In reflection of US Black History Month, the cohort of interns here at the National Library of Scotland have curated a reading list of titles from the Library’s ever-expanding print and digital collections relating to Black history. Our internships are as follows: Access and Outreach Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Climate Crisis Gaelic Translation Rights and Personalisation Creating Media Content This small selection of material comes from a larger pool of […]
Category: 20th-century items

Zoom into Stirling
Collated by Jamie McIntosh. The Stirling authority area is at the heart of Scotland and spans the traditional boundary between the lowlands and highlands. To the west of the region sit the Campsie Fells and the Fintry Hills, which eventually give way to Loch Lomond. The boundary of the authority runs up the east side of the loch, taking in the Trossachs and Ben Lomond. The northern area of the authority is generally […]

Black History Month and eResources
As the creating content intern for the National Library, I’m working on creating an online media centre and expanding our media contacts. My work will focus on researching up-and-coming journalists, writers and art curators from a range of backgrounds across the UK and beyond. I aim to connect Black creators and journalists from across Scotland, […]

Zoom into West Dunbartonshire
Collated by: Veronica Bell. Situated between Glasgow to the west and Loch Lomond to the north, West Dunbartonshire is a county centred around three main towns: Dumbarton, Clydebank, and the Vale of Leven district. It is historically significant – the town of Dumbarton was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde, and its famous […]

Zoom into Argyll and Bute
Collated by Veronica Bell. Argyll and Bute is the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council, with its varied geography consisting of a heavily indented coastline, numerous islands, and a hilly mainland encompassing hundreds of lochs. There is much for the historian to discover, from prehistoric monuments such as Kilmartin, to early Christian sites […]

Wild Scotland on Film
‘’The light of enchantment on heather and lochan, the curler’s call, the fragrance of green bog myrtle, slow silence enfolding all’’ Bee Keeping in the North (1946) (Intertitles on silent film) Scotland’s great outdoors features in many memorable films – think of the brooding mountains of Glencoe in ‘Skyfall’ or the breathtaking Aberdeenshire village of […]

Zoom into Inverclyde
Part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, Inverclyde is situated in the crook of the upper Firth of Clyde as it bends east toward Glasgow. Its largest towns, Greenock and Port Glasgow, were historic centres of shipbuilding. From the eighteenth century they were key ports for the British trade in goods from overseas, including commodities, […]

Curators’ Favourites: James Leslie Mitchell’s Spartacus
Photograph by Zach Dyson. The choice: James Leslie Mitchell, Spartacus (London, 1933) Chosen by: Ian Scott, Curator in General Collections Read or download this book from the Lewis Grassic Gibbon page on our digital gallery http://digital.nls.uk/lewis-grassic-gibbon-books/archive/205174226 where you will find this novel alongside the other books James Leslie Mitchell published during his lifetime both under […]

Zoom into Clackmannanshire
Collated by Charlotte James Robertson. This time in our ‘Zoom into…’ series the spotlight is on Clackmannanshire. Affectionately known as ‘The Wee County’ it is mainland Scotland’s smallest council area by population. Clackmannanshire borders the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth & Kinross. The town of Clackmannan was the county town up until 1822 when Alloa became the main administrative centre. […]

Curators’ Favourites: Alasdair Alpin MacGregor, The Peat Fire Flame
The choice: The Peat Fire Flame Chosen by: Paula Williams, Curator, Maps, Mountaineering & Polar Collections Read or download this book from our Digital Gallery. Welcome to the latest of our fortnightly series introducing some favourites from our collections for you to enjoy reading, all freely available online. The Peat Fire Flame is a collection of folk-tales from the Highlands and […]