Over the last six months as an intern at the National Library of Scotland, I have undertaken the project ‘Scottish South Asians in Broadcasting’. This project draws on the Library’s vast collections, particularly the Moving Image Archive and Sound Collections, to identify underrepresented stories relating to the South Asian contribution to broadcasting in Scotland. The […]
A Natural Treasure
Isobel Wylie Hutchison features in our ‘Treasures of the National Library of Scotland’ exhibition. Her diaries, manuscripts, photographs, artwork and film all reveal a woman who loved to travel, but also one whose connection with the outdoors was important: I had heard the call of the wild, on star-lit nights under the Northern Lights. I […]
Changing gender in Metamorphoses
Ovid’s Metamorphoses has almost 12,000 lines and covers over two hundred and fifty Greek Myths. As the name suggests each of these myths involves some kind of transformation for the characters within it. Some of these transformations are from mortal to immortal, from human to animal and from human to plant, as well as a variety […]
Virginia da Vezzo – (more than) the Wife of Simon Vouet
Hello, my name is Nava Rizvi. I’m a postgraduate Intern in Rare Books Collections and undertook this work as part of my MSc. (History of Art, Theory and Display) at the University of Edinburgh. My main task has been to research and catalogue etchings and engravings held within the Newhailes Collection. Most of them date […]
Variations on a Theme: The Court Case of Marianne Woods and Jane Pirie
In 1810 the schoolteachers Marianne Woods and Jane Pirie found their Edinburgh boarding school abandoned after the rapid removal of every single pupil by their parents. The reason for this exodus stemmed from the accusations voiced by their pupil Jane Cumming who informed her grandmother that the two teachers were in a sexual relationship. Horrified […]
National Library of Scotland and the Edinburgh College of Art: an enduring partnership
Since 2014, the National Library’s Public Programmes team have been regularly working with Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) Illustration tutors and their 1st Year students on an annual collaborative project. Taking inspiration from different aspects of the National Library’s collections, the students have created Riso prints, linocuts, drawings and paper sculptures as part of their […]
Harry Potter and the 80 translations
The National Library of Scotland’s new Treasures exhibition in Edinburgh includes an array of translations of the first Harry Potter novel. These translations show that the Harry Potter books are a global success, published and read in almost every corner of the the world. “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling (1997) (or […]
Rare and Fascinating Beekeeping Books
In the summer of 2021, a generous donation of beekeeping works was made to the Scottish Beekeepers’ Association (SBA) from the bookseller, John Kinross. After discussions with the librarian of the SBA’s circulating library held at Fountainbridge Public Library, it was decided that twenty-eight of the rarest and most valuable titles would become additions to […]
The Oscars come to the National Library
With the 94th Academy Awards upon us at the end of March, what better time to explore the Library’s film collections and discover a few unexpected connections to the Oscars… A trio of Scottish ‘Best Live Action Shorts’ Seawards the Great Ships (1960) was the first Scottish film to win an Oscar, for best Live […]
Sir Walter Scott and the historical novel
Last year marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of one of Scotland’s greatest literary talents, Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). The Wizard of the North, as he became known, enjoyed a towering reputation throughout the 19th century and was one of the most important figures in the development and popularisation of the historical novel. The […]