The origins of mathematics Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2019-09-03 | Cambridge University Library holds the most important collection of Isaac Newton’s working papers, in which he lays the foundations for the mathematics of the calculus and establishes the experimental basis for his revolutionary interpretations of the physical universe. This film explores some of the insights that can be drawn from these papers, some of which describe work done at Newton’s Lincolnshire home at Woolsthorpe Manor, as well as undertaken in his College rooms at Trinity.Link:cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-ADD-04004/1Presented by Niccolo Guicciardini and Scott Mandelbrote.Produced by Katrina Dean and Huw Jones.Camera and Editing by Blazej Mikula.Support team: Amélie Deblauwe and Mark BoxFilmed at:Cambridge University Library, Woolsthorpe ManorMusic by: Countless Skies - countlessskies.com
Endless Stories: Manuscripts, knowledge and translation in the 17th century Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2024-09-26 | Our new exhibition, Endless Stories, showcases the extraordinary manuscripts collected by seventeenth-century visionary, Thomas Van Erpe.More than 15 languages feature in the exhibition, including Arabic, Aramaic, Classical Chinese, Hebrew, Javanese, Malay, Persian, Syriac, Telugu, Turkish, and Yiddish!Tickets are completely free and are available to book now: lib.cam.ac.uk/endlessstories
Illustrated books and humour in Cambridge University Library’s Liberation collection (1944-1946) Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2024-04-17 | Illustrated books and humour in Cambridge University Library’s Liberation Collection (1944-1946)”.By Sophie Dubillot (collaborative PhD student at Cambridge University Library and the Open University) and Irene Fabry-Tehranchi (University Library) Recording of a public talk given on 19 March 2024, as part of the Cambridge Festival. It highlights books from the Chadwyck-Healey Liberation Collection which consists in about 3,300 books in French on the Second World War, the Occupation and the Liberation.
Murder by the Book: Agatha Christies typewriter Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2024-03-25 | Murder by the Book: a celebration of 20th century British crime fiction puts on display nearly 100 of the most famous, influential and best-selling crime novels in UK history. Agatha Christie’s typewriter, Dictaphone and the typescript of her final Poirot novel – so top secret it was kept in a bank vault for three decades – are among the star exhibits.
Murder by the Book: Wilkie Collins The Moonstone is repaired Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2024-03-20 | Cambridge University Library's Conservation Department has been working hard to repair and stablise the exhibits for our new Murder by the Book exhibition. Here, conservator Emma Nichols explains to Nicola Upson how she has repaired our first edition of Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone.Murder by the Book opens on 23 March. Pre-booking is essential but tickets are completely free! lib.cam.ac.uk/murderbythebook
Cambridge University Library: Murder by the Book Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2024-03-20 | Join us for Murder by the Book, a new exhibition at Cambridge University Library exploring the history of the crime novel. You'll see some incredible pieces from the library's collections as well as objects from other world-famous archives.
Cambridge University Libraries Choir, Christmas Carols 2023 Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-12-13 | Christmas carols at Cambridge University Library.Conducted by William Hale.
Sandars Lectures 2023: Lecture One Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-12-04 | Sandars Lectures 2023: Lecture One, ‘Picking up the Threads’ with Dr David PearsonHosted by Cambridge University Libraries The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is one of the most prestigious honorary posts to which book historians, librarians and researchers can be appointed. Those elected deliver a series of lectures on their chosen subject. Why are Cambridge bookbindings interesting? In this opening Sandars lecture 2023, Dr David Pearson describes the evolution of Cambridge binding from the late fifteenth century to the end of the sixteenth, looking at designs, materials, techniques, and ways in which these things can be recognised and dated. Dr David Pearson was formerly Director of Culture, Heritage & Libraries for the City of London Corporation. He is a Senior Fellow of the Institute of English Studies at the University of London, was Lyell Reader in Bibliography at Oxford 2017-18, and teaches regularly on the Rare Book Schools in London and Virginia. His books include Provenance Research in Book History (new edition, 2019), English Bookbinding Styles 1450-1800 (2005), Book Ownership in Stuart England (2021), and Speaking Volumes: Books with Histories (2022); in 2020 he launched the Book Owners Online database. Cambridge Bookbindings 1450-1770, featuring 45 bookbindings in Cambridge during the handpress period using the collections of Cambridge University Library, is available on the Cambridge Digital Library: cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/cambridgebindings/1.
