In 2018 the Man Booker Prize celebrates its 50th anniversary. The first award was made in 1969 but most of the novels shortlisted were published in 1968. The 2018 shortlist will be announced on 20th September and the 2018 winner on the 16th October. To mark fifty years of the prize we thought we would […]
Category: 21st-century items
Virago Modern Classics celebrate 40 years of rediscovering forgotten novels
When Hilary Mantel returned to Britain in 1982 after living in Botswana for five years she noticed unfamiliar green book spines everywhere. She discovered that these were Virago Modern Classics and recognised them as a change for the better in the world of publishing. Virago was founded in 1975 by Carmen Callil, Marsha Rowe and Rosie […]
Happy Birthday Beano!
The Beano is Britain’s longest running comic and celebrated its 80th birthday on 30th July 2018. So a slightly belated happy birthday. We did though throw a party for the Beano at our Kelvin Hall premises in Glasgow on Saturday the 28th of July. We showed for one day only our copy of Beano issue […]
Fashion Collections at the NLS
Vogue The Covers HB6.218.6.89, 100 Years of Fashion PB6.212.838/10, Behind The Runway HB6.217.2.36 The General Collections available at the National Library of Scotland (NLS) cover a diverse range of topics from Mountaineering to Music. You can find help and information to set up a business, indulge a passion, learn a new skill or delve into […]
Jim Clark
When it came to the launch of a Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 there could have been no more natural choice than Jim Clark – by any standard, a Scottish sporting great. Winner of a then record twenty-five Formula 1 Grand Prix, Clark was a respected international motor-racing superstar whose sheer skill meant […]
‘Engraved in the Flesh’: Tattoos in History
On the ground floor of the Surgeons Hall Museum in Edinburgh there is a glass jar with a piece of skin. On this skin is the tattoo of a lady. This tattoo is discolored and disfigured by chemicals and age. Any other information is purely speculative. We don’t know who created the tattoo, who bore […]
Posh Pancakes
If you plan to mark Shrove Tuesday by making some pancakes this year, look no further than Posh Pancakes for some inspiration. With over 70 different pancakes to choose from, it is the recipe for the perfect Pancake Day next week!
Siren Song: Ron King’s Alluring Artist’s Books
Fitting for wintry January days is this sculptural work of art, new to the National Library’s Artists Books collection. Sedna and the Fulmar is one of forty signed, limited-editions by artist Ron King at Circle Press in collaboration with Scottish poet Richard Price.
The last Viking
(Image shows the cover of the book which is a picture of Roald Amundsen. Photo credit: Aurum Press) In the early twentieth century, many of the great geographical mysteries that had intrigued adventurers for centuries remained unsolved; leaving unexplored blank areas on otherwise increasingly detailed global maps. Whereas Tibet, African and the Amazon had […]
Micromastery : learn small, learn fast and find the hidden path to happiness
As the nights draw in this autumn, it could be the perfect time to learn a new skill or hobby. If you feel daunted, or that you don’t have the time to devote to something new, look no further than Micromastery, which is new to the Library’s collections.