December 20 – Drolleries
Last week we featured a small dragon which comes from our 15th century Rouen Book of Hours (ms38938). This devotional text includes 13 large full-page illuminated miniatures. The margins of these miniatures include…
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December 15 – Blemmye
Though perhaps not strictly a fantastic beast, we had to include the unusual blemmye in this calendar. The blemmye or mythical headless man has been known by various names and is said to inhabit the remotest parts of…
December 13 – Dragons in manuscripts
From our wonderful manuscripts, we have four depictions of dragons to share with you. A dragon in our 17th-18th century manuscript copy of “The Book of Wonders of the Age” (ms32(o)). The dragon in our 1605 copy of…
December 10 – Griffin
The griffin, griffen or gryphon has the body, legs and tail of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. As the lion is the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of the birds, griffins were considered powerful…
December 6 – Merfolk
Mermaids and mermen are mythological sea creatures, usually with bodies that are half human and half fish. Often sighted by sailors, the mythology of mermaids is common to many cultures. The most famous story is…
D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson and his mathematical friendships
Following on from last year’s project with Alice and Indre, interns from the School of Mathematics, this year we had two more interns working with us, again under the supervision of Dr Isobel Falconer, Reader in the…
December 2 – The Unicorn
As the first University in Scotland, we thought it would be fitting to start the St Andrews Library’s Special Collections advent calendar with the most quintessentially Scottish of fantastic beasts – the unicorn. With…
‘The teaching of politics at the University of St Andrews, 1600-1650’
In the final report by our 2019 visiting scholars, Karie Schultz reflects on her time at St Andrews. Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to spend two weeks at the University of St Andrews Library’s Special…
Letters from a Jewish patient in the ‘German house’ in Agra in 1930s Switzerland
Ines Neffgen from Bonn spent last year in St Andrews as part of her PhD programme, working with Professor Frank Müller. She asked to volunteer in Special Collections whilst in St Andrews as she would like a career as…
“There dwells some wish in every heart”: the friendship between James David Forbes and Sir George Biddell Airy
One of our 2019 Visiting Scholars, Daniel Belteki of the University of Kent, shares with us some of his research into James David Forbes and his astronomical connections. James David Forbes, Principal of the United…