Sandars Lectures 2023: Lecture Two Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-12-04 | Sandars Lectures 2023: Lecture Two, “We have places that have been famous for binding, as Cambridge, Eton, and London”, with Dr David PearsonHosted by Cambridge University Libraries The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is one of the most prestigious honorary posts to which book historians, librarians and researchers can be appointed. Those elected deliver a series of lectures on their chosen subject. This second lecture from Sandars Reader 2023, Dr David Pearson, continues the chronological narrative, looking at the characteristics of Cambridge bindings through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Dr David Pearson was formerly Director of Culture, Heritage & Libraries for the City of London Corporation. He is a Senior Fellow of the Institute of English Studies at the University of London, was Lyell Reader in Bibliography at Oxford 2017-18, and teaches regularly on the Rare Book Schools in London and Virginia. His books include Provenance Research in Book History (new edition, 2019), English Bookbinding Styles 1450-1800 (2005), Book Ownership in Stuart England (2021), and Speaking Volumes: Books with Histories (2022); in 2020 he launched the Book Owners Online database. Cambridge Bookbindings 1450-1770, featuring 45 bookbindings in Cambridge during the handpress period using the collections of Cambridge University Library, is available on the Cambridge Digital Library: cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/cambridgebindings/1.
Sandars Lectures 2023: Lecture Three Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-12-04 | Sandars Lectures 2023: Lecture Three, ‘Bookbinders and Customers’, with Dr David PearsonHosted by Cambridge University Libraries The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is one of the most prestigious honorary posts to which book historians, librarians and researchers can be appointed. Those elected deliver a series of lectures on their chosen subject. The final lecture from Sandars Reader 2023, Dr David Pearson, looks more closely at binders, at what we can know about them and their trade networks. Dr David Pearson was formerly Director of Culture, Heritage & Libraries for the City of London Corporation. He is a Senior Fellow of the Institute of English Studies at the University of London, was Lyell Reader in Bibliography at Oxford 2017-18, and teaches regularly on the Rare Book Schools in London and Virginia. His books include Provenance Research in Book History (new edition, 2019), English Bookbinding Styles 1450-1800 (2005), Book Ownership in Stuart England (2021), and Speaking Volumes: Books with Histories (2022); in 2020 he launched the Book Owners Online database. Cambridge Bookbindings 1450-1770, featuring 45 bookbindings in Cambridge during the handpress period using the collections of Cambridge University Library, is available on the Cambridge Digital Library: cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/cambridgebindings/1
Spitting Image: A history Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-09-29 | It was an anarchic, surreal take on Britain and over 15 million people watched it at its height. Many politicians and public figures thought it was better to be satirised by the show than not be on it at all...Exhibition curator Dr Christopher Burgess gives us a brief history of Spitting Image.Dr Christopher Burgess is Head of Exhibitions and Public Programmes at Cambridge University Library.Spitting Image: A Controversial History runs from 30 September 2023 – 17 February 2024. Book your free tickets here: tickets.museums.cam.ac.uk/overview/7466
Spitting Image: Lampooning the Royals Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-09-29 | Spitting Image revived a long tradition of lampooning the Royal Family.Dr Sean Lang discusses the history of satirising the Royal Family, how it has changed over centuries, and how the makers of Spitting Image put their own spin on it.Dr Sean Lang is a Senior Lecturer in History at Anglia Ruskin University.Spitting Image: A Controversial History runs from 30 September 2023 – 17 February 2024. Book your free tickets here: tickets.museums.cam.ac.uk/overview/7466
Spitting Image: Making the puppets Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-09-29 | "Sitting on The Tube in London, I would look at the way people talked."How do you create the moving puppets seen in Spitting Image? Professor Spike Bucklow discusses the different skills involved in the journey from a joke to the finished moving foam puppets. Spike Bucklow is a former Professor of Material Culture at the University of Cambridge and Conservation Scientist at the Hamilton Kerr Institute.Spitting Image: A Controversial History runs from 30 September 2023 – 17 February 2024. Book your free tickets here: tickets.museums.cam.ac.uk/overview/7466
Spitting Image: Political satire Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-09-29 | "Margaret Thatcher's puppet would smack their bottoms and smack their heads!"Spitting Image was watched by every demographic in the UK, reaching huge audiences despite its post-watershed broadcast time on a Sunday evening.Professor Lucy Delap, Professor in Modern British and Gender History at the University of Cambridge, explains why the show was so popular and how Margaret Thatcher was a gift to the writers and puppeteers on the show.
