The Lighting the Past team share their highlights from the ‘M’ section of the Copyright Deposit Collection. You can see the previous posts in the series here. While cataloguing the ‘M’ classmark (music) of the…
Ro Spankie, Principal Lecturer, School of Architecture and the Built Environment, University of Westminster, shares with us her recent search to find out about her ancestor Thomas Spankie and his time as a student at…
Once again external funding for a cataloguing project (the Henderson Bequest) has thrown into the light another hidden gem in the Special Collections of the Library of the University of St Andrews. The item under…
As we approach the fevered climax of the Scottish independence referendum, we thought it would be interesting to compare this situation with the debate surrounding the mirror-image of this referendum, when the Articles…
There is a scene early in Mansfield Park (1814) where Maria and Julia Bertram, then aged thirteen and twelve, deplore the ignorance of their slightly younger cousin Fanny Price. She cannot list the principal rivers in…
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…
We bought this recipe book at auction recently, and it arrived with no provenance information. However, from the names and places mentioned, I have worked out that it belonged to Mrs Elizabeth Edwards, wife of George…
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…
We have always referred to this manuscript (St Andrews ms32(o)) as the ‘book of wonders’ and indeed wondered what it was all about as it is lavishly and confusingly illustrated, packed with mysterious monsters and…
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…