Cambridge University Library Special Collections

Mesmerised!

Posted on 1 October 2018 by Liam Sims

Now largely forgotten, the practice of mesmerism (a form of hypnosis named after the German doctor Franz Mesmer) was highly influential in the late eighteenth […]

Anniversaries, Collectors and collecting, Exhibitions, Rare Books, Special Collections

On a Roll: A New Acquisition

Posted on 28 September 2018 by James Freeman

Cambridge University Library is delighted to announce the acquisition of a late 13th-century rental roll originally made for the Augustinian priory of Holy Trinity, Ipswich. […]

Acquisitions, Cambridge Digital Library, Digitisation, Manuscripts, Uncategorized

Material Evidence in Incunabula – guest post

Posted on 18 September 2018 by Special Collections

The following post has been written by Ester Peric, an intern in the Rare Books Department for the month of August updating MEI records (material […]

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

A miscellany of new acquisitions

Posted on 5 September 2018 by Liam Sims

Last July this blog featured a note about a collection of Quaker books, bequeathed to the Library in 2016 by David J. Hall (1947-2015), former […]

Collectors and collecting, Friends of Cambridge University Library, Rare Books, Recent acquisitions, Special Collections

Missionary journey to Uganda in 1900

Posted on 6 August 2018 by John C.

One of the Royal Commonwealth Society’s most atmospheric collections of artwork (RCMS 158) was created by Annie Emma Allen (1853-1942), who documented her journey to […]

Royal Commonwealth Society

Devotion Made Digital: Encoding CUL MS Ll.5.18

Posted on 27 July 2018 by Special Collections

Guest post by Katherine Dixon, a PhD student in the Faculty of English at Cambridge, on her experience of collaborating with the Cambridge Digital Library. […]

Cambridge Digital Library, Manuscripts

Paul Claudel and Audrey Parr

Posted on 23 July 2018 by John Wells

To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the poet and playwright Paul Claudel (1868–1955), a new exhibition in the Library’s Entrance Hall displays […]

Archives, Exhibitions, French, Manuscripts, Poetry, Special Collections

Horace Darwin’s Notebook

Posted on 13 July 2018 by Frank

This image is taken from a notebook kept by Horace Darwin to record his ideas for all manner of mechanical devices, including a self-adjusting spanner, […]

Manuscripts Image of the Month

Navigating to Boston

Posted on 11 July 2018 by William Hale

The Library’s exhibition “Tall Tales: Secrets of the Tower” highlights some of the books in our holdings that you might not necessarily expect to find […]

Astronomy, Rare Books, Recent acquisitions

Keeping Our Cool: Environmental Monitoring at the Library

Posted on 5 July 2018 by CUL Conservation

What do you consider lovely, comfortable weather? Maybe you’re picturing a clear day with temperatures in the mid-twenties, a nice cool breeze coming in, and […]

Collection Care, Conservation