Spitting Image: Impact on Black Britain Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-09-29 | "Spitting Image actually said what we were thinking about the establishment."Dr Kenny Monrose talks about how the iconic TV show was received by Black Britons during the Thatcher years of the 1980s.Dr Kenny Monrose is a Researcher at the University of Cambridge.
Intro to Cambridge Libraries Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-09-01 | Join Cambridge University Libraries in this brief overview of the diverse and inspiring world our libraries have to offer. Whether you are a new to university life or already a seasoned researcher, our libraries are here to empower your academic endeavours. We look forward to welcoming you! University of Cambridge Libraries: lib.cam.ac.uk iDiscover: idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk Libraries Accessibility Service: lib.cam.ac.uk/accessibility/libraries-accessibility-service Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre: disability.admin.cam.ac.uk
Cambridge University Library Research Institute Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-05-23 | This video introduces the Cambridge University Library Research Institute, which was launched in May 2023. A vibrant, inclusive community of researchers and practitioners at all career stages, the Research Institute uses the breadth and depth of Cambridge University Library’s world-leading expertise, collections and infrastructure to nurture national and international research projects and networks. Further information is available at www.lib.cam.ac.uk/research-institute.
Sandars Lectures 2022: Lecture Three Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-01-19 | Sandars Lectures 2022: Lecture ThreeReassessing the European Printing Revolution, forty years after Eisenstein The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is one of the most prestigious honorary posts to which book historians, librarians and researchers can be appointed. Those elected deliver a series of lectures on their chosen subject.The detailed examination of books, ledgers, and historical library catalogues, the implementation of digital technologies, and long-term international collaboration are not only bringing to light rich and often unexpected stories, but also substantially challenging and redefining the accepted narrative of the European printing revolution.Cristina Dondi is Professor of Early European Book Heritage, and Oakeshott Senior Research Fellow in the Humanities at Lincoln College, University of Oxford. She is also Secretary of the Consortium of European Research Libraries. During the period 2014-2019 she was the Principal Investigator of the 15cBOOKTRADE Project, funded by the European Research Council, whose results were shared with the general public in an exhibition held in Venice in 2018/19 and now online at www.printingrevolution.eu. She is the editor of Printing R-Evolution and Society 1450-1500. Fifty Years that Changed Europe (Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2020), and co-editor (with D. Raines and R. Sharpe) of How the Secularization of Religious Houses Transformed the Libraries of Europe, 16th–19th Centuries (Turnhout: Brepols, 2022).
Sandars Lectures 2022: Lecture Two Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-01-19 | Sandars Lectures 2022: Lecture TwoSamuel Sandars as a collector of incunabula The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is one of the most prestigious honorary posts to which book historians, librarians and researchers can be appointed. Those elected deliver a series of lectures on their chosen subject.In 2014 Nigel Morgan’s Lectures explored Samuel Sandars’ collection of illuminated manuscripts. In this lecture Cristina Dondi looks at his collection of incunabula: what they are, where they came from, and how they were acquired.Cristina Dondi is Professor of Early European Book Heritage, and Oakeshott Senior Research Fellow in the Humanities at Lincoln College, University of Oxford. She is also Secretary of the Consortium of European Research Libraries. During the period 2014-2019 she was the Principal Investigator of the 15cBOOKTRADE Project, funded by the European Research Council, whose results were shared with the general public in an exhibition held in Venice in 2018/19 and now online at www.printingrevolution.eu. She is the editor of Printing R-Evolution and Society 1450-1500. Fifty Years that Changed Europe (Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2020), and co-editor (with D. Raines and R. Sharpe) of How the Secularization of Religious Houses Transformed the Libraries of Europe, 16th–19th Centuries (Turnhout: Brepols, 2022).
