The Morning After the Nay Before
September 19, 2014
For anyone who has somehow missed the extensive – and sometimes heated – campaign, this morning the results of the Scottish Independence Referendum were announced. The Union between Scotland and England has been in force since May 1707, after both the Scottish and English Parliaments had passed their own separate Acts ratifying the Treaty of Union. …
What’s in a name?
July 11, 2014
It was Zsa Zsa Gabor who said “I call everyone ‘darling’ because I can’t remember their names”. Perhaps she had never been introduced to people blessed (or cursed?) with creative, unique or downright strange names. Here, in chronological order, are fifteen genuine examples of people’s names taken from the manuscripts that we have come across: Original Steele, of …
Feeling under the weather? Try frog’s liver, peacock dung and just a dash of dead man’s skull
December 10, 2013
The above items all form part of a medical recipe contained in a 17th century volume belonging to the Duke of Newcastle. Many family and estate collections contain medical receipt books, in which recipes and instructions for the treatment of various maladies are carefully preserved for future generations. In an age before the widespread provision …
New leaflet about the Portland Collection
November 11, 2011
A new free leaflet is available to those who want more information about the University’s Portland Collection. This joins a series of guides produced in recent years to describe major collections or subject areas. The leaflet highlights some of the strengths of the Collection for political, diplomatic, literary and cultural history, and its relevance to local …
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