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ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Newcastle Uni Special Collections & Archives
@ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
830 followers 160 following 170 posts
Newcastle University Special Collections & Archives is an Accredited Archive Service, home to Newcastle University's archive and rare book collections.

Find out more: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/special-collections/
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ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Did you know we have a leaf from a Gutenberg Bible, printed in the 1450s, amongst the items in our collections.

See the digitised leaf, and find out how it came into our collections on our Digital Showcase here: digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/gu...

[Ref ROB 430]
#EYAReligion
Leaf from a Gutenberg bible, printed in the 1450s.
November 14, 2025 at 3:47 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Do you recongise these aerial views of Tyneside past?

They were captured by former Newcastle University Professor Norman McCord, and are now part of our University Archive.

If you missed last weeks blog post on McCord and his photographic legacy read it here: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/202...
Aerial photograph of Swan Hunter Shipyard on the River Tyne. Aerial photograph of multi-storey flats at Killingworth.
November 13, 2025 at 5:04 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
New on the blog 'Rendezvous' plays and poems in loving memory of Poet and Playwright Julia Darling'. Well worth a read on this rainy Tuesday: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/2025/11/11/rendezvous-plays-and-poems-in-loving-memory-of-poet-and-playwright-julia-darling/
November 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Today is World Digital Preservation Day #WDPD2025

This year the theme is #WhyPreserve
For us the answer is that without actively preserving our digital records we lose all the evidence and history of our recent (and even not so recent) past and present, and lose the story of what we're doing now.
Collection of CDs containing digital data, which needs to be carefully transferred and managed if it is to remain intact and accessible into the the future. Laptops, potentially containing digital records which could be inaccessible to future generations of researchers without active management. Black and white photograph of the unveiling of a new PC in the Agriculture Department in the 1980s.
November 6, 2025 at 11:50 AM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Bonfire Night isn’t just about Guy Fawkes. Thomas Percy of Northumberland was one of 13 conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot. Learn more about the #Northumberland connection here: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/202... #BonfireNight #Fireworks
November 5, 2025 at 11:57 AM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Don't miss out - The Town and Gown exhibition on Level 2 of the Philip Robinson Library has been extended to 7th December 2025, so still plenty of time to get along.

Find out more www.ncl.ac.uk/library/special-collections/exhibitions/town-and-gown/
November 4, 2025 at 2:50 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
In case you missed it, new #ontheblog 'The Aerial Photographs of Professor Norman McCord'.

Why not have a read blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/202...
November 3, 2025 at 2:09 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
As it's #Halloween today we've had a hunt around our stores, and here are some scary things we've found lurking there! We hope you don't find them too scary!
@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social #EYAMonsters
Title page of "A Treatise of Specters" from our Robert White Collection. Title page of the St Alb-ns Ghost, found in our 18th Century Collection. A nightmare for every archivist: A pile of pieces of perished elastic band. A ghostly shelfmark!
October 31, 2025 at 3:16 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Did you know that our Trevelyan Family Photoraph albums are now available to view on our Digital Showcase platform?

The albums captured the life of the Trevelyan family of Wallington Hall for over 50 years in the 20th Century.

Browse over 30 albums here: digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/tr...
Family portraits of members of the extended Trevelyan family in 1924.
October 30, 2025 at 2:37 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Did you know that Newcastle Uni's Students' Union Building is officially 100 this week?

The building was officially opened on October 23rd 1925.

To Mark the date here are 3 photos of the building and a report on the Official Opening found in the November 25 edition of The Northerner magazine.
Report in The Northerner of the official opening of the Students' Union Building. Photograph of the exterior of the Students' Union Building in the 1990s. Photograph of the front of the Students' Union Building in the early 1990s at dusk. Photograph of construction work on the extension to the Students' Union in the 1960s from the top of the Herschel Building.
October 24, 2025 at 1:28 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Now on Digital Showcase are 17th & 18th century recipe books. Explore the notation of culinary delights, surprises and remedies, represented in the handwritten recipe books of two Early Modern women, fifty years apart.

Find out more digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/re... #Digitalshowcase
October 21, 2025 at 1:12 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
As nights draw in and temperatures drop it's time to light the fire!

'The History of A Scuttle of Coals in Rhymes and Pictures' tells us about the journey of this once common fuel from ground to fireplace.