Sandars Lectures 2022: Lecture One Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-01-19 | Sandars Lectures 2022: Lecture OneBooks from the suppressed religious institutions of Europe: Mapping the dispersals This lecture was re-recorded due to a technical fault with the original. The development of printing in Western Europe was not just a technological innovation; its profound social and economic impact ushered into the Continent the transition from a medieval to an early modern society, a phenomenon which was analysed in different ways by Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin, L’apparition du livre (Paris 1958) and by Elizabeth Eisenstein, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change (CUP, 1979). For the last twenty years, an international network of scholars and librarians coordinated by Professor Cristina Dondi has been uncovering the historical evidence for the seismic impact of the European printing revolution preserved in the many thousands of surviving incunabula (books printed between the 1450s and 1500). Harnessing the tools of the digital revolution is also allowing us to reconstruct virtually, and understand, the dispersal and formation of European and American book collections over the intervening centuries. Incunabula in Cambridge libraries, including Sandars’ own collection, will be set in the wider context of where they came from, and their connections with other collections around the world. Cristina Dondi is Professor of Early European Book Heritage, and Oakeshott Senior Research Fellow in the Humanities at Lincoln College, University of Oxford. She is also Secretary of the Consortium of European Research Libraries. During the period 2014-2019 she was the Principal Investigator of the 15cBOOKTRADE Project, funded by the European Research Council, whose results were shared with the general public in an exhibition held in Venice in 2018/19 and now online at www.printingrevolution.eu. She is the editor of Printing R-Evolution and Society 1450-1500. Fifty Years that Changed Europe (Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2020), and co-editor (with D. Raines and R. Sharpe) of How the Secularization of Religious Houses Transformed the Libraries of Europe, 16th–19th Centuries (Turnhout: Brepols, 2022).
Liberation Literature Lecture 2022 Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2023-01-16 | The Liberation Literature Lecture was delivered on Thursday 17th November 2022 by Dr Rory Finnin, University Associate Professor of Ukrainian Studies, on the subject of ‘Voila: Defiant Freedom and Liberation at the Centre of Ukraine’s National Identity’. In this presentation, Rory Finnin explores the concept of volia, or defiant freedom, in Ukraine's modern history and culture. With particular attention to poetry, and with a view to the Euromaidan Revolution and Russia's ongoing war of neo-imperial aggression, he explains how a politics of universal democratic freedom evolved over centuries to pose powerful alternatives to aristocracy to Ukraine's west and autocracy to its east. About the speaker: Dr Rory Finnin is University Associate Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge. He launched Cambridge Ukrainian Studies in 2008. He is former Head of the Department of Slavonic Studies (2014-18) and former Chair of the Cambridge Committee for Russian and East European Studies (CamCREES) (2011-18). About the series: The Liberation Literature Lecture is an annual event hosted by Cambridge University Libraries, themed around the political, cultural and artistic life of countries under, or emerging from, occupation. The lecture’s topic is inspired by the Chadwyck-Healey Liberation Collection, which includes some 3000 books and pamphlets published in France between August 1944 to the end of 1946. This collection shows how the occupied French used the published word to express their experience during the Nazi occupation, and you can find out more about it here: lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/french-collections/french-special-collections/french-rare-books/chadwyck. The Liberation Literature Lecture is generously supported by Charles Chadwyck-Healey.
