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 […]
Tag: history
Robert Louis Stevenson: a young historian
At the age of fifteen Robert Louis Stevenson penned “The Pentland Rising: A page of history”. This is a vivid and eloquent recreation of the events that led to the Covenanters’ military engagement with Royalist forces on 28 November 1666. This event, the Battle of Rullion Green, took place exactly 355 years ago today. Stevenson’s […]
Doors Open Day: Through ‘The Void’ to Libberton’s Wynd
During Doors Open Day, we try to take visitors to hitherto unknown parts of the National Library building at George IV Bridge. ‘The Void’ is the final destination of our tours on Doors Open Day – but what is ‘The Void’? ‘The Void’ is effectively a sub-street space between the structures of the Library building […]
Doors Open Day: The Staircase Window by Helen Monro Turner
Following his unfortunate death, to ensure continuity in the Library project, Reginald Fairlie was succeeded as the Library’s architect by one of the partners in his architectural practice, Alexander Ritchie Conlon. Conlon’s fledgling career had been interrupted by the Second World War, during which he served as an Officer with the Royal Engineers’ bomb disposal. […]
Doors Open Day: The Sculptors
“While he chips away with his chisel the rest of the work on the building goes on round him. The rickety noise of cranes. The sharp rattle of drills. The clattering of bricks. And the clang of steel girders…” – The Edinburgh Evening Dispatch, 14th July, 1954. For several months in 1954 and 1955, the […]
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 […]
Scottish Book Trade Index Revamped!
The Scottish Book Trade Index is now fully searchable! The new version has all the information from the old one, but you can now combine searches rather than looking for one word such as a name or trade. You can, for instance, find out how many booksellers there were in Brechin in the 18th century […]
WWII AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS
The next Scottish Local History Forum Annual Lecture will be held in the Library on 13 February, when Professor Niall Logan will be talking about Duping the Luftwaffe. There is an accompanying display in the Library which showcases items relating to this, as well as to civil defence and air raid precautions. With another war […]
Halloween in the National Library of Scotland
It was one of those blustery days, Halloween was approaching and the wee man wanted me to accompany him guising. I had my trepidations; when we were kids everyone in our street knew each other, in fact we grew up within a few miles radius – it wasn’t a big deal knocking on doors a […]
The Ivy Now
If you would like a peek behind the scenes of one of London’s most famous restaurants, look no further than “The Ivy Now” for a highly entertaining culinary read.