Here’s Hobson’s entry for 31st July: Sunday. Captain, William and others came on board. at work all morning on the anchors, also wrote home. sweeping a little and reading the rest of afternoon, lying at anchor blowing…
Today we are starting a new feature, a daily diary entry from the journal of 16 year old Richard Peele Hobson aboard the ship Philanthropist, as it sailed from Liverpool with a cargo of coal for Rio de Janeiro, and…
Corbet Stacey Catty and Caroline Gray were married at Carry’s home, 2 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh, on 4th June 1856. Later that day they said farewell to their family and friends after the wedding breakfast at Corbet’s…
This week’s historical how-to takes a look at early vegetarian cooking. Although not a vegetarian myself, inspired by Vegetarian Week which has just passed, I thought I would delve into our collections for some veggie…
This week we are shopping with the Anstruthers of Balcaskie, a family who have been in Fife since the 12th century, their seat being the mansion house of Balcaskie near Pittenweem. As local land owners they have been…
When I told my flock of hens they were going to take part in a Historical How-To and be fed an early 19th c poultry diet for a week, they were delighted. No more layers pellets they thought at once, mmmm. They are…
In the summer of 2013, the University Library set out to capture the reactions of academic and library staff when encountering their favourite items from the Special Collections Division. For this project, authors for…
For this week’s historical how-to, we’re taking a look at David Browne’s The new invention, intituled, calligraphia: or, The arte of faire writing. Printed right here in St Andrews in 1622, it instructs the reader in…
When the idea for the 52 weeks of Historical How-To’s came to light I thought it made sense to explore the subject of ink. From manuscripts to books, and even photography, ink is present extensively throughout the…
My research on life in medieval and early modern St Andrews has given me the opportunity to work at the new Special Collections Reading Room in Martyrs’ Kirk. To the right when one enters the building is the beautiful…