Portland Building: from the archives
July 20, 2017
Staff from Manuscripts and Special Collections look back on the original opening of the Portland Building and the reactions recorded at the time in the University archive and printed collections. Whilst browsing through issues of The Gong (the University magazine, which was founded in 1895 and ran until the 1970s), we chanced upon these drawings …
Doctoring Derbyshire
July 14, 2017
Dr Edward Wrench is so far best recognised for two reasons, firstly, his travel exploits to Europe and America, and secondly, from the earlier University of Nottingham blog post ‘Doctors, Diaries and Descendants’ which concentrated on his time in the Crimea and Indian Mutiny [some of his letters from India are currently on display in …
Ken Loach, Ken Coates and the European Union
July 6, 2017
In researching his 2016 British Academy award winning film ‘I, Daniel Blake’, director Ken Loach visited the St Ann’s Advice Centre in Nottingham (a community organisation offering advice on welfare benefits, employment and debt). Back in October 1966, two tutors of the University of Nottingham’s Adult Education Department, Ken Coates and Bill Silburn, had conducted …
Veterinary Verse: The life and rhymes of Connie Ford
June 26, 2017
With a rich history of rebellion, Nottingham has spawned many world-class writers over the past few hundred years – from Byron to D.H. Lawrence and to Alan Sillitoe. However, the archives of Manuscripts and Special Collections hold the collection of one more rebel writer who can be added to Nottingham’s illustrious literary history: Connie Mae …
A Picture-Perfect Placement
June 2, 2017
Looking to get the most out of your university experience whilst learning invaluable employability skills and aiding the increasing accessibility of an expanding archive that has been around for nearly 90 years? I’m Amy Cooper, a third year English student that recently completed a placement at Manuscripts and Special Collections as a Digitisation Assistant. Here is …
The Bachelors’ Balls
May 25, 2017
If a single man in possession of a good fortune was in want of a wife in late nineteenth century Nottingham, he rectified the situation by joining a committee and paying to host a ball to meet eligible young ladies. This volume (MS 243: Minute book of the Bachelors’ Ball, Nottingham, 1908-1928) is the sole surviving …
Volunteering and all that jazz
April 20, 2017
The University Photographic Collection contains an enormous number of photographs taken by the University of Nottingham and its predecessor colleges over the past 120 years. We are gradually cataloguing them with the help of students like Sophie Pegum, who volunteered at Manuscripts & Special Collections as part of a placement from the Department of Music. …
Threads of Empire: Rule & Resistance in Colonial India
April 13, 2017
Seventy years after India gained independence, our latest exhibition reveals the acts of resistance that shaped the British Empire in India. From 13th April, the Weston Gallery, Nottingham Lakeside Arts will host an exhibition showcasing the history of tense negotiation, resistance and rebellion that lay behind the emergence of India as the ‘Jewel in the …
Launch of the iBook ‘Parchment, Paper & Pixels’
March 13, 2017
On 28 February Professor Jeremy Gregory, Pro-Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Arts, formally launched our first iBook ‘Parchment, Paper and Pixels: Highlights from Manuscripts and Special Collections at The University of Nottingham’. The iBook showcases some of the treasures held in Manuscripts and Special Collections, with a range of short articles illustrated with images, …
Bookish Bingo
March 2, 2017
Do you know your local literary heroes? Do you like prizes? As part of World Book Day, we’re running a competition for three people to win a library tote bag filled with a waterbottle, notebook, pencil, postcards, keyring and lolly. All you have to do is match eight local authors (1-8) to eight locations (A-H) …
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