MS Hunter 223 is a 14th-century parchment manuscript copy of Ranulf Higden’s Polychronicon, a medieval chronicle of history and theology. Whilst little direct evidence remains in this copy to allow us to know exactly what the structure of the manuscript’s… Read More ›
conservation
Conserving Gaelic Manuscripts for Digitisation
A significant 18th century collection of Gaelic song is held in the University of Glasgow Library. The Rev. James McLagan (1728–1805) amassed over 600 works, many of which he transcribed from contemporary oral tradition. McLagan is the focus of a… Read More ›
Through the Conservation Keyhole: MS Gen 1483 Boyd Charters Preservation
Published on behalf of Kerry Yates. In my last blog post I was talking about digitizing early 20th century photographs from the Erskine Collection. Today I have a few images from a recent project, rehousing documents from the 16th and… Read More ›
Through conservation keyhole: engage with early photography!
The Season of Photography brings together many of the exhibitions and events taking place throughout Scotland. The season offers the opportunity for everyone to engage with photography. From the moment of its birth, photography had a dual character – as a… Read More ›
Through the Conservation Keyhole: Conservation of the Adam Smith Collection
In my last post, I talked about the planning work that was completed at the outset of the Adam Smith conservation project with regards to surveying the collection and identifying conservation efforts that needed to be undertaken. By the end… Read More ›
Learning to read with Mrs Barbauld
Who can remember learning to read? Some of us may have memories of Kitty and Rover or Janet and John – but what was the first book specifically designed as a child’s reader? If you were growing up in the… Read More ›
Through the Conservation Keyhole: Book terminology used in Conservation documentation
We recently welcomed 2nd year students from the Centre for Textile Conservation to look at a variety of mixed material volumes from the Special Collections to learn more about the form and function of books and their binding. There is… Read More ›
Through the conservation keyhole: Taking a look at disaster preparedness
At our recent Friday morning training session Special Collections and Archive Services staff focused on the lessons that can be learned in disaster awareness and prevention from our colleagues in similar institutions. With two major heritage collections having suffered horrendous fires… Read More ›
Through the Conservation Keyhole: Conservation of Syphilis Collection
Resewing and Spine Lining In conservation we are in a privileged position, we spend time at the bench having a uniquely close view of the bindings and are often closing up interesting exposed areas of the book in our aim… Read More ›
Currently on exhibition at the Hunterian Museum.
Earlier this year I was asked to write a caption to accompany an item from the Library of William Hunter, to be temporarily displayed as part of the Hunterian Museums permanent exhibition: William Hunter: Man, Medic and Collector. Hunter’s Library… Read More ›