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December 17, 2025
ProQuest downtime
We have been advised that all databases, e-books and e-journals on the ProQuest and Chadwyk-Healy platforms will be unavailable for 8 hours starting at 3am on Sunday 18th January. This scheduled downtime will allow ProQuest to carry out improvements to the security and reliability of their products.
Our most popular digital images of 2015 (5 – 1)
Following yesterday’s publication of numbers 10 – 6, here are our top five digital images from 2015!
5. Mount Stuart, Bute, Floor Plan, 1879: EC.110 (new entry)
Rowand Anderson’s floor plan for the rebuilding of Mount Stuart, ancestral home of the Marquesses of Bute, after the original 18th century building was destroyed by fire.
4. Letter by Deacon Brodie begging for mercy, 1788: La.II.131 (2014 rank = 4)
A letter from Deacon Brodie dated 10 September 1788, sent from Tollcross, begging for mercy prior to his execution.
3. Khush khati (calligraphy), 17th / 18th century: Or.Ms 373 (2014 rank = 5)
From the the Qit’at-i Khushkhatt, an album of Persian calligraphy (Khush Khati). The text is written in seven types of character, including Nasta’liq, Naskh and Raihan, and conforms to the format of large central letters with small ones on the outside.
2. Richardson’s Grouse, Male, c. 1820: JY 953 (new entry)
Image of a Richardson’s Grouse from Illustrations of Zoology, drawn by James Wilson and engraved by W.H. Lizars.
1. Ivanhoe: Castle of Torquilston, 1832: Corson P.3492 (2014 = 2)
This steel vignette, presumed to be engraved from Edward Finden’s design, shows Torquilstone Castle as it was described in Ivanhoe, ch. 21.
Visit our database images.is.ed.ac.uk to view thousands more digital images of rare and unique items from the University of Edinburgh Library’s collections.
Our most popular digital images of 2015 (10 – 6)
Below are the most viewed images (numbers 10-6) from our online images database (http://images.is.ed.ac.uk). Check back in to tomorrow to see numbers 5-1!
10. Native Americans riding a sea monster, 1621: D.s.e.4.21/2 (2014 rank = 10)
From the Nova Typis Transacta Navigatio Novi Orbis Indiæ Occidentalis, a fictionalised account of Benedictine missionaries which contains extraordinary engravings of mythical creatures, cannibalism and barbarity alongside authentic details of local customs, flora and fauna.
9. Skeleton in profile, contemplating a skull, 1543: Df.1.52 (new entry)
“A delineation from the side, of the Bones of the Human Body freed from the rest of the parts which they support, and placed in position.” From anatomist Andreas Vesalius’ De humani corporis fabrica.
8. The Castle of Coningsburgh, 1837: Corson P.2985 (2014 rank = 7)
Steel engraving by J.C. Bentley showing King Richard, Ivanhoe, Gurth and Wamba arriving at the castle of Coningsburgh for Athelstane’s funeral.
7. Papal Indulgence, 1497: Inc.235 (new entry)
Printed by Wynken de Worde, a prolific early printer in England, this indulgence was issues by the papacy as a means of raising money for the pilgrim shrine of St James, Compostella in Spain.
6. Ragamala Painting, 18th century: Or.Ms 114 (2014 rank = 8)
Detail of a Ragamala miniature entitled ‘Patamanjari ragini of Dipaka’, which depicts a young woman rushing to her house to escape the monsoon thunder and lightning.
PastMasters – Augustine 4th Release now purchased
We have purchased additional content within the Past Masters series. It includes:
Augustine. Responses to Miscellaneous Questions. Introduction, translation and notes by Boniface Ramsey, edited by Raymond Canning. Hyde Park, New York: New City Press, 2008.
Homilies on the Gospel of John 1-40. Translation and notes by Edmund Hill, O.P., edited and with an introduction and notes by Alan Fitzgerald, O.S.A. Hyde Park, New York: New City Press, 2009.
Revisions. translation, notes and introduction by Boniface Ramsey, edited by Roland Teske, S.J. Hyde Park, New York: New City Press, 2010.
The City of God (De Civitate Dei), Part I. Introduction and translation by William Babcock, notes by Boniface Ramsey. Hyde Park, New York: New City Press, 2012.
The City of God (De Civitate Dei), Part II. Translation by William Babcock, notes by Boniface Ramsey. Hyde Park, New York: New City Press, 2013.
New Testament I and II. Edited by Boniface Ramsey. Hyde Park, New York: New City Press, 2014.
Access Past Masters via the databases AZ list or DiscoverEd.