Cambridge University Library Christmas Choir 2022 Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2022-12-16 | Cambridge University Library Christmas Choir 2022
12 Bytes: Discussing Artificial Intelligence with Jeanette Winterson Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2022-04-07 | Author Jeanette Winterson speaks with Cambridge University Librarian, Dr Jessica Gardner, about her new book 12 Bytes: How We Got Here. Where We Might Go Next (July 2021); a series of essays exploring her years of researching Artificial Intelligence and the implications it is having on the ways we live and the ways we love. Hosted as part of the Cambridge Festival 2022. Topic: 12 BYTES: DISCUSSING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WITH JEANETTE WINTERSONDate: Apr 1, 2022 16:57 London
Dimensions of Darwin Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2022-03-24 | Over his lifetime, Charles Darwin generated an enormous written archive and amassed a wide array of specimens and objects. Much of this is now housed amongst the University of Cambridge collections. Technological advances make it increasingly possible to engage with physical archives in virtual space.An exciting sample of items from across the University of Cambridge collections, all relating to Darwin’s work, have been selected by specialists collaborating on the project. The items will all undergo a variety of imaging techniques. We can then begin to explore how we can engage with them and their stories in virtual space. A bit about some of the items featured in this film: 1) An Egg of the spotted nothura (Nothura maculosa), a species of tinamou, collected by Darwin on the Beagle voyage from Maldonado (Uruguay) in 1833 and damaged by him when packed in a box that was too small.2) Two Octopuses collected at the very beginning of Beagle voyage in early 1832 near St Jago (now Santiago), Cape Verde Islands; Darwin delighted at their ability to change colour in rock pools and at first thought this was a new observation to science.3) A self-recording auxanometer for measuring plant growth made by Darwin's son Horace in 1876 and probably used by his other son Francis when he assisted his father with experiments for Power of movement in plants (1880).
Samurai: History and Legend Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2022-03-16 | #CambridgeUniversityLibrary #ULsamuraiSamurai: History and Legend22 January – 28 May 202209.00-18.30 Monday-Friday09.00-16.30 Saturdays (closed Sundays)Free and open to all - no need to bookGroups are welcome - please email events@lib.cam.ac.uk to discuss your visitSamurai are a well-known image of Japan, but they are as much legend as history. Our Samurai: History and Legend exhibition explores the literary concept of the samurai and the changing nature of Japanese warrior culture from the 12th to the 19th centuries.The great warriors of Japan’s medieval period (roughly the 13th to 16th centuries) gradually gave way to a more well-defined and self-conscious warrior class that ruled over a long period of relative peace, from the 17th to the mid-19th century.Today’s familiar images of the samurai began to take shape in the histories and vibrant popular culture of that peaceful time. During this period, records and reinterpretations of an older Japanese warrior culture helped construct the histories and myths of the samurai that today hold sway in Japan and beyond.This exhibition is curated by Dr Kristin Williams.Generously supported by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, the Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation and the Friends of Cambridge University Library.Animated, edited and produced by: Blazej MikulaNarration: Melonie Schmierer-LeeExhibition curator: Kristin WilliamsScript editors: Chris Burgess, Kristin Williams, Stuart Roberts, Melonie Schmierer-LeeFilm made by the Digital Content Unit, Cambridge University Librarylib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/digital-content-unit
Art and Commerce at Play: The Illustrated Books in Early Modern Japan Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2022-03-15 | Dr Ellis Tinios offers a wide-ranging introduction to the illustrated book in early modern Japan. Products of creative interplay between artists and publishers, they are original works of art issued in multiples. Their design, production, marketing and content is explored. Q&A hosted by Dr Chris Burgess, Head of Exhibitions and Public Programmes at Cambridge University Library.Dr Ellis Tinios trained in the USA and the UK. As a Marshall Scholar he completed an M.Phil. in Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds (1969-72). Subsequently, he served as Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in East Asian History at Leeds (1978-2002). In those years, his research shifted from the historians of ancient China to print culture in early modern Japan, with special emphasis on the illustrated book. Early retirement in 2002 opened opportunities for him to collaborate with colleagues in the UK and in Japan, and to teach and lecture in Europe, Japan, and the USA. This event was hosted as part of Cambridge University Libraries' exhibition, Samurai: History and Legend. Samurai are a well-known image of Japan, but they are as much legend as history. Our exhibition explores the literary heritage of the samurai and the changing nature of Japanese warrior history and culture from the 12th to the 19th centuries. www.lib.cam.ac.uk/exhibitions#ULsamurai
