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2024 Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize Winners announced!
By Erika Delbecque, on 26 June 2024
We are delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize, which was set up to encourage student book collectors at any London university. We received around twenty submissions representing a total of seven institutions, with collection themes ranging from military manuals from the Edwardian period to 20th-century lesbian literature and mountain and polar travel books
Results
Howard Kordansky won the first prize for his collection of books, pamphlets and ephemera relating to the Jewish experience in the First World War. The collection includes field prayer books, military passes, paybooks and field bibles. Many of the items are inscribed by or to the soldiers that owned them, and through painstaking research Howard has been able to identify several of these former owners und unearth some of their stories. This promising collection provides a fascinating insight into an under-documented aspect of 20th-century European history. Howard is studying for a BA Classics degree at UCL.
This year’s runner-up candidate is Anna Howard, who is studying for an MFA in Fine Art at the Slade School. Her collection, entitled “Self-Published: Artist Books and Bootlegging”, centres on DIY
culture and self-publishing. The books have all been self-published and in many cases made by hand, and they explore and subvert the nature of the book. The collection includes publications that Anna has sourced AT independent book fairs and from friends within the artists’ networks that she is part of, as well as some of her own work.
The other finalists were:
- Moog, Christine – She made her Mark: Women Working in the Print Trade
- Prater, Katherine – Teaching and Learning with Visual Materials
- Turnbull, Benjamin – A Window to the Edwardian Military World
Oscar Wilde’s Library at UCL
By Sarah S Pipkin, on 13 June 2024
On April 24th, 1895, the contents of Oscar Wilde’s house at No 16 Tite Street were auctioned off to pay his debt to the Marquess of Queensberry. Included in the sale was Wilde’s library of over 2000 books, alongside drafts, letters, paintings, furniture and his children’s toys. Wilde did not use a personalized bookplate or write his name in all his books, and the auction only provided an incomplete record of his library collection.
Of Wilde’s library, only about 40 books have been identified. This list is slowly increasing – including the addition of at least two books that are in UCL’s collection. These books were previously unknown to researchers, and while they’ve long been listed in the catalogue as being connected to Wilde, their provenance was not fully researched.
Within Wilde’s collection were several presentation copies – or copies of books given as a gift from the author alongside a personalized inscription from the author to the recipient. One such book at UCL is The Golden Lotus by Edward Greey.
Title page of The Golden Lotus, shelfmark FLS C73 GRE
Edward Greey published several works on Japanese history and mythology. The Golden Lotus includes his retelling of several Japanese folklore stories. Today, it is part of the Folklore Society collection, currently on deposit to UCL.
The title page includes a large inscription from the author to Oscar Wilde. A new year’s greeting is written in Japanese characters, romanised Japanese, and English. Oscar Wilde was known to be interested in Japanese art and literature, so it is not surprising to find a collection of Japanese folklore on his shelves. This volume is also listed in the Tite Street auction catalogue, making it very likely that this book sat on Wilde’s shelves until 1895.
Courtesy of the Master and Fellows of University College Oxford: Ross d.216 p.9 cropped.
At the top of the inscription is a note by a second hand: “Bought 27/4/95 from F. Edwards, 83 High St, Marylebone (From sale of Oscar Wilde’s library under Sheriff’s order 23/4/95 by Brooks at Duke St))”.
Also in our collection is the English edition of Salome. This edition includes a printed dedication to Lord Alfred Douglass, Wilde’s lover and son of the Marquis of Queensberry.
Illustration by Aubrey Beardsley from Salome, shelfmark ENGLISH RARE Q 120
While our copy contains no ownership notes from Wilde, it includes the same note added to The Golden Lotus. It also includes a donation ex-libris plate noting that the donor was F.M.C. Johnson, a librarian for both UCL and the Folklore Society. Because The Golden Lotus has a clear history connecting it back to Wilde’s library, it is likely that our copy of Salome also came from Wilde’s library. The Title Street auction lists at least two copies of Salome, though there is not enough information to absolutely confirm that the copies listed in the auction catalogue include UCL’s copy.
Inscription from Salome, shelfmark ENGLISH RARE Q 120
UCL is also home to a third book owned by Wilde. Sex. Aurelii Propertii carmina : The elegies of Propertius with English notes include an inscription from Wilde dated March 1874. This book dates to Wilde’s time as an undergraduate studying classics at Trinity College Dublin. While there is no evidence connecting it back to the Tite Street sale, this was at least part of Wilde’s student book collection.
Wilde’s inscription in Sex. Aurelii Propertii carmina. Shelfmark STRONG ROOM OGDEN 108
It is heavily annotated throughout, with almost every single page having some degree of notes and underlining. Most of the notes are clearly in Wilde’s own hand, though there are several notes by a different person.
Annotations by Wilde and an unknown former owner. Shelfmark STRONG ROOM OGDEN 108
We are pleased that we can add to the growing list of known books from Wilde’s library. Rebuilding Wilde’s library allows us to better understand the works that influenced his own writing and his relationships with other authors. It is also a reminder of how easily history can be lost. Over a couple of days, Wilde’s entire life was dismantled, sold and spread across the world. Who knows how many of Wilde’s other books sit in libraries and private collections across the world, unrecognized because Wilde never wrote his name in them?
While we keep an eye out for further traces of Wilde’s library in our collection, there are several other libraries that have identified Wilde’s books in their collection:
- The National Library of the Netherlands.
- Ransom Center, University of Texas.
- Mark Samuels Lasner Collection at the University of Delaware.
One of five surviving copies of the Tite Street Auction Catalogue is held by University College Oxford.
Our collections are open to the public, and you are welcome to make an appointment in our reading room to see Wilde’s books and other items in our collections.
Thanks to Elizabeth Adams, Mark Samuels Lasner, Thomas Wright and Iain Ross for their help and insights in investigating the provenance of these items!
Student Reflections – IOE’s BA Education Studies
By Vicky A Price, on 21 May 2024
The Outreach team in UCL Special Collections recently hosted two students from the IOE BA Education Studies course. Tasked with creating a pitch for a new after school club, Jiayi and Yunrui spent time getting to know the collections, learning about the Outreach programme and devising an original idea to present to staff at the end of their placement. It was a pleasure to host them, and we hope to implement their project ideas in the next academic year. This blog is written by Jiayi and Yunrui, and shares some of their reflections and learning at the end of their time with us.
Ella Zhang
After completing our Education Placement at UCL Special Collections, Yunrui and I are thrilled to reflect on the enriching experiences we had during our time here.
Throughout the placement, we developed a general understanding of UCL Special Collections. We had the privilege of engaging with key staff members, embarking on tours to Special Collection places on UCL Bloomsbury Campus. We were also introduced to key collection items and delved into stories behind them. Under the guidance of Daniel Dickins, we honed our skills in online collection search, catalogue navigation, and item viewing, equipping ourselves with invaluable tools for future studies.