Read on CollectionsCaptured: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

Ref. RB821.8-SIX
Illustrated title page showing two children carrying a scuttle of coal. Page showing an illustration of newcastle with some rhyming text above. Illustration of a coal mine with some rhyming text relating to mining above. Illustration of a cart delivering coal with some rhyming text describing the activity.
October 17, 2025 at 2:40 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
A shout out on behalf of our Education Outreach colleagues:

Applications are now open for two Robinson Bequest Bursary opportunities.

They're looking for Masters or Doctoral students to work on an exciting research project. Bursaries are worth £3000.

Find out more: www.ncl.ac.uk/library/burs...
Flyer advertisin education outreach bequest opportunities. Text is sumamrised in the main post.
October 16, 2025 at 3:47 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Now on #digitalshowcase is this First World War Surgical Logbook containing surgical operation carried out by Professor Frederick Charles Pybus at First Northern General Hospital from 1914 - 1919. Find out more online & view the full logbook digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/fi...
October 15, 2025 at 1:28 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Dive into the past with our Cholera Scrapbooks: a collection of pamphlets, sketches, letters, reports & cartoons from the 1831–32 Gateshead outbreak. A rare window into how communities & doctors tried to make sense of this disease. Explore digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/ch... #digitalshowcase
October 13, 2025 at 12:36 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
#OTD in 1958 @newcastleuni.bsky.social Percy Building was officially opened by Professor J. Dover Wilson, and named after the first Rector of Kings College, Lord Eustace Percy.

Browse the brochure for the opening event on CollectionsCaptured: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...
Front cover of the booklet created for the opening of the Percy Building. Photograph of the front of the Percy Building facing onto the Quadrangle. Group of attendees at the official opening of the Percy Building.
October 10, 2025 at 2:45 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
New on CollectionsCaptured is a wonderfully illustrated set of 17 proof copies of early 17th Century maps, later included in John Speed's 'Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine'.

All 17 pages can be seen here on CollectionsCaptured: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...
[Ref. Freinds/JSM]
Proof of a map of Country Durham. Proof of a map of Montgomery Shire
October 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
#Discover this original leaf from Johannes Gutenberg's 15th century Bible, which influenced book history and the religious landscape.

Find out more: digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk/showcases/gu... #DigitalShowcase
October 8, 2025 at 12:38 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Explore curated insights across our unique and distinctive collections — from a 17th century recipe book to a WWI surgical logbook.

Discover our new Digital Showcase and uncover the stories behind the collections: digitalshowcase.ncl.ac.uk #DigitalShowcase
October 7, 2025 at 1:07 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Did you know our collections of poetry books and archives span nearly 400 years, from the 17thC to the present day?

Here are two pages from a 1656 poetry collection by William Drummond.

Find the whole book on CollectionsCaptured: collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...

#NationalPoetryDay
October 2, 2025 at 12:47 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
New to Newcastle this academic year?

Explore the history of the relationship between University and city through an examination of social data and development in our current exhibition "Town and Gown on the Tyne".

Open on Level 2 of the Philip Robinson Library until early November.
September 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Explore digitised manuscripts, notes & correspondence from the Peter Dickinson Archive on CollectionsCaptured.

Dickinson (1927–2015) was an award-winning poet & novelist, celebrated for his children’s books & crime fiction collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...
September 24, 2025 at 1:39 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
Calling all @newcastleuni.bsky.social MA & PhD students: apply now for the Robinson Bequest Core Collections Bursaries (£3,000 each + hands-on Special Collections experience).

Deadline: 26 Sept. Apply now👉 bit.ly/4gdjs2C #NCL
September 23, 2025 at 12:30 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
A selection of material from The a-n Archive is now live on #CollectionsCaptured 📸

Spanning 40+ years of the UK’s largest artists’ network, it’s a treasure trove of artist-led practice, publications & advocacy. Dive in 👉 collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/coll...
September 17, 2025 at 12:56 PM
ncllibspeccoll.bsky.social
This month's @exploreyourarchive.bsky.social theme is #EYAEduction

Here are some images of students busy learning in our seminar rooms in the 1960s.

For any new students joining next week we can reassure you that the dress code and tech have moved on in the last 60 years!
[NUA/03688 and 037020]
photograph of a group of students sat around a desk in a seminar room in 1965. Photograph of a group of students stood around a map on a desk in a seminar room in 1965. Photograph of a group of students sat around a table in a seminar room in 1965. Photograph of students at desks in a seminar room in 1968.
September 11, 2025 at 2:09 PM