Japanese Books in 17th-Century England Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2022-02-04 | Richard Cocks was the head of the English Factory in Japan for the ten years of its operation, from 1613 to 1623. Soon after his arrival he began sending Japanese books back to England and some of them survive to this day. Why did he do it, since he must have known that nobody in England could read a word of them? He sent them to prominent people and one of them showed a Japanese almanac sent by Cocks to King James I, who was unimpressed. In this talk, Professor Peter Kornicki explores how and why the books reached England and what subsequently became of them. Professor Peter Kornicki is an Emeritus Professor of Japanese. Educated at St George’s College, Weybridge, and Lincoln College, Oxford, he has taught at the University of Tasmania, Kyoto University and then, from 1985, at Cambridge, where he has been a fellow of Robinson College since 1986. He has lived six years in Japan, mostly in Kyoto. He has published extensively on the history of the book in Japan and, more recently, on translation and interlingual transactions in East Asia. His monographs include The Book in Japan: from the Beginnings to the Nineteenth Century (1998) and Languages, Scripts and Chinese Texts in East Asia (2018) and he has been the coeditor of several collections of essays including The Female as Subject: Reading and Writing in Early Modern Japan (2010) and Eavesdropping on Emperor (2021), a study of wartime Japanese courses in Britain and the roles of linguists as codebreakers, translators, interrogators and eavesdroppers. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and in 2017 the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, was conferred on him by the Japanese Ambassador in London. This event was hosted as part of Cambridge University Libraries' exhibition, Samurai: History and Legend. Samurai are a well-known image of Japan, but they are as much legend as history. Our exhibition explores the literary heritage of the samurai and the changing nature of Japanese warrior history and culture from the 12th to the 19th centuries. www.lib.cam.ac.uk/exhibitions#ULsamurai’
Writing Disability: The Changeling Face of Disability Representation in Children’s Literature Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-12-17 | To explore and celebrate the range and power of disabled authors, Cambridge University Library has organised a series of events with writers and thinkers to discuss disability, representation, activism and the written word. The events mark UK Disability History Month 2021, and the launch of the University of Cambridge Disabled Staff Network: equality.admin.cam.ac.uk/diversity-networks/disabled-staff-network.Award-winning young writer and current Cambridge student Lottie Mills, and PhD candidate and children’s literature researcher Elizabeth Leung, came together to discuss disability representation in fiction. Lottie Mills (she/her) is a third-year English student at Newnham College, Cambridge, and was the BBC Young Writer of the Year 2020. Born with Cerebral Palsy, her work is particularly concerned with themes of disability and difference. She is currently represented by David Godwin Associates, and is working on her debut short story collection. Elizabeth Leung (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge. Her primary research examines the representations of dyslexia in genre fiction for children and young adults. She is the editor-at-large of Young Adulting: Serious Reviews of Teen Fiction and you can follow her on Twitter @ezlabeth.
Writing Disability: Shifting the Lens Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-12-17 | To explore and celebrate the range and power of disabled authors, Cambridge University Library has organised a series of events with writers and thinkers to discuss disability, representation, activism and the written word. The events mark UK Disability History Month 2021, and the launch of the University of Cambridge Disabled Staff Network: equality.admin.cam.ac.uk/diversity-networks/disabled-staff-network. Vici Wreford-Sinnott is a disabled theatre and screen writer/director who has been involved in the disability arts movement in the UK for almost 30 years. Vici reflects on her theatrical and digital screen work and why she feels so passionately about the representation of disabled people. Vici is then in conversation with Molli Carlson, an MPhil student from the Centre of Film and Screen at Cambridge, with a specific focus on disability and cinema.
Cambridge University Libraries Choir, Christmas Carols 2021 Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-12-15 | #CambridgeUniversityLibrary #HappyChristmas #ChristmasCarolsChristmas carols at Cambridge University Library.Conducted by William Hale. List of Carols: Deck the HallGood King WenceslasSilent NightRejoice and Be MerryThe First NowellWhile Shepherds Watched15th December 2021.
