Posts by C Fawcett
Pills and potions in the archives
February 24, 2012
How did our ancestors cope with ill-health, before the days of ready-prepared packets from the local shop? In working with the archives and early publications in the University’s collections, I’ve been taken by the number and variety of herbal remedies that sit alongside culinary recipes in early household books. The ingredients are sometimes exotic and …
In The Bleak Midwinter
February 8, 2012
As the nation shivers in the snow and freezing temperatures, we look back at records from the University’s own weather station that suggest that we shouldn’t complain too much about this season’s sudden cold snap. In the winter of 1962-1963, Britain was subjected to incomparably harsh weather conditions. The newly established weather station at the University …
“Mothers and Midwives” goes live!
January 19, 2012
If you’re enjoying the current BBC drama series “Call the Midwife” you can now get a Nottingham perspective on the subject by visiting a new exhibition in the Weston Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre. Mothers and Midwives: A History of Maternity in the East Midlands opened on Friday 13 January. Its main object is to explore the …
A clove of gillyflower at Christmas
December 20, 2011
A curious reference to Christmas Day (natale Domini) appears in this medieval deed, which records a land transaction made about 730 years ago. The parties agree to an annual rent charge of a clove of gillyflower ‘unum clavum Gariofilum’ payable at Christmas. A gillyflower is a carnation with the clove being the dried flower buds, …
Book illustrations in Briggs and Porter Collections
November 30, 2011
Recent increasing use of our rare book collections has highlighted their potential for the study of book illustration. The collections offer a wide variety of illustration, from early woodcuts and engravings, to chromo-lithographs and photographs. Illustrative material is not always identified in catalogue entries, but two collections, the Briggs Collection of Children’s Educational Literature, and the Porter Collection of …
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