We were introduced to the Outreach Programme in Special Collections under the supervision of Vicky Price, and the standout highlight in the placement for me was our participation in the after-school club Illustrate!, a part of the Outreach Programme at Special Collections. I visited Stratford School Academy, where I saw pupils enjoying perspective drawing in the workshop. Yunrui and I then visited UCL East with an authentic opportunity to observe collection items with pupils from Stratford School Academy. This firsthand experience in the after-school club, witnessing how children immersed themselves in the exploration of collection items, made me reflect on the learning process. As an education student, I was then led to the philosophical debate of the relationship between learning and fun – are the two elements separate or could they be mutual–facilitating? To me, real learning experiences are so closely intertwined with ‘fun’. The after-school club facilitated by Special Collections managed to achieve this – Illustrate! provides pupils with a well-balanced educational experience as it supports pupils’ learning with collection items while stimulating the intrinsic curiosity of pupils.
Inspired by our experiences, Yunrui and I seized the opportunity to design our own after-school club – Poetry Lab. Motivated by our fascination with the poetry store, we envisioned a space where Key Stage 3 pupils could discover poetry beyond its stereotypical image. This was inspired by Liz Lawes, when we were introduced to the small press collections. Through sessions focused on concrete, visual, object, and sound poetry, we wanted to encourage pupils to understand poetry as a way of creative expression. We also designed creative activities in each session. These activities would allow kids to construct different forms of poetry by themselves, aiming to help them develop a deeper appreciation of poetry and language. This experience gave us a real taste of programme development including collection use and resource preparation.
To sum up, Yunrui and I have both really enjoyed this placement in the lovely working environment in Special Collections. Our collaboration has been particularly rewarding, with our shared enthusiasm and teamwork spirit. Throughout our placement, we had the pleasure of meeting great people and developing new skills. We sincerely hope there will be future opportunities for us to work with Special Collections again!
The front cover of UCL Special Collections’ edition of Heinz Gappmayr – 5 Papierskulpturen (1962).
The sculptures assembled.
Yunrui Zhang
This term, as a part of Education Placement Module, my course mate Ella and I have been assigned to have a 50-hour placement with UCL Special Collections and worked with the outreach team on the after-school workshop. The placement started at late January and mostly finished at late March. Before this placement, I knew nothing about UCL Special Collections. Through this placement, I gained some relevant knowledge. This includes what archives, rare books and manuscripts are, how to quickly search items in Special Collection’s catalogue and how to use these items in after-school workshops in the Outreach programme.
Our final task was to design an after-school workshop for the outreach programme, using collection items from UCL Special Collections. This required us to have clear knowledge and become relatively familiar with some of the collections. Initially, I thought it would be quite challenging to familiarise ourselves with the collections and develop a suitable workshop topic within the 50-hour placement. However, the supportive environment at UCL Special Collections and the guidance we received, including weekly explorations of different collections, have made the process more manageable. One particularly memorable experience was our visit to the poetry store with Liz Lawes. We were fascinated by the diverse ways in which poetry can be presented. With Liz’s guidance, we deepened our understanding of different forms of poetry and ultimately decided on the topic of our after-school workshop: “the poetry lab”.
Beyond visiting and exploring various collections, we also had the opportunity to observe after-school workshops in person. These experiences taught us a lot about the ideal format for such workshops. Unlike traditional school classes, after-school workshops should integrate fun and interactive activities into the learning process to ensure an enjoyable experience.
These insights have also inspired the design of our own after-school workshop. We’ve structured it into 5 sessions, each focusing on a different form of poetry. This allows students to learn and understand the different forms of poetic expression during the workshop. We have designed different activities for each session to encourage active participation and deeper understanding. For example, one of our sessions is focusing on object poetry. The activity we designed for this session involves students making their own object poetry and sharing their thinking with the class. This hands-on approach can facilitate their understanding on how object works as a metaphor to help people better visualize and understand the poem.
In fact, my learning journey has already begun when I started learning about the Outreach programme. Over the two months of the placement, as I gradually deepened my understanding of the Outreach programme, I gained some new insights about the role of universities in society. I realized that universities could have profound impact beyond their traditional academic roles to foster a more interconnected and supportive society. UCL Special Collections can be a good example that extends the university’s reach beyond its immediate academic community by providing assistance and resources to schools and individuals, actively contributing to broader societal well-being.
Throughout the whole placement, I also learned a lot from my course mate Ella, including her outstanding communication skills and her ability to learn new things. It was a great pleasure to work with her on our after-school workshop proposal. At the same time, I am also very grateful to Vicky Price and Daniel Dickins and everyone else in UCL Special Collections for their help and support during the placement. This experience will be a treasure for my future, and I am very lucky to be able to spend these two months with UCL Special Collections.
Moschatel Press’ Pastoral Fragments, held at UCL Special Collections.
New Exhibition: ‘I Planted a Seed’: Childhood, nature and creativity
By Sarah S Pipkin, on 14 May 2024
UCL Library Service’s annual exhibition for 2024, “‘I Planted a Seed’: Childhood, nature, and creativity”, has recently opened in the Main Library!
This exhibition explores how children’s imaginations are inspired by nature in their storytelling, exploration and creative world. The exhibition starts with the classroom and how nature supports creative learning in children. It then moves on to examine children’s own creative output and how nature is reflected in music, dance, play and textiles.
On display are items from the IOE Archives and the Folklore Society collection, as well as material from outside of Special Collections including the IOE Rare Books collection and the IOE Curriculum Resources collection.
A collage sheep, one of the items on display in the 2024 exhibition
‘I Planted a Seed’ is located in the Main Library Stairwell and 1st floor. It is free and open to the public. External visitors can book a ticket on the exhibition webpage. You can also access the exhibition catalogue and digitized collection items online.
Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize: Interview with Emma Treleaven (2023 winner)
By Sarah S Pipkin, on 19 April 2024
Emma Treleaven, PhD candidate at the London College of Fashion, won the Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize in 2023 with her collection My Own Two Hands: Books and Ephemera About Making Dress and Textiles Before 1975. She also won the Antequarian Booksellers Association’s National Book Collecting Prize in 2023 with the same collection. She spoke to Special Collections about her experience book collecting and applying for the prize.
Emma Treleaven, 2023 Anthony Davis Student Book Collecting Prize winner
Tell us a bit about yourself and your collection!
How did your collection begin? Has it changed over time?
What was your process for discovering and choosing the theme and what to add to your collection?
A portion of Emma’s collection
Did anything surprise you in the process of collecting?
What made you want to apply for the book collecting prize?
