On the 15th of May, Hermine Lefebvre, USTC/ENSSIB intern for 2014, completed a wonderful cataloguing project which has seen all of St Andrews’ 17th century editions of Athanasius Kircher added to the online catalogue.…
In November 2011 a post on this blog highlighted Theodor de Bry’s Grand Voyages. This is a hefty and multi-faceted tome, and, as a reprographic technician, I was encouraged to peruse it and capture any image that stood…
I’ve been doing some work in the stacks lately with our interns and have been focusing some attention on our 17th century reserve collections (around 5,ooo volumes) which remain largely uncatalogued. This collection is…
This final rare book entry for our Inspiring Illustrations thread has inspired generations of artists, merchants, craftsmen and businessmen. We have chosen the 11 volumes of plates which accompany Denis Diderot & Jean…
Since my return to this country, in January 1773, I have continued with aſſiduity my obſervations upon Mount Veſuvius, and the many ancient Volcanick productions in this Neighborhood. This week’s Inspiring…
This week’s selection for the ‘Inspiring Illustrations’ thread speaks for itself and needs very little introduction. We have selected the 1650 printing of Athanasius Kircher’s Musurgia Universalis, printed in two…
”He saw the city like an Istanbullu but painted it like a cleareyed Westerner.” -Orhan Pamuk, Memories of the City (2005) This week’s illustration post is certainly the largest item to be featured on this blog series,…
This week’s inspiring illustrations post is about a photo-mechanical process which I’ve always found to be one of the most evocative ways or reproducing photographs using the permanence of ink: the photogravure. These…
To celebrate the first meeting of the Lectura Dantis Andreapolitana (the St Andrews Lectura Dantis) of this academic year, I spent a bit of time in the stacks finding some great illustrations of Dante’s most famous…
This week’s illustration post is a wonderful blend of the earlier photographic and the highly skilled engraving arts of the 19th century. The beautiful engravings on display here are the result of the labour of…