Master of horror Stephen King, who has written over fifty novels and roughly two hundred short stories, turns seventy next month. The influence of his work is as strong as ever, with film adaptations of “The Dark Tower” and “It” due for cinema release in the coming weeks and a series based on one of […]
Category: Exhibitions and events
SGT. PEPPER: IT WAS 50 YEARS AGO TODAY
The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in the UK on May 26, 1967. It remains the third best selling album in the UK: only Queen’s Greatest Hits (1981) and Abba’s Gold: Greatest Hits (1992) have outsold it. To mark this anniversary, the National Library of Scotland has mounted a free display of […]
SAFHS Conference and Family History Fair 2017
The Scottish Association of Family History Societies (SAFHS) Annual Conference and Family History Fair is on Saturday 22 April 2017 at The Bay Hotel, Pettycur, Burntisland Road, Kinghorn, KY3 9YE. The theme of this years event is ‘Building Bridges: Making Connections’. Along with many other stall holders, the National Library of Scotland will be in […]
Rare Books Edinburgh 2017
This week sees the inauguration of a new festival running from the 20th to the 30th of March. Rare Books Edinburgh is dedicated to rare, collectable, and important books and the history of the book and is promoting a series of events and talks across the city. The National Library of Scotland is one of […]
Charity Bazaars in Scotland
The word ‘bazaar’ was first used to describe a sale of work in 1813 in London and spread throughout the developed world in the 19th century. By the 1870s they were huge extravaganzas lasting several days, with entertainments, such as puppet shows, theatrical performances and displays of novelties such as electric light,
March’s Map of the Month: A map of Scotland. [Stitched by] Margaret Montgomery, circa 1800.
March is Women’s History Month and, in keeping with this theme, our Map of the Month is a map of Scotland, embroidered by a young girl over 200 years ago.
‘After all, it is a book’
The Cheviot set is a story on many levels. This remarkable stage set was made in 1973 as touring ‘scenery’ for ‘The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil’, the first production of 7:84 (Scotland) Theatre Company. The play – a game-changing modern classic of Scottish theatre – was written by John McGrath in […]
February’s Map of the Month: Botanical Geography
This month’s Map of the Month celebrates the work of Alexander von Humboldt. The map Outlines of Botanical Geography appears in W.K. Johnston’s Physical Atlas (1848). Humboldt played an important part in the design and production of this map. Bearing an almost Faustian thirst for knowledge, Humboldt aimed to explore as much of the world as […]
The Empire Exhibition 1938
The Empire Exhibition 1938 The Empire Exhibition ran from May to October 1938 at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. King George VI with Queen Mary officially opened the Exhibition on the 3rd of May 1938 2017 marks seventy-nine years since the Exhibition. Reflecting on current political and social economic trends perhaps we can identify, more than […]
Magazines at the National Library of Scotland
As you would expect the National Library of Scotland has academic journals on all disciplines and also Scottish magazines and serial publications ranging from influential 19th century literary journals such as “Blackwood’s Edinburgh magazine” to modern titles such as D C Thomson’s recently launched “Danger mouse” comic and the new Scottish football journal “Nutmeg”. What […]