Did you encounter any challenges during your application process? How did you overcome them?
Emma’s collection on display at a 2023 Rare Books Club session
What was your favourite part of the application process?
What advice would you give someone hoping to get into book collecting?
Thank you to Emma for talking about her experiences applying to the Anthony Davis Student Book Collecting Prize! You can read more about her collection at:
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Winners of the 2023 Anthony Davis Student Book Collecting Prize.
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The ABA National Book Collecting Prize 2023 Winner: Emma Treleaven.
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My Own Two Hands: An Interview with Emma Treleaven.
There’s still time to apply for the Anthony Davis Student Book Collecting Prize yourself! Visit the prize webpage to read about the application processes. Applications are open to any student enrolled at a London-based university.
Special Collections content in new online collection: Pandemics, Society and Public Health 1517-1925
By Joanna C Baines, on 11 April 2024
Posted on behalf of Caroline Kimbell, Head of Commercial Digitisation:
In the aftermath of the Covid 19 pandemic, UCL has contributed around 12,000 images of rare books and original documents from our Special Collections to a prestigious new online teaching resource from British Online Archives: Pandemics, Society and Public Health 1517-1925 launched this month (April 2024).
UCL content from 6 named Special Collections, the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies (SSEES), rare books from Stores, and the archive of Edwin Chadwick forms around a quarter of the new resource, alongside records from the National Archives, the British Library and London Metropolitan Archives.
Women wearing surgical masks during the influenza pandemic of 1919, Brisbane.
State Library Queensland
Spurred by an all-too-understandable upsurge in research interest in pandemic history, the project focuses on primary sources relating to outbreaks of 4 diseases in British history – plague, cholera, smallpox and influenza. The academic call-to-arms for the project is summed up by editorial advisor Emeritus Professor Frank M Snowden of Yale: “Epidemic diseases are not random events that afflict societies capriciously and without warning… To study them is to understand [a] society’s structure, its standard of living and its political priorities”.
The online resource starts with documents relating to the first state-mandated quarantine in England, in 1517, but the earliest UCL items in the collection is a 1559 edition of William Bullein’s A newe boke of phisicke called ye gouernment of health. The project ends with the Spanish Flu epidemic which followed the First World War, on which UCL contributes a Ministry of Health Report on the pandemic of influenza 1918-1919 and a 1920 typescript Report on mortality among industrial workers, in relation to the influenza epidemic. UCL sources reflect the university’s preeminent focus on medical history, the development and application of vaccinations, and UCL sources are strong in campaigning, statistical and investigative works. Named Special Collections included in the selection include the Hume and Lansdowne Tracts, London History, Mocatta and Ogden collections, and material from our Medical History, Rare Books and SSEES collections are also included.
The main UCL archive represented is that of Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890), who began his career as secretary to UCL spritual founder Jeremy Bentham and was a lifelong campaigner for public health. He believed strongly that poverty was often the result of poor health, and poor health in turn was the result of poor living and working conditions, in particular sanitation. His lifelong campaigns, many focused on cholera, resulted in the passing of the first Public Health Act in 1848 and the establishment of the Board of Health, which he chaired until 1854. This digitisation programme includes selected reports, memos, statistics and 120 letters from his collection, with correspondents including Florence Nightingale, Lord Palmerstone and agriculturalist Philip Pusey.
The online collection is available now, and UCL library members will have access to the entire collection, which groups source materials into five themes: economics and disease, control measures, international relations, medicine and vaccination and public responses.
If you are a member of UCL Libraries, the new resource can be accessed by visiting our online Databases page and searching for ‘British Online Archives’.
A look at two books from UCL’s James Joyce Book Collection
By Sarah S Pipkin, on 5 April 2024
Post by Daniel Dickins.
The James Joyce Book Collection is a collection of rare books and archival materials in UCL Special Collections. Originally established as part of the James Joyce Centre in 1973 with the help of the Trustees of the Joyce Estate, Faber & Faber, and the Society of Authors, it is the only significant research collection on James Joyce in the UK. Containing around 1400 items, the collection includes multiple editions of all Joyce’s major works (including first editions and translations), alongside criticism and contextual literature. In addition, the collection includes material relating to Joyce’s patron, Harriet Shaw Weaver, and to his daughter, Lucia Joyce.
Title page of Shosha by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1978)
One item in the collection is a copy of Shosha by Isaac Bashevis Singer. We have a good indication that this book was owned by Lucia Joyce: ‘Miss Joyce’ is written in pen on the front cover and in pencil on the inside cover, and there is another pencilled writing that states, ‘Lucia Joyce Bequest’. There is also a note inside the book confirming that it arrived with ‘the Lucia Joyce papers from St Andrew’s Hospital’, which is the last hospital in which Lucia was institutionalised. This book was printed in 1978, so Lucia would have been at least 71 years old when she purchased this book. This book is useful for research into the later years of Lucia Joyce’s life, but there are many other reasons why the book is worth preserving. It won the Nobel Prize for literature so was considered significant at the time; it can be placed alongside items in UCL’s Hebrew and Jewish collection for research into 20th century Jewish writing; or it can be considered as an example of a 1970s paperback, or as a book owned by someone in a hospital.
Title page of Irish Short Stories by Seamus O’Kelly (1960s – exact publication date is unknown)
Another item in the Joyce collection is Irish Short Stories by Seamus O’Kelly. O’Kelly was a contemporary of James Joyce; there is no publication date for this book, but the stories were originally written before O’Kelly’s death in 1918. This item therefore contributes to a collection that expands beyond Joyce to look at Irish literature of the early 20th century. This book was also donated by Jane Lidderdale so it may have been owned by Lucia Joyce, but there are no annotations confirming this so further investigation is needed to determine more details of its provenance. There are, however, two pencil drawings near the back of the book. One is of a plant, and the other is a landscape scene labelled ‘Knocknarea’, in Ireland. If Lucia owned this book, she could be the source of these drawings – as well as being a professional dancer, she was also an artist who produced cover art for at least one James Joyce book.
Last page of Irish Short Stories, with a pencilled drawing of Knocknarea
With the Joyce collection, we can learn about James Joyce himself, but we can also research his daughter, his contemporaries, and 20th century literature more broadly, allowing us to paint a fuller picture of the worlds surrounding him. The Joyce collection is fully catalogued and is open to the public. To learn more, see our online guide and to browse the collection’s contents, search for JOYCE on Explore.
Daniel Dickins was seconded to UCL Special Collections as Outreach and Exhibitions Coordinator in 2024. When not supporting Special Collections, he works in UCL’s Science Library.
Applications for the 2024 Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize are now open!
By Ching Laam Mok, on 26 March 2024
Applications of the Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize open from 25 March to 5 May 2024.