Paper past and paper future, Dr Orietta Da Rold Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-12-02 | #CambridgeUniversityLibrary #Sandars LecturesAbout the series: Paper Past and paper FuturePaper is so common in our everyday life that we sometimes fail to notice it. It is available in all sorts of shapes, degrees of quality and colour. We rely on paper for the quotidian and the extraordinary. We think with paper, we write with paper, we create with paper, we imagine with paper and we feel through paper. It is both ephemeral and long lasting. The digital revolution, heralding the demise of paper, turned out to be a technological evolution, and we have discovered, or perhaps are still discovering, that these two technologies can accommodate rather than compete against one another.The arrival of paper in medieval Europe also heralded an era of technological innovation and evolution. Drawing on extensive research in Cambridge collections and beyond, Orietta Da Rold will consider the significance of this material as a commodity and particularly as the stuff of which books are made. These lectures are about the stories that medieval paper can tell. Looking differently at the books on the shelves of our libraries, paper unfolds fascinating stories of technological innovation, transnational interactions and human ingenuity. About the speaker:Dr Orietta Da Rold is an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St John’s College. She has published widely on medieval textual cultures and manuscript studies. She has recently published Paper in Medieval Britain: From Pulp to Fiction (CUP), which emerged from her British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, and edited the Cambridge Companion to British Manuscripts with Elaine Treharne. She is currently working on a project provisionally entitled ‘Paper in Time and Space’.
Sandars Lectures 2021: Lecture Two Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-11-12 | Sandars Lectures 2021: Lecture TwoPaper in Space The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is one of the most prestigious honorary posts to which book historians, librarians and researchers can be appointed. Those elected deliver a series of lectures on their chosen subject.This second Sandars lecture of 2021 considers the use of paper in several places, analysing what it can tell us about the places and networks of book production. It will also focus on the space that paper came to inhabit more broadly within medieval culture and society. It is well-known that paper flourished in mercantile communities, because it was both a tool and merchandise, and, ultimately, a desirable object. The lecture, however, will look further afield, discussing the space paper occupied within diverse writing environments in the medieval world. Dr Orietta Da Rold is an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St John’s College. She has published widely on medieval textual cultures and manuscript studies. She has recently published Paper in Medieval Britain: From Pulp to Fiction (CUP), which emerged from her British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, and edited the Cambridge Companion to British Manuscripts with Elaine Treharne. She is currently working on a project provisionally entitled ‘Paper in Time and Space’.Recorded Wednesday 10 November 2021 at Robinson College, Cambridge.
Sandars Lectures 2021: Lecture Three Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-11-12 | Sandars Lectures 2021: Lecture ThreePaper Futures The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is one of the most prestigious honorary posts to which book historians, librarians and researchers can be appointed. Those elected deliver a series of lectures on their chosen subject.This year’s third and final Sandars Lecture will explore the relevance and future of paper studies. The technological tension between parchment and paper is a common ground of debate amongst medieval book and archival historians. We can see similar considerations in the discussion around paper and new technologies. Rather than focusing on what can be perceived as tensions, imagining future technological scenarios offers renewed possibilities for collaborative thinking centred on the study of medieval paper. How can we bring the study of medieval paper into the future and how can two technologies, one of the past and one of the future, work together to enhance and share knowledge and tell new stories?Dr Orietta Da Rold is an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St John’s College. She has published widely on medieval textual cultures and manuscript studies. She has recently published Paper in Medieval Britain: From Pulp to Fiction (CUP), which emerged from her British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, and edited the Cambridge Companion to British Manuscripts with Elaine Treharne. She is currently working on a project provisionally entitled ‘Paper in Time and Space’.Recorded Thursday 11 November 2021 at Robinson College, Cambridge.
Sandars Lectures 2021: Lecture One Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-11-12 | Sandars Lectures 2021: Lecture OnePaper in Time The Sandars Readership in Bibliography is one of the most prestigious honorary posts to which book historians, librarians and researchers can be appointed. Those elected deliver a series of lectures on their chosen subject.This year’s first lecture tells the story of paper’s relation to time. Only tentatively can we date the majority of medieval books produced in Britain. Such ambiguity hinders how we can contextualise and discuss the texts written in them and the social interactions that medieval books enjoyed. The lecture will discuss how the study of paper can contribute to a chronology of medieval British books, it will consider some of the principles of such chronology and propose that ‘sequencing paper’ can be as distinctive and exciting as sequencing the human genome.Dr Orietta Da Rold is an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St John’s College. She has published widely on medieval textual cultures and manuscript studies. She has recently published Paper in Medieval Britain: From Pulp to Fiction (CUP), which emerged from her British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, and edited the Cambridge Companion to British Manuscripts with Elaine Treharne. She is currently working on a project provisionally entitled ‘Paper in Time and Space’.Recorded Tuesday 9 November 2021 at Robinson College, Cambridge.
