Cambridge University Library Special Collections

Work experience in the archives

Posted on 29 July 2022 by Sally Kent

A guest post by Lucy Graham. For the last three weeks, I have been lucky enough to explore daily life behind the scenes in the […]

Archives, Cambridge University Archives, Special Collections, University courts records

Printing, Paper, and Provenance Projects in the Post-Medieval Genizah Collection

Posted on 19 July 2022 by Special Collections

Guest post by Dr Nick Posegay. One of the special collections here at the CUL is the Taylor-Schechter Cairo Genizah Collection. It contains over 190,000 […]

Cambridge Digital Library, Fragments, Hebrew, Manuscripts, Near and Middle Eastern, Special Collections, Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection

Grace Chisholm Young (1868-1944), Girton mathematician

Posted on 19 July 2022 by Liam Sims

In the Rare Books Department we receive many catalogues from booksellers and auctioneers, offering materials which might be added to our shelves. One such catalogue […]

Science, Special Collections

Book sales catalogues now listed

Posted on 7 June 2022 by Liam Sims

In the course of our work as curators we receive hundreds of booksellers’ and auctioneers’ catalogues every year, many now in digital form, but plenty […]

Collectors and collecting, Library history, Rare Books, Special Collections

The Polonsky Foundation Greek Manuscripts Project: A final farewell from the Conservation Team

Posted on 19 May 2022 by CUL Conservation

Conservation work on the Polonsky Foundation Greek Manuscripts Project was completed way back in 2021 but our conservators have recently taken the time to reflect […]

Collection Care, Conservation, Digitisation, Greek, Manuscripts, Medieval manuscripts, Polonsky Greek, Special Collections

Blackout: war time school life

Posted on 7 May 2022 by Agnieszka Drabek-Prime

On 25th August 1939, the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein, under the pretext of making a courtesy visit, sailed into the Port of Gdansk, anchoring 150m from […]

Collectors and collecting, Rare Books, Recent acquisitions, Special Collections, World War Two

Secrets of the Abbey: History Returns

Posted on 5 May 2022 by Suzanne Paul

Big celebrations are taking place this year in the town of Bury St Edmunds, marking the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of its Benedictine abbey. […]

Anniversaries, Cambridge Digital Library, Exhibitions, Manuscripts, Medieval manuscripts, Pembroke College, Special Collections

Conservation for a Legendary Exhibition

Posted on 20 April 2022 by CUL Conservation

Cambridge University Library is home to one of the pre-eminent collections of Japanese material outside of Japan, including one of the first Japanese books ever to reach British shores. In […]

Conservation, Exhibitions, Japanese, Manuscripts, Rare Books, Special Collections

Unpublished manuscripts of Kenyan journalist Henry Muoria

Posted on 1 April 2022 by John C.

The Royal Commonwealth Society Collection is thrilled to report that it has been donated the unpublished manuscripts of the important Kenyan journalist and writer Henry […]

Manuscripts, Recent acquisitions, Royal Commonwealth Society