Nikkei Telecom21
Nikkei Telecom 21 (日経テレコン) is a reputable newspaper database in business and economics from Japan. The University Library has started a subscription to this resource from 1st January 2016. This is an essential resource for various kinds of studies such as economics, politics, sociology and Japanese language. It gives access to a great number of Nikkei newspaper articles from 1975 to the present. The database also contains hundreds of daily news articles in English published by Nikkei Inc. and Dow Jones & Company Inc. An English Archive Search is available for Nikkei Asian Review and major Nikkei newspaper articles. In addition to news articles, Nikkei Telecom offers various aspects of business information related to Japanese economy, such as profile information of major Japanese companies, personnel information of executives, Nikkei’s survey data, macroeconomic statistics, etc.
Staff and students can now access this resource on the University network via http://t21ipau.nikkei.co.jp/ipauth/auth/auth?sid=1 . This resource will soon be added to the Database list and the web link be configured so that it can be accessed on and off campus via EASE login.
A simple user guide is available from here. A full guide can be downloaded from https://www.nikkeieu.com/telecom/en/userguide.pdf.
Keeping in with the old
One of the delights of the New College Library archives is that it contains information on an array of subjects not just theological or religious topics. This is thanks in part to the original composition of New College Library from donations of libraries, which were given more often than not without worrying too much about content.
There are several places where records relating to the study and understanding of languages other than English can be found. This image is from a volume of polyglot vocabulary (ref.BIN5) written by Robert Blair Munro Binning (http://www.docs.is.ed.ac.uk/docs/lib-archive/bgallery/Gallery/records/eighteen/binning.html). According to the catalogue the languages represented are English, Arabic, French, Hebrew, Persian, Greek, Sanskrit, Latin, Turkish, Telugu, Gaelic and Hindi.
Aside from being a useful tome, I thought that the mix of scripts gave it a certain beauty. The page I have chosen, struck me as appropriate for this time of year, containing as it does the words ‘year’ and ‘yawn’.
Happy New Year! Bliadhna Mhath Ùr! A Guid New Year! Bonne Année! etc etc…
Kirsty M Stewart, New College Collections Curator
Further information: catalogue of items in the Binning collection.
Compliments of the Season
All the Season’s blessings
Did you know that the Christmas card is an English invention? John Calcott Horsley, painter and illustrator designed the very first card for the commission of Sir Henry Cole, the first director of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
It seems that we got both the Christmas tree and the Christmas card from the Victorians!
The Library Annexe Team wishes everyone a Happy Christmas!
A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you
Wishing you a Bright and Happy Christmas
I
Images from “Compliments of the Season” by L. D. Ettlinger and R. G. Holloway
Available at Library Annexe (shelf mark .74168 Ett.)
Viktoria Varga, Library Annexe Assistant
New Oxford Medical Handbooks available
We have now added the following Oxford Medical Handbooks to DiscoverEd:
Oxford Handbook of Medical Imaging
Oxford Handbook of Medical Statistics
IIIF – International Image Interoperability Framework
Inspirational quote on the side of a University of Ghent building, St. Pietersnieuwstraat 33.
The adoption of IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework) has been gaining momentum over the past few years for digitised images. Adoption of IIIF for serving images allows users to rotate, zoom, crop, and compare images from different institutions side by side. Scott and I attended the IIIF conference in Ghent earlier this month to learn more about IIIF, so we can decide how we can move forward at the University of Edinburgh to adopt IIIF for our images.
On the Monday we attended a technical meeting at the University of Ghent Library, this session really helped us to understand the architecture of the two IIIF APIs (image and presentation) and speak to others who have implemented IIIF at their institutions.
The main event was on Tuesday at the beautiful Ghent Opera House, where there were lots of short presentations about different use-cases for IIIF adoption and the different applications that have been developed. If you are interested in adoption IIIF at your institution I recommend looking at Glen Robson’s slides on how the National Library of Wales has implemented IIIF. I can see myself coming back to these slides again and again, along with those on the two APIs.
Whilst we were in Ghent there was a timely update from LUNA Imaging, whose application we use as an imaging repository on their plans to support IIIF.
Thanks to everyone we met in Ghent who was willing to share with us their experiences of implementing IIIF and to the organisers for a great event in a beautiful city (and our stickers).
IIIF Meeting in Ghent Opera House
If you want to keep up to date with IIIF development please join the Google Group iiif-discuss@googlegroups.com
Claire Knowles and Scott Renton
Library Digital Development Team
MacDiarmid in ‘Thistleonica’: A Poem from a Forgotten Front
MacDiarmid (left) with fellow officers (Gen. 2236/3/11)
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 achieve fame as Hugh MacDiarmid.
Grieve/MacDiarmid had initially opposed the war as a capitalist adventure running counter to the interests of the working classes. The death of school-friend John Bogue Nisbet at the Battle of Loos caused a change of heart, however, and he enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps in July 1915. Following training in England, he was posted as ‘Sergeant-Caterer of the Officer’s Mess’ to the 42nd General Hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece (then more widely known as Salonika), where an Allied expeditionary force had established a base for operations against pro-German Bulgaria. Arriving in summer 1916, MacDiarmid joined a Scottish contingent so great that wags nicknamed the city ‘Thistleonica’.
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....