Vaccinations
January 27, 2021
Vaccines. They’ve been headline news for weeks, and earlier this month the Covid 19 Vaccination Centre at KMC opened its doors. Vaccination was explicitly legalised and made free of charge in the UK in 1840. At the time, smallpox, which had killed, disfigured and disabled people since antiquity, was the only disease that could be …
Year In Review
January 12, 2021
It might seem a little late to be doing a ‘year in review’ post, but as this year shows every sign of being a continuation of 2020, I think we can pause to look back over what Manuscripts and Special Collections did over the previous 12 months. Here’s a look at last year in numbers: …
A Tale of Scales and Slippers
December 17, 2020
Pantomime is as part of a British Christmas as mince pies, tinsel, and repeatedly losing the end of the sellotape when wrapping presents. Nottingham Playhouse‘s Christmas panto this year is Cinderella, and despite the novel presentation of On Demand performances and plans for socially-distanced theatre audiences, the storyline will remain comfortingly familiar. The panto plot …
Calendar Adventures
November 30, 2020
Sometimes the simplest of questions are the most difficult to answer. In archives, that question can often be ‘what date is this document?’. Georgian/Julian calendars, regnal years, and feast days are all recognizable dating systems for people who use historic documents regularly (even if we do have to double check how to convert them into …
The Art of Making Fireworks: a children’s guide
November 5, 2020
As we go into a second national lockdown and organised Bonfire Night displays across the country have been cancelled, I decided to have a look through the archives for any pretty images of fireworks or happy recollections of past celebrations. It was going to be light-hearted and cheerful post, but the collections here never fail …
Florence Nightingale Comes Home to Lakeside Arts
October 27, 2020
UPDATE: Following local government guidance in relation to Tier 3 restrictions for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, we regret we must close the Djanogly Gallery, Weston Gallery and the University of Nottingham Museum from Friday 30 October for a four-week period until Friday 27 November inclusive. Therefore we are currently not taking bookings for our exhibitions. For …
Gingerbread from Elenor Mundy’s Cookery Book
October 14, 2020
This is a guest post from Library Assistant Safiya Williams. We’re only a few days into the beginning of Autumn Term and already I am thinking of falling leaves, woollen knits and of course gingerbread. Traditionally flavoured with ginger, cloves, nutmeg or cinnamon – gingerbread is a perfect warming treat as the temperature drops. Upon …
The Missing Medieval Village of Keighton
September 28, 2020
Those of you familiar with University Park campus, especially the area just behind Lakeside between the Portland Building and the Science Park, will probably have seen Keighton Hill and Keighton Auditorium, even if you weren’t aware that they are named after the village that stood there 600 years ago. This image on the left is a …
Microscopy
September 11, 2020
Post by Ursula Ackrill, Special Collections Librarian. “It seemed to me,” said Swammer, coming close to Peregrine, “it seemed to me, my dear Mr. Tyss, as if a flea were on your collar.” Peregrine Tyss, the protagonist of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s humorous fantasy novel ‘Master Flea’ (1822), does keep the company of a friendly …
Reading Room Reopening!
September 7, 2020
After almost six months working from home (more about that here) Manuscripts & Special Collections is reopening the Reading Room! We have made changes to our Reading Room procedures to minimise the risk from coronavirus, so even if you’ve visited us before, please read this explaining what you can expect from your visit. New temporary …
Find, follow, join us
