University of St Andrews Special Collections
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The University Library's Special Collections blog highlights items from the collections to explore their past and context.
The University of St Andrews is a public university in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland.
University of St Andrews Special Collections
1M ago
Are you tired of the same old parade of treats on your festive table? Bored stiff by yet another Bûche de Noel? Are you looking to introduce an element of thrill and peril into your party preparations which only a recipe lacking quantities, instructions or cooking temperature can provide? Well, festive feasters, you are in ..read more
University of St Andrews Special Collections
1M ago
One of the most important histories of Scotland, which sheds new light on William Wallace and the Stone of Destiny, has found its permanent home with St Andrews University Libraries and Museums. A newly acquired manuscript is being made available to the public for the first time in its 500-year history and has been given ..read more
University of St Andrews Special Collections
1M ago
In continuation of UK Disability History month, we take another look at the University archive for stories of students living with disabilities in previous generations. In this blog we highlight the stories of students recorded as blind in the University’s archive. It is acknowledged that individuals who are blind or have some form of visual impairment ..read more
University of St Andrews Special Collections
1M ago
What do you get if you mix a famous golfer, an organ-paying medievalist and the Declaration of Independence? The improbable though entirely true tale of how a young lecturer came to swap St Andrews, Fife, for sunny Savannah, Georgia, for a memorable St Andrews Day celebration in November 1974. 1974 brought musical novelty to St ..read more
University of St Andrews Special Collections
2M ago
November marks the start of UK Disability History month and the opportunity to discover and learn new narratives within the University’s archives. Archivists Sarah Rodriguez and Elizabeth Thompson-MacRae have been looking into the records to find out some ways in which learning has been accessed by staff and students living with disabilities over the centuries ..read more
University of St Andrews Special Collections
3M ago
It is that time of year again – costumes, raisins receipts and foam fights! The earliest records in the University’s archive relating to Raisin celebrations are from the 19th century. Student reminiscences record bejants (first year students) having to pay a pound of raisins to senior students in exchange for receipts in doggerel Latin (more ..read more
University of St Andrews Special Collections
6M ago
In this blog, Noor Zohdy, Laidlaw Scholar 2024, reports on their summer research project looking at editions of Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. As part of my Laidlaw research project this summer on Anne Brontë and her novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, I was exploring the Hargreaves Brontë books. It was an ..read more
University of St Andrews Special Collections
7M ago
In this blog, Furniture & Wooden Artefacts Conservator Sarah Gerrish reports on conservation work carried out on a Japanese photo album from University Collections (ALB-116). As a freelance furniture and wooden artefacts conservator working in Scotland, one of the more unusual artefacts I was delighted to have the opportunity to conserve recently was a Japanese ..read more
University of St Andrews Special Collections
8M ago
In April of this year I found myself posing with a colony of penguins. Principal Professor Dame Sally Mapstone was there too. The photographer asked me to look down at the birds, and in that intimate moment, staring into those small beady eyes, I looked back on the events that had led me to this ..read more
University of St Andrews Special Collections
9M ago
As a general rule, we do not retain examination scripts or answers in the University archive. There are a few items however that have been kept by archivists due to their uniqueness. During this examination period, we thought we might share one of two of these examples. A volume entitled “Curious answers to examination questions ..read more