The Anthony Davis Book Prize is open to any student studying at a London-based university who has a coherent collection of printed and/or manuscript material. The winner will receive £600 as well as an allowance of £300 to purchase an item for UCL Special Collections. The prize will also include the opportunity to give a talk on your collection as part of the UCL Special Collections events programme.
Items from the last year winner Emma Treleaven’s collection on making dress and textiles before 1975.
The collection should be based around a common theme which has been deliberately assembled and that the collector intends to continue growing. The items in your collection do not have to be typically seen as valuable or historically important. If you collect printed or manuscript materials, which can include anything from comic books and postcards to modern publications, then you are welcome to apply!
Items from the collection of 2022 winner Hannah Swan.
The prize is intended to encourage students to collect books, printed items, and manuscript material, by recognising a collection formed by a London student at an early stage in their collecting career. All current undergraduates and postgraduates studying for a degree at a London-based University, both part-time and full-time, are eligible to enter for the prize.
Books from Daniel Haynes’ collection, the 2021 winner.
This year, we have changed the application process. We are no longer asking applicants to email us – instead, please apply by filling out our online form here.
The application period will end at 23:59 on Sunday 5th May 2024. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to present their collections to a panel with representatives from UCL Special Collections, the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association, and the Bibliographical Society. This will take place on 5th June 2024, between 10am and 1pm.
We look forward to seeing your book collection!
Books from Alexandra Plane’s 2020 winning collection.
More information:
To apply or to learn more about the eligibility criteria:
For advice on what a collection can look like:
- How to be a student book collector (and apply for the Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize)
- Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize: Collecting with Intention
- Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize: Interview with LSE Library
Conversations with previous winners and finalists:
- Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize: Books that built a zoo
- Bound to read: collecting Victorian texts in 20th-century bindings from Bookish: The Birkbeck Library Blog
- Q&A with Erick Jackaman, 2021 Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize Runner Up
- Florilegium: gathering the language of flowers from Bookish: The Birkbeck Library Blog
Announcements of previous winners:
- Winners of the 2023 Anthony Davis Student Book Collecting Prize
- Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize 2022: results announced
- Announcing the winners of the 2021 Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize
- Results announced for Anthony Davis Book Collecting Prize 2020
Keep an eye out on the blog for an interview with last year’s winner!
Kelmscott School historians research natural history with UCL Special Collections
By Anna R Fineman, on 20 February 2024
Photo of Kelmscott School pupils sitting in the Culture Lab at UCL East. Rare books they are about to explore are displayed on a table in the foreground.
Last term the Outreach team of UCL Special Collections were delighted to collaborate with Year 9 History enthusiasts at Kelmscott School in Waltham Forest. The club, called Becoming an Historian, took place over six weekly after-school sessions at Kelmscott School. The 18 students defined the skills and qualities which make a good historian, learnt how to undertake historical research of primary resources, and each explored an item from UCL Special Collections in-depth. They chose Natural History as their theme and enjoyed investigating historical beekeeping, beautiful marine watercolours and whether plants have feelings. The students learnt to communicate their research in different ways for different audiences. Here they have produced informative and engaging museum labels to create a digital exhibition. You can also read their personal responses to the collection items on X (previously Twitter).
The students concluded their project by coming to visit UCL East and really enjoyed seeing the original Special Collections items they had been researching, in the Culture Lab:
It was great to see the book that I’ve been working on, it was really rewarding
It was interesting to see the source in person. There were a lot of things you do not catch when using an online version.
It felt really cool looking at something created almost 100 years ago!
UCL Special Collections say a huge thank you to the students for undertaking this research and for helping to tell the stories of these extraordinary rare books and archives in our care.
Every Man His Own Doctor (1673) by John Archer
The title page for part two of John Archer’s 1673 herbal Every Man His Own Doctor.
This rare book was written in 1673 by a man named John Archer (1660 – 1684), a King’s chemical physician who believed that every person should know about what they put into their bodies and the effects this might have. The book includes home remedies and cures to treat and prevent pox, gout, dropsy and scurvy. It also includes ways of calming your mind, exercising, sleep and the uses of tobacco.
Lukas
‘Every Man His Own Doctor’ by John Archer is a book that focuses on herbal medicine. It provides information on various plants and their benefits. The book is implying that people should take serious care of their health. It’s great for those who are interested in exploring different treatments and is useful for those who want to learn more about healthcare.
Madeeha
‘Every Man His Own Doctor’ was written by John Archer. He published the book in 1673, written in English. The book is about diet, herbs and medicine in the 1600s. The book provides detailed information on the properties and uses of numerous herbs. It also includes advice on maintaining a healthy life. The book aims for people to take control of their lifestyle and to benefit from natural remedies.
Noor
Original hand painted artwork by Marian Ray for her filmstrip Seeds (1940s – 1980s)
Artwork by Marian Ray c.1940s – 1980s, for her educational film Seeds
Marian Ray was a successful business owner who began work in the 1940s producing filmstrips for schools. She worked at the BBC during World War Two as an animation artist. She would study seed growing as a source of material, and produced film artwork and a booklet covering: the evolution of seeds and how they grow and live; the nutrients they need; different types and shapes of seed; the animals that love to eat the seeds.
Ayub
The archive of Marian Ray contains artwork and a booklet on seeds. It contains in-depth information about seeds, how they work and different types. It is also about the evolution of seeds, how they grown and live. There are numerous diagrams that show different seeds and parts of seeds.
Raqeeb
Remarks on Rural Scenery by John Thomas Smith (1797)
An illustration of Hackney looking extremely peaceful from John Thomas Smith’s 1797 book Remarks on Rural Scenery.
Remarks on Rural Scenery was published by John Thomas Smith, a painter and engraver, in 1797. It shows engravings of rural areas of London in the 18th century; however, these areas are not so rural today. Westminster is depicted as a vast, green area, Hackney a quiet village, Deptford a woodland area with a large cottage. This book is a good way to see what life was like during the 1700s, and to see just how much the world we live in has changed since then. It can help us to discover more about human life and geography through images before the invention of the photograph.
Anton
Marine Sketches from Nature by Edward Duncan (c.1840s – 1880s)
A page from Edward Duncan’s sketchbook Marine Sketches from Nature, featuring a drawing of seagulls swooping in the air and a watercolour landscape of the sea with distant land mass and a golden sky (1840s – 1880s)
In the Victorian era Edward Duncan, a famous British artist, published his sketchbook of marine paintings. The sketchbook, dating from 1840s – 1880s contains watercolour paintings of the sea, boats and landscapes. Duncan was born on 21 October 1803 and died on 11 April 1882 aged 78. He made two sketchbooks – Marine Scraps and Marine Sketches – filled with beautiful watercolour sunsets and oceans. Some of his paintings were called The Shipwreck, The Lifeboat and Oysters.
