As we are in the midst of orientation week, I thought it would be appropriate for this week’s historical how-to to focus on one of the first official acts that each student will be undertaking in their academic career…
Sometimes you come across someone in the story of the University who just makes you stop and stare, whose erudition and achievements in enabling the work of others fills you with admiration and awe. Such a man is Sir…
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…
Recipes from Meg Dods’ Cook and Housewife’s Manual have featured in a couple of earlier posts in this series, but Burns Night (25 January) provides the perfect excuse to explore this remarkable book in a little more…
Many items which appear in our blogs are visually stunning. The focus of this blog, The Complete Servant, by Samuel and Sarah Adams, is certainly not this. Acquired by the Library between 1826 and 1864, it has a…
Today, the Scottish Poetry Library and the Writer’s Museum are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the completion of Gavin Douglas‘s The Eneados. Douglas, a Scottish prelate and poet, was born about 1474, third son of…
Over the past couple of years we’ve had themes for weekly blog posts throughout the year, beginning with the very popular 52 Weeks of Fantastic Bindings, and followed by 52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations. While we…
This week’s inspiring illustrations are selected from the beautifully crafted presentation addresses from institutions and learned bodies world-wide which were sent to the University of St Andrews in 1911 to…
Cataloguing work on the papers of Principal Sir James Irvine, donated by Irvine’s granddaughter, Julia Melvin, has revealed an interesting story surrounding Irvine’s cloak and dagger quest to become the next Principal…