Home University of Edinburgh Library Essentials
December 16, 2025
Written in blood
This letter means what it says – “This is written in the blood of William Burke, who was hanged at Edinburgh on 28th of January 1829”. The blood was “taken from his head” after execution. Burke and Hare went on their notorious killing spree in 1827-8 to provide bodies for the booming Anatomy classes in Edinburgh. After his death Burke was publicly dissected and his skeleton is one of the University’s museum highlights. With this latest discovery of a scrap book containing original documents from the trial and execution, we now know we have a little of Burke’s blood too.
Trial – ARAS: The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism
We have trial access to ARAS: The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism until the 31st December.
The ARAS archive contains about 17,000 photographic images, each cross-indexed, and accompanied by scholarly commentary. The commentary includes a description of the image with a cultural history that serves to place it in its unique historical and geographical setting. Often it also includes an archetypal commentary that brings the image into focus for its modern psychological and symbolic meaning, as well as a bibliography for related reading and a glossary of technical terms. This online resource will be of interest to students and staff of Edinburgh College of Art, and the Schools of History, Classics and Archaeology, and Literature, Languages and Culture.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this e-resource as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Trial – BiBLiFrE
We have trial access to BiBLiFrE database on the Brepolis platform until the 14th December. You will need to click “Enter database” to accept the terms and conditions of use before access is given to the database. Access is available on and off campus.
The Bibliothèque bibliographique des littératures francophones européennes (Bi.B.Li.Fr.E.) represents an electronic version of the printed collection « Bibliographie des écrivains français », a collection supervised by Claudio Galderisi and Enrico Rufi that already contains more than 30 volumes. The main objective of the Bi.B.Li.Fr.E. project is to provide all those who are interested in francophone literature and criticism with a research tool conceived and developed by specialists, yet that is also of use to doctoral students, other students and non-specialists encountering the “Republic of letters” for the first time.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this database as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Trial – In Principio
We have trial access to In Principio database on the Brepolis platform until the 14th December. You will need to click “Enter database” to accept the terms and conditions of use before access is given to the database. Access is available on and off campus.
Over one million incipits covering Latin literature from the Pre-classical Ages to the Renaissance. In Principio is distinguished by its wide-ranging, “generalist” character. Chronologically, it covers all Latin texts that have been transmitted in manuscript since the origins of Latin literature up to about 1600 when the manuscript is replaced by the printed text. In Principio thus covers ancient, patristic, medieval, and humanist Latin literature. In addition, all literary genres are included: the liberal arts and theology, history and poetry, medicine and liturgy, civil law and canon law, the exact and occult sciences, summas and sermons, glossaries and correspondence, cooking recipes and cursing formulas, large treatises and small, isolated sentences.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this database as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Instruments decanted
All of the instruments have now been safely decanted from St Cecilia’s Hall. Under Jonathan and Darryl’s watchful gaze, the men from Constantine worked carefully and finished ahead of schedule.
Most of the keyboard instruments are now safely in store and we are grateful to colleagues in Special Collections for sharing their space with us. A couple of the smaller instruments will be slotted in at the Reid Concert Hall Museum so that our keyboards are not completely out of sight during redevelopment. Many thanks to all for making this stage of the process go smoothly.
The Euphonicon was perhaps the hardest instrument to get out as it is both tall and extremely heavy.
Opportunity Knocks…
We have been very pleased to welcome some new faces to the conservation studio over the past month – we now have two new conservation volunteers, Olivia and Collette, and our CRC Graduate Trainee, Alice, who have been spending one-day a week with us in conservation. They have all been doing a fantastic job with their current project of surface cleaning and re-housing a series of Library Correspondence, dating from the 1930-40s, from the University’s Archive Collection. You will be able to read more about their work and their own perspective on their time in the studio in an upcoming blog post.
Our volunteer, Olivia, busy surface cleaning and rehousing the University’s Library Correspondence.
We are excited to be able to add further to this bustle of activity – we are now advertising a 10-week conservation internship at the Centre for Research Collections. This is an exciting opportunity for a newly qualified, or soon-to-be qualified, paper conservator to further their experience in their chosen field, as well as gain wider experience of working in the Special Collections and higher education sectors.
The successful intern with have the opportunity to work on the University of Edinburgh’s Thomson-Walker Collection; a collection of some 2500 prints bequeathed to the University by Sir John William Thomson-Walker (1871-1937), an eminent surgeon and print collector. This internship will see the prestigious print collection assessed for its conservation and storage requirements, with the first phase of appropriate treatment undertaken.
This is a particularly exciting time for us in the studio, not only to have an important collection receive conservation attention, but to also to have the chance to pass on valuable experience and skills to those who are just beginning their conservation careers.
To read more about the conservation internship, please visit: http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.154060!/fileManager/Thomson-Walker%20Internship%20Advert.pdf
If you wish to apply, please get your applications sent in by 28th November!
Post by Emma Davey, Conservation Officer
Trial – Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics Online
We have trial access to the Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics Online until the 11th December.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics (EAGLL) is a unique work that brings together the latest research from across a range of disciplines which contribute to our knowledge of Ancient Greek. It is an indispensable research tool for scholars and students of Greek, of linguistics, and of other Indo-European languages, as well as of Biblical literature.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this e-resource as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Trial – IMD World Competitiveness Online
We have trial access to IMD World Competitiveness Online until the 13th December.
World Competitiveness Online is a unique and comprehensive database on the competitiveness of nations. It includes an 19-year time series from the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, the leading annual report published by IMD since 1989.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this database as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
Loeb Classical Library Online – new e-book collection
Following a very successful trial we have now subscribed to the Loeb Classical Library.
The Digital Loeb Classical Library contains more than 520 volumes of Latin, Greek and English texts aiming to be a virtual library of all that is important in Greek and Latin Literature, epic and lyric poetry, history, travel, philosophy and oratory, medical writers and mathematicians, and the Church Fathers who make particular use of pagan culture. Readers can browse, search, bookmark, annotate and use a Greek keyboard.
Access is available from our E-books A-Z lists as well as from several of our subject A-Z lists. Individual records for each of the e-books will be made available in the new year once the publisher makes available catalogue records.
Trial – Cambridge Law Reports
We have trial access to Cambridge Law Reports until the 12th January.
Cambridge Law Reports offers fast and easy access to key reports, including the content of the leading International Law Reports series. The database provides users with extensive search options and a unique browse feature to quickly find required content using variables such as keyword, the parties involved, judge’s name, court or year of case.
Feedback and further info
We are interested to know what you think of this e-resource as your comments influence purchase decisions so please do fill out our feedback form.
A list of all trials currently available to University of Edinburgh staff and students can be found on our trials webpage.
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....