The sketchbooks are part of Egon Sharpe’s Collection and were donated to UCL Special Collections. Now everyone can benefit from his beautiful sketches.
Amelie
During the Victorian era a series of sketchbooks dating from 1840 – 1880s were made by a British Man called Edward Duncan. He lived from 21 October 1803 to 11 April 1882. These sketchbooks are called Marine Sketches from Nature and Marine Scraps. They contain various sketches and watercolour paintings of marine harbours, animals, landscapes and nature.
Edward Duncan married a woman called Bethia Higgins. The auction of some of his stunning works three years after his passing, took just three days, which showed how sought after his work was.
Kitty
The Feminine Monarchie or The Historie of Bees by Charles Butler (1623)
The title page double spread of Charles Butler’s The Feminine Monarchie or The Historie of Bees (1623).
The Feminine Monarchy or the History of Bees is a beekeeping guide that was made by Charles Butler. This guide was used for over 250 years, before people developed moveable comb hives. Charles’ book has ten chapters from swarm catching to the benefits of bees to fruit (pollination). This 1609 science treatise is considered the first book on the science of beekeeping and was translated into Latin in 1678.
Iris
The Feminine Monarchy was made by Charles Butler. He was born in 1571 and passed in 1647. He observed that bees produce wax. He also learned that wax is produced from their own body. He was among the first to assert that the leader was a ‘woman’ aka the queen bee. The Feminine Monarchy was originally published by Joseph Barnes, Oxford in 1609. The book was later translated into Latin.
Diana
The Feminine Monarchy is a guide ‘written out of experience’ by Charles Butler. It is a 1609 science treatise and is considered the first work on the science of beekeeping. Its 10 chapters on bees, which have been used for 250+ years, detail the following: bee gardens; hive-making materials; swarm catching; enemies of bees; feeding bees; and the benefits of bees to fruit (pollination). It has been translated into Latin.
Mariam
Plant Autographs and their Revelations by Jagadish Chandra Bose (1927)
The title pages of Jagadish Chandra Bose’s Plant Autographs and Their Revelations (1927)
This book is about a series of studies on whether plants have feelings and thoughts. One particular tree in Faridpur, Bangladesh, was struck by lighting and now bends at a 60 degree angle. Until it doesn’t… During the morning the ‘neck’ of this tree (Phoenix sylvestris) points upwards. However, during the evening, the tree bows downwards to look like it was praying, which is how this tree earns its name The Praying Palm. ‘Pilgrims were attracted in large numbers. Offerings were made to the tree which had been ‘the means of effecting marvellous cures.’
James
Plant Autographs and Their Revelations is a book about a series of studies that indicate whether plants have feelings or not. There is one tree in the book called the Praying Palm of Faridpur. This tree was a date palm (Phoenix sylvestris). They call it the Praying Palm because in the morning the tree points upwards and in the afternoon it bows downwards. This looked as if it was praying. Pilgrims were attracted in large numbers. Offerings were made for the tree for alleged faith cures. These trees can be found in Bangladesh or Bengal.
Kristian
The title page of Charles Darwin’s 1881 book The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Actions of Worms: with observations on their habits
This is an 1881 book by Charles Darwin on earthworms. It was his last scientific book and was published shortly before he passed away. The first edition went to press on 1st May, and it was remarkably successful , selling 6000 copies within a year, and 13,000 before the end of the century.
Gabriel
A booklet titled Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection by Marian Ray, to accompany her hand illustrated educational film (c.1940s – 1980s)
We learnt about Marian Ray, a successful businesswoman who was born in 1923 and died in 1999. She created educational film strips for schools, mostly homemade. She translated and sold them to more than 70 countries. She worked in the audio-visual era in World War Two. Her earliest film strips were in black and white and called ‘Cotton’ and ‘Evolution of the Horse.’ One film she made was about Charles Darwin.
Amir
Marian Ray was born in 1923 and died in 1999. She was a successful businesswoman and she made educational film strips for schools. They were homemade and were translated for more than 70 countries. In World War Two she worked in the audio-visual era. Her earliest film strip, black and white, was named ‘Evolution of the Horse.’ She made depictions of Charles Darwin’s observations of horses.
Ismael
UCL’s Student Magazines
By Colin Penman, on 14 February 2024
On a recent (well, November) trip to the USA to see family, I managed to visit ‘All That’s Fit for Student Print’, a fascinating exhibition of student publications at Binghamton University Special Collections, and meet University Archivist Maggie McNeely and her colleagues – should you happen to find yourself in the Southern Tier of New York State, pop in! So, for this ‘UCL birthday’ post, I thought I might highlight our own student publications.
Our student magazines are part of College Collection. This is an unwieldy agglomeration of over 5,000 items related to the history of UCL, and includes monographs, periodicals, ephemera (tickets, programmes, invitations and more), and official publications, such as Calendars and Annual Reports, dating from before UCL’s foundation on 11 February 1826 up to the present day. There are also published lectures, examination papers, prospectuses, and works on the Bloomsbury area of London, as well as the other institutions which form part of the wider University of London.
Magazines in general, and student-focused ones in particular, tend to have a short active life, and are little regarded. You read it, you bin it, you move on – ephemeral indeed. But it’s their transitory quality that gives them such a fascinating afterlife, even in the gaps and silences (there’s usually a reason why we don’t have something), because you get a real snapshot of student life and preoccupations at a specific point in time. And let’s not forget the aesthetic aspect. I love the jaggy design on the cover of Savage (2015 – the only issue we have so far), which fairly hurts the eye:
And you don’t need to be told the dates of these numbers of Pollardian and Torque – everything about them says: it’s the 70s, and nothing but the 70s.
The earliest student magazine that we have is the London University Chronicle, from 1830 – before UCL was UCL – but the main student organ remains Pi, founded in February 1946, and named for the Provost of the time, David Pye. There was a strong feeling that, following the trauma of the war, an effort needed to be made to bring together what was now a highly disparate group of 2,100 individuals (‘the largest single college in the British Empire’) who had been scattered abroad in the armed forces or evacuated with their departments to various parts of England and Wales. There are some echoes there of the shock of Covid – a large body of students with little or no experience of a real, in-person Bloomsbury community.
Pi was always a campaigning paper, or at least offered a platform to student campaigners, as we can see in these examples from the 1970s and 1980s. In November 1979, the front cover shows a man climbing over security gates, which had just been installed following a series of robberies and sexual assaults – and some fierce student campaigning:
Pi 382, 2 Nov 1979
And wider politics make their presence felt in arguments over student unions as a closed shop, and the relevance of the Miners’ Strike to student life (October 1984):
Pi 453, 1 Oct 1984
Pi 404, 4 Oct 1982, p. 4
As a semi-official voice of the Union, Pi has always reflected student politics and local concerns, such as direct action to get pedestrian crossings installed around campus, and our old favourite, refectory food (price and quality!), but also student involvement in the politics of the wider world, for example the fate of students caught up in the unrest of Eastern Europe, and campaigning on apartheid.
