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…
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December 5 – The Cyclopes
In Greek mythology the Cyclopes were giant one-eyed creatures. The brothers Brontes (thunder), Steropes (lightning) and Arges (thunderbolt) in Hesiod’s Theogony provide Zeus with the thunderbolt. The most well-known…
December 4 – The Hydra
The serpentine water monster from Greek and Roman mythology, the Hydra, has a dog-like body and multiple heads – ranging from seven to nine – one of which is said to be immortal. One of the twelve labours of Heracles…
December 3 – Sea Monsters
Unable to pick just one of the fantastic beasts shown in this woodcut illustration, we decided to share them all! This chart of sea serpents and monsters is from Münster’s Cosmographia universalis (the 1550 Basel…
‘Alhallow Evin’ in Scotland
The appearance of carved pumpkins (or turnips in Scotland), spooky decorations and plentiful sweet treats marks the arrival of Halloween. In the Christian calendar, Halloween, or its many variants Hallowe’en,…
Mackintosh and Glengarry – a Highland provenance adventure
Cataloguing is a relatively straightforward task- a book is examined, described, and any provenance is indicated and traced where possible. Usually, there are two trains of research: the facts of the book- its title,…
Special Collections Show and Tell; Scottish Crime Writing Visit
Recently, The Library’s Special Collections Division hosted a crime-themed Show and Tell for visitors attending The Smithsonian at St Andrews course Scottish Crime Writing: from Gothic Horror to Tartan Noir, a one-week…
Print History Conference Enlightened by Rare Book Exhibition
This year’s annual Universal Short Title Catalogue (USTC) conference brought scholars from all over the world to St Andrews. Over the course of the June conference, more than fifty print historians analysed the book…
James Nasmyth’s “Moon” images, 1874
Tomorrow (20 July) marks the 50th anniversary of the first humans landing on the Moon in 1969 as part of NASA’s Apollo 11 lunar mission. Human fascination with the moon and mapping the stars goes back millennia. The…
Lighting the Past Reflections- Part II
Kieran Cressy, October 2014-June 2017, reminisces about his time on Lighting the Past. I joined the Lighting the Past team on October 12th 2014 as a second year undergraduate studying Theology and Biblical Studies. I’m…