Caricatures of the Franco Prussian War and the Paris Commune Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-10-04 | #CambridgeUniversityLibrary 2020-2021: 150th anniversary of the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune. 1870-71 caricatures are featuring in an upcoming exhibition at Cambridge University Library. The exhibition and the film above shed light on the Library's remarkable collection, now fully digitised, of six large volumes of around 1100 caricatures, mostly produced during the two sieges of Paris and widely distributed as coloured lithographs. lib.cam.ac.uk/stories/caricatures-franco-prussian-war-and-paris-commune-1870-71
Conservation conversations: making models Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-07-29 | Join the Conservation team at the Cambridge University Library as they discuss and demonstrate the making of model books as part of their work to preserve medieval manuscripts for the Polonsky Foundation Greek Manuscripts Project. Our expert conservators, Shaun Thompson and Marina Pelissari, will present some of their work, show some of the techniques they use, and answer questions submitted by you, the audience.We welcome questions submitted in advance of this session. Please share your questions with the Conservation team on Twitter: @theULSpecColl #PolonskyGreekOr leave them in the comments below!This Event is part of the Cambridge Alumni Festival 2021. This event will be pre-recorded and available from Friday 24 September.*Please note, this footage was filmed in February 2020, before the UK's Covid-19 restrictions were put into place.
Liberation Literature Lecture 2021 with Laurence Bertrand Dorléac Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-04-29 | Liberation Literature Lecture 2021“Why the story changes: New understandings of art in occupied France” with Laurence Bertrand Dorléac, Professor at Sciences Po Paris.This talk is delivered in French with English subtitles.In this talk Professor Laurence Bertrand Dorléac unpicks how as new sources become more or less visible and accessible, and changing sensibilities and mentalities changes, our understanding of history alters. Since 1984, and the defence of Professor Laurence Bertrand Dorléac’s doctoral thesis on art and the art world during the Second World War in France, most of the witnesses have disappeared. However, certain sources then prohibited are no longer hidden from view. Society’s interest in certain subjects has increased, whilst other subjects deemed worthy of attention then are thought less so today. The lecture explores how, when the subject of French art in World War Two was first studied, the focus was on: official artistic life, censorship, anti-Semitism, cultural collaboration, the Vichy government program, and the policies of the occupying Nazis. When Professor Bertrand Dorléac re-examined the period twenty years later, on the occasion of the exhibition L'art en guerre (at the Modern Art Museum of the city of Paris and at the Guggenheim Museum), new sources had emerged. Increasingly, our attention was directed towards underground and clandestine areas of history. The role of women was suddenly more important, and their place in the Resistance became central both in and through art. In this talk, Professor Bertrand Dorléac uses research, writing and exhibitions to demonstrates how history operates as a human and social science, anchored in the very historicity of human experience.Generously supported by the Chadwyck-Healey Charitable Trust.For more information about the Liberation Literature Lecture series including how to access the Chadwyck-Healey Collection, visit: lib.cam.ac.uk/liberation
The Journey of a Greek Manuscript Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-03-26 | Cambridge libraries contain hundreds of manuscripts written in Greek between the fifth and 18th centuries, from ancient Bibles to copies of Sophocles and Aristotle. A research project based at Cambridge University Library and funded by the Polonsky Foundation is conserving, digitising and cataloguing these manuscripts and making them available to everyone via the Cambridge Digital Library. In this short film created for the Cambridge Festival 2021, meet photographer Raffaella, conservator Sam and cataloguer Chris and learn about all the processes involved in bringing these precious, often fragile books from the library shelf to the computer screen. This film was recorded at the University Library in 2020 observing Covid-secure protocols. This means individuals appear