Of course Pi has its more frivolous side, with its fair share of ‘Miss Fresher’ contests or burning questions such as ‘Should College dances have chaperones?’ (yes, really), pop star interviews, and Rag shenanigans (you can find a couple of dedicated rag mags elsewhere in College Collection).
There were other ‘mainstream’ publications before Pi, such as the Union Magazine (1904-1919), University College Magazine (1919-1939), and New Phineas (1939-1956). But for the unexpected, and to get a picture of sometimes niche preoccupations and interests, it’s the smaller-scale efforts that shine. Sportophyte, a magazine of ‘botanical `humour’, was founded in 1910 by none other than Marie Stopes. (College Collection also contains copies of Stopes’s Married Love and, unfortunately, her poetry.) Crosswords and Maranatha are Christian publications, and we have one copy of Not the Pakistan Society Magazine:
There are of course party-political publications, most of them fairly short lived, for example Red Dwarf (Labour Club), Blue Dwarf and Tory (Conservatives), and Red Giant (Socialist Society), and departmental ones, which can provide unique information about local goings-on and personalities. I’m a fan of the Library School publication The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (1970), which manages to link the singer of the psychedelic classic ‘Fire’ with Professor Arthur Brown, Director of the Library School and Professor of English:
We love to use this kind of material in our teaching and outreach activities, and you can of course visit us to consult them yourself – a shelfmark search for COLLEGE COLLECTION PERIODICALS on our library catalogue, Explore, will bring up most of the titles, though we are still finding more. And of course many titles have been digitised: see the History of UCL page of our Digital Collections. You can also see many titles in our current exhibition Generation UCL: 200 Years of Student Life in London, in the UCL Octagon until August this year:
We are also very keen to close the many gaps that exist in the collection, so I want to end here with an appeal to anyone who thinks they might have something that’s missing from our current holdings, and might be willing to part with it, to get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you!
UCL’s Student Ephemera collection
By Leah Johnston, on 11 January 2024
Leah Johnston, Cataloguing Archivist (Records), shares details of a newly catalogued collection of student ephemera.
The Student Ephemera collection is a curated collection of manuscripts, publications, artwork, photographs, and objects, relating to the lives of UCL students, the Student Union, and members of UCL staff. The material dates from 1828 to 2002.
The collection was accumulated by UCL alum Dr Mark Curtin and donated to the Student Union, who in turn have deposited the material with UCL College Archives. Over the past year the collection has been fully catalogued and is now all available to view online.
UCLCA/SEC/A/2 Signed Foundation Week programme of celebrations, 1946.
The items within the collection are a representation of student life that complements and expands upon the institutional records held in the College Archive. It consists of a wide range of material, such as correspondence, programmes, tickets, newspaper clippings, leaflets, books, periodicals, photographs, and artwork. The collection also contains a significant number of objects including academic and sporting medals, and both UCL and Student Union branded memorabilia. A small number of items relating to the history of the university are also included, such as correspondence relating to its establishment, centenary publications, commemorative objects, and artwork.
The first series in the collection consists of manuscripts and records and contains items such as correspondence to and from students and staff, theatre and music production programmes, ephemera related to students’ sport, music and social events, newspaper clippings, a medical student’s notebook, and a University College Hospital [UCH] Socialist Society poster.
UCLCA/SEC/A/4: Cutting from ‘Melody Maker’ advertising a Pink Floyd gig at UCL, circa 1969.
Series two in the collection consists of publications either written by, or related to, past students and staff. There are also a couple of books which relate to the history of the university, along with some university produced publications. A small sub-series of articles taken from Pi Magazine, which were previously framed, are also included.
The third series comprises photographs and artwork related to UCL, the Student Union, and UCL students and staff. Included are some of the earliest photographs of the Wilkins building, portraits of Student Union presidents and officers, photographs of sports teams, plus various student association performances and events.
UCLCA/SEC/C/1/21 Photograph of a Dramsoc play on the Portico, c.1947.
The remainder of the collection includes a large series of academic, sporting, commemorative and military medals, and a small series of objects. Included is a Botany Laboratory microscope, a silver cup awarded for first place in the UCH Athletic Club pole jump, a variety of UCL and SU branded memorabilia, such as a car bumper badge, silk tie, union badges and miniature ceramic models. One particularly interesting object in this final series is a Royal Doulton tyg cup which was awarded for first place in the UCH Athletic Club’s ¼ mile handicap race (pictured below). A tyg is a drinking vessel with three or more handles and is traditionally used for sharing a celebratory drink!
Tyg awarded for the UCH ¼ mile handicap race in 1890, and two medals, in the process of being accessioned.
A considerable amount of the collection has formed part of the current Octagon Gallery exhibition, ‘Generation UCL’, which explores the lives of UCL students over two centuries and the foundational part they play to the story of the university. Mounted in the run up to UCL’s bicentenary celebrations in 2026, the exhibition also marks 130 years of Student’s Union UCL.
One of the entrances to the Gen UCL exhibition, on now at the Octagon Gallery.
If you would like to further explore the collection it can now be viewed online at https://archives.ucl.ac.uk/ and by typing ‘Student Ephemera Collection’ into the search bar.
To make an appointment to view the records, or for any queries regarding the collection or the catalogue, please contact us at spec.coll@ucl.ac.uk.
To read more about the Generation UCL exhibition visit the exhibition project page.
Cataloguing the papers of Anthony Lester, Lord Lester of Herne Hill
By utnvweb, on 12 December 2023
By Martin Woodward, Cataloguing Archivist, Lester Papers
The Project to catalogue the Papers of Anthony Lester, Lord Lester of Herne Hill (1936-2020) is now complete. Lester was an eminent barrister (QC), Special Adviser to Labour Home Secretary Roy Jenkins in the 1970s, and for twenty-five years a Liberal Democrat peer. During his time in the Lords, Lester’s Private Member’s Bills and tireless political work on behalf of human rights, equality and free speech helped bring about the Human Rights Act 1998, the Civil Partnership Act 2004, the Equality Act 2010, and the Defamation Act 2013.
Lester held visiting professorships at UCL, and we are very pleased that the Lester Papers are now available for research at UCL Special Collections.
