walks of life — whose lives have shaped American history and culture. From astronauts to missionaries, chemists to musicians, and cowboys to Vikings, the portraits combine to reflect the rich diversity of American life, from pre-colonial times onward. More than a decade in preparation, the American National Biography is the first biographical resource of this scope to be published in more than sixty years.
The Main Library has a full 24-volume set of the printed version of American National Biography which can be found in DiscoverEd. Two supplements are also on order.
Collections
Hill and Adamson Collection: an insight into Edinburgh’s past
My name is Phoebe Kirkland, I am an MSc East Asian Studies student, and for...
Cataloguing the private papers of Archibald Hunter Campbell: A Journey Through Correspondence
My name is Pauline Vincent, I am a student in my last year of a...
Projects
Cataloguing the private papers of Archibald Hunter Campbell: A Journey Through Correspondence
My name is Pauline Vincent, I am a student in my last year of a...
Archival Provenance Research Project: Lishan’s Experience
Presentation My name is Lishan Zou, I am a fourth year History and Politics student....