Saving the Soviet War Posters
April 22, 2013
I have recently finished working to conserve eight Russian posters; these plus many more posters can now be seen on our Windows on War online resource. The TASS posters were created during the difficult war years between 1943-45, although production ran from 1941 to 1946. They are known as TASS posters because they were produced …
Windows on War – guest blog by Laura Todd
April 12, 2013
Among the archives of Manuscripts and Special Collections, is the University’s rare collection of Soviet war propaganda posters, dating from 1943-1945. The collection was a gift from one of the University’s Professors of English, Vivian de Sola Pinto (1895-1969). The collection of posters is the largest in the UK and covers an array of different …
Nottingham’s New Chancellor
March 12, 2013
Today Sir Andrew Witty will be installed as only the 7th Chancellor since The University of Nottingham received its Royal Charter in 1948. Here, we look back at the ceremony installing the University’s very first Chancellor. The role of Chancellor has changed considerably over the last 65 years, becoming less ceremonial and more ambassadorial as universities …
Building the Medical School
March 4, 2013
It has been thirty-five years since the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited Nottingham to open the new university hospital and medical school, named the Queen’s Medical Centre. The visit, which took place on 28th July 1977, was the culmination of years of planning and building work on the new complex. Nottingham had been campaigning …
China’s Photograph Fever
February 21, 2013
In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in exploring China’s history. During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, the Red Army obliterated much of the country’s heritage, including photographs. Keeping archives was a subversive act; it became dangerous even for people to be caught with their own family albums. Huge quantities of …
“No Turtle is an Island”
February 7, 2013
One of the benefits of working in Special Collections is serendipitously finding an intriguing, amusing or surprising book amongst the 50,000 volumes held here. Whilst answering an enquiry recently, a member of staff came across this quirky poem by Melvin Plotinsky. ‘Requiem for a Turtle’ memorialises a turtle (tortoise), killed crossing a road in May …
Children’s Stories from Special Collections
January 30, 2013
To mark The Society of Storytelling’s annual National Storytelling Week from the 26th January, we’re highlighting some of the wonderful children’s stories held in our collections. It may seem strange for a University to have books of fairy tales, but one of our major holdings is the Briggs Collection of children’s educational games and literature from …
Water! is turned on
January 28, 2013
Water is an essential part of our everyday life, but most of us take the ability to turn on taps and flush away waste for granted. Water also has the power to destroy, which we were reminded of recently when floods caused damage and disruption to our local communities. A new exhibition, Water!, opened at …
Christmas in the Collections
December 13, 2012
What image symbolises Christmas to you? Do you think of choirs of angels round a manger, or Father Christmas leaving presents under a tree decorated with baubles? Perhaps you take inspiration from the natural world and would choose a robin or mistletoe. References to Christmas are scattered throughout the collections at Manuscripts and Special Collections. This beautiful image …
Wollaton’s Virtual Antiphonal on display
November 21, 2012
Ticket holders to a special ‘Tombs and Tunes’ event at St Leonard’s Church, Wollaton on Monday, 26th November will discover more of the history of this Nottinghamshire parish church and will have an opportunity to hear about the 15th century Wollaton Antiphonal, which is on display in virtual form in the church. Dating from about …
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