Boxes of files from the Lester archive as received from the donor
There were two main elements to the project: appraisal and cataloguing. A careful process of appraisal has seen the reduction of an original deposit of 59 banker’s boxes of files to thirty smaller archive boxes of papers. The priorities during appraisal were to retain anything written by Lester, such as publications and correspondence, and records of House of Lords Written Answers where Lester asked the question. Accompanying documents, such as official publications, reports, and policy statements, in which Lester had no involvement, were generally not retained.
This process led to three main classes of material for cataloguing.
The first of these was Lester’s Written Answers, principally in the form of an apparently comprehensive chronological run of six files of Lester’s questions to Government Ministers covering the years 1993-2005, and a scattering of similar records elsewhere. One cannot fail to be amazed at the sheer number of questions put by Lester in the House of Lords during this period.
LESTER/207: Lester was co-founder and Chairman (1991-1993) of the race relations and civil rights think tank the Runnymede Trust. Image published with the permission of the Runnymede Trust.
The second category of material was Lester’s publications: book chapters, articles, speeches, lectures, letters to the press, and so on. Here also there was a very carefully arranged chronological run of papers by Lester in nine files covering the years 1964-2011 (the index lists 335 items). The publications demonstrate all Lester’s main concerns in Parliament: race relations, human rights, equality, constitutional matters, Northern Ireland, European law, and free speech. Lester’s written output is immense, as is the depth of his legal knowledge. There are also several other files of Lester’s articles and speeches, which are recorded separately in the catalogue. Lester’s Jewish origins are often reflected in his writings, such as when he refers to his father’s witnessing the activities of Sir Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts in the East End of London in the 1930s.
The third category was the subject files (such as papers on international Human Rights), reduced by appraisal largely to Lester’s own correspondence. Here again there was an original alphabetical subject file classification between LESTER/1 (Blasphemy) and LESTER/149 (Venice Commission), which has been followed in the online catalogue; thereafter the papers are not arranged in any recognisable order. The records of Lord Lester’s Office are in general extremely well kept. The subject files illustrate Lester’s work on behalf of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the early 1980s and the Liberal Democrats in the 1990s, and (principally) his political interests in the House of Lords between 1993 and 2015. The files contain letters, amongst many others, from Tony and Cherie Blair, Margaret Thatcher, Jack Straw, Shirley Williams, and Lord Scarman. Some of the correspondence is more personal in nature, such as a letter from Lester to Mohamed Al Fayed in 1994, thanking him for allowing Lester and his wife, Katya, to stay at Al Fayed’s Scottish estate.
The correspondence is notable for the evident warmth and respect in which Lester was held by his many contacts in the legal profession, politics and the media.
LESTER/195: letter from Lester to the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 2005, seeking a review of the Government’s decision to withhold information about the invasion of Iraq.
LESTER/165: one of Lester’s doodles, dating back to his days in the SDP.
Nor is humour lacking: a letter from the Parliamentary Group for World Government addressed to ‘Lord Anthony Leicester’ prompted the response: ‘Incidentally you might wish to note the spelling of my name because the Earl of Leicester would be upset’. Again, when Lester was asked his name and professional background by an interviewer in 2007 he replied: ‘Well, that’s not so easy because I changed my name when I became a member of the old people’s home but I was born Anthony Lester and I am now Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC’. And then there are the doodles. There is a scattering of these throughout the papers.
Government legislation on equality and human rights has produced enormous social change in this country since the Roy Jenkins era. It is my belief that the Lester archive will be a very important resource in future in understanding how that change occurred. The catalogue is available on our archives catalogue
The New Curators Project 2024 is Open for Applications!
By Vicky A Price, on 4 December 2023
The New Curators Project is an annual programme run by UCL Special Collections and Newham Heritage Month. It offers 10 young adults in East London the chance to develop the skills and experience needed to start a career in the cultural heritage sector.
Previous applicants have gone on to work for organisations such as Toynbee Hall, Tate, The Roundhouse and UCL. It is a friendly, fun way of learning about the cultural heritage field and taking your first steps towards a career in the sector without needing a degree.
What is Cultural Heritage?
The cultural heritage field is an area of work focused on preserving history and culture and making it available to the general public. Among other things, it includes:
Museums.
Arts organisations and charities.
Libraries and Archives.
Historic Buildings and heritage sites.
Archaeology.
What will the project entail?
Successful applicants will receive training from industry experts in key areas such as:
Carrying out historical research.
Using archives.
Creating an exhibition.
Running events and campaigns.
Communications in the cultural heritage sector.
Participants will gain real work experience by creating an exhibition for Newham Heritage Month using historical material from UCL Special Collections, the Archives and Local Studies Library in Stratford and beyond.
The programme also offers employment support such as advice on applying for jobs, writing applications and being interviewed.
Participants who attend all the workshops will receive up to £635.
Who can apply?
Applications are open to people who:
Are aged 18 to 24 at the time of making their application.
Are living, studying or working in Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
Are not a university graduate or currently studying at university.
Have less than 6 months paid experience in the cultural heritage sector.
As this project is a part of Newham Heritage Month, there are 5 places available to individuals who live, work or study in the borough of Newham. The remaining 5 places are available to those who live, work or study in Tower Hamlets, Hackney or Waltham Forest.
Archivist Richard Wiltshire from Tower Hamlets Archive shows participants archival maps and plans.
When and where is it happening?
Workshops will be ‘in person’ on Tuesday evenings from 5pm to 7pm, beginning on March 7 2024 and ending June 18 2024. There will also be three full day workshops on Friday 22 March, Friday 19 April and Friday 14 June.
Workshops will take place at the UCL’s brand new East London campus:
UCL East
Marshgate
London
E20 2AF
Do applicants need to have any specific A Levels or GCSEs?
Absolutely not. We want to recruit participants who have a passion for local history, regardless of their qualifications.
How do I apply?
You can apply online via our online form. If you have difficulty using the form, please send us an email (library.spec.coll.ed@ucl.ac.uk) and we can find an alternative way for you to apply.
The application deadline is 8.00pm on Saturday 17 February 2024.
Delivered in partnership with Newham Heritage Month.
An Unexpected Discovery
By Katy Makin, on 23 November 2023
The folklorist Katharine Mary Briggs (1898-1980) shared her love of folk tales and storytelling through her many publications, community work and children’s groups. A former president of the Folklore Society, a small archive of her papers and correspondence is now owned by the Society and deposited with UCL Special Collections as part of the Folklore Society Archive.
Katharine Briggs as a child, unknown artist. Image supplied by the Folklore Society
Although Briggs’ papers in the Folklore Society Archive are currently uncatalogued, access can still be provided for researchers who have the patience to work methodically through her letters, notes, poems and photographs. The letters in particular are tricky to use as they are only roughly sorted into bundles that span several years. But patience can be rewarded; whilst checking the bundles of letters ahead of a researcher’s visit as part of our data protection procedures I came across an unpublished letter from the author JRR Tolkien to Katharine Briggs.
Tolkein’s books in UCL Main Library.
Two letters from Briggs to Tolkien are now part of the Tolkien archive held at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. In her first letter of October 11th 1954, Briggs describes being held in suspense, “reading and re-reading” The Fellowship of the Ring, and asks whether the second part of The Lord of the Rings will be published before Christmas. For her, the only flaw is the alteration of the Gollum incident from the way it had been told in The Hobbit and the nature of Bilbo’s finding of the One Ring, which had been her favourite part. In The Fellowship of the Ring, she says there is an implication that Bilbo thought of the Ring as a gift, which seems to her unlikely. On a minor point, she also found the description of Bilbo running away from Gollum with his hands in his pockets unconvincing: “You would never run away from a furious adversary with your hands in your pockets – try it and see. Particularly in a dark and narrow place”. [Letter from Katharine Briggs to JRR Tolkien, 11th October 1954, Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, Tolkien Family Archive (uncatalogued)]
Tolkien’s response came a few days later, on the 13th October. This is the letter now found in Briggs’ papers in the Folklore Society archives. He thanks Briggs for her appreciation of his work, and addresses some of her comments about the “Bilbo-Gollum business”. He confirms that Gollum would never willingly have gifted the Ring to Bilbo, but under the “evil pressure of the Ring and the cry of thief”, in one version of events Bilbo makes up the story of the Ring being a present.
Addressing her challenge, he says:
“Even in the abbreviated version of the ‘prologue’ Bilbo did not run away with his hands in his pockets. (I have not led an entirely sheltered life, and have no need to try it out). In the full version this is clearer.”
Tolkien ends his letter with good news: The Two Towers has gone to press and he hopes it will appear by November 1st (or not long after). In in the end, Briggs did not have much longer to wait as it was published on November 11th 1954.
Letter from JRR Tolkien to Katharine Briggs, 13th October 1954, Folklore Society Archive T273, UCL Special Collections. Copyright of the Tolkien Estate and reproduced here with permission.
Briggs was effusive in her thanks. “The news that The Two Towers is to come out in November is the best I have heard for some time. Then we shall be all clamouring for The Return of the King (I hope this is Aragorn); and when we get that we shall be undoubtedly happy for a good many years.” In the meantime, she had purchased a new edition of The Hobbit and agreed that the full account of the meeting with Gollum is much clearer here than in the summary given in The Fellowship of the Ring. [Letter from Katharine Briggs to JRR Tolkien, 21 Oct 1954, Oxford, Bodleian Libraries, Tolkien Family Archive (uncatalogued)]
Briggs, Katharine M. (1953) The personnel of fairyland : a short account of the fairy people of Great Britain for those who tell stories to children / by K.M. Briggs / illustrated by Jane Moore. Oxford: Alden Press.
Copies of Katharine Briggs’ many books can be found around UCL Libraries, including one of her earliest collections of stories: “The Personnel of Fairyland: A short account of the fairy people of Great Britain for those who tell stories to children” (Stores FLS 12 BRI ) which has the charming frontispiece pictured above. Based on an image of medieval folklore, it includes a witch, an enchanted castle, a Friar raising his imps, a Fairy Ring, and a “Witch rideing on the Devill through the Aire”.
Some of her other books popular with children are part of the IOE Library’s collections, including “Nine Lives: Cats in Folklore” (IOE Library FOLKTALES 398.2 BRI) and “Abbey Lubbers, Banshees and Boggarts: A Who’s Who of Fairies” (IOE Library FOLKTALES 398.24 BRI).
If you’re visiting the IOE Library you can also borrow a copy of JRR Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” at the same time (IOE Library FICTION TOL).
Briggs, Katharine M. (1980) Nine lives : cats in folklore / Katharine M. Briggs ; with illustrations by John Ward. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
The Folklore Society archive and rare books library are deposited at UCL Special Collections. For further information and to make an appointment, contact us.
Other archive material of Katharine Briggs and her family, including her sister Elspeth, is held at Leeds University Special Collections (MS 1309).
With thanks to Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien Archivist, Bodleian Libraries University of Oxford, for her assistance. The letters from Katharine Briggs to JRR Tolkien are part of the uncatalogued family archives and not currently available for research.
‘There is no university without its students’
By Leah Johnston, on 16 October 2023
On the 25th September a new exhibition, ‘Generation UCL: 200 Years of Student Life in London’, opened in UCL’s Octagon Gallery. The exhibition explores two centuries of student life at UCL, placing them at the centre of the university’s history. Mounted in anticipation of UCL’s bicentenary celebrations in 2026, it also marks 130 years of Students’ Union UCL, one of the largest student-led organisations in the world. Material has been contributed by UCL Special Collections, UCL Museums, Students’ Union UCL, and UCL alumni.
A photograph of one of the lightboxes in the exhibition stating that there is no university ‘without its students’.
The exhibition is part of the wider Generation UCL research project, which looks to explore the lives of UCL students and present them as the real ‘founders’ of the university.
Over the past 9 months, members of the Special Collections team have been working alongside Professor Georgina Brewis and Dr Sam Blaxland, of the Generation UCL team, to select and prepare material for display. Fifty of the items featured in the exhibition are taken from the University College and IOE archive collections, making it one of the largest Special Collections exhibitions in recent years.
Members of the North Star team installing Institute of Education items
Items included range from official UCL publications and records, such as student record cards, files and calendars, to union and society magazines and posters. Thanks to a recent donation by Students’ Union UCL of the collection of UCL alum, Professor Mark Curtin, we have had the opportunity to display a number of objects too. These include a 1940s blazer and silk scarf worn by Geography student Enid Sampson, a UCL Botany department microscope, academic medals and union badges.
Other objects were uncovered in the process of putting together the initial longlist. A visit to the College Archives silver store back in April resulted in the discovery of a full set of 1950s cutlery (including fish knife!) that had been used by students at Bentham Hall.
Bentham Hall cutlery on display alongside a 1918 Union Magazine cartoon, showing diners crowding around Refectory menus.
With a vast amount of material to choose from the process of shortlisting was tough! However, some clever design on the part of Polytechnic studio meant that we have also been able to display material that would otherwise have been left out. The two arches that lead into the gallery have now been covered in digitised copies of publications, posters, adverts, and invitations, which were created for, or by, UCL students. If you are in the space, see if you can spot a Student’s Guide to Computers from 1996, an advert for a 1960s Pink Floyd gig and a 1981 Student Survival guide with the title ‘Don’t panic: it’s too late anyway!’.
A snapshot of one of the arches leading into the Octagon Gallery
The exhibition is open now until August 2024 and is free for all to attend. For more information about the creation of the exhibition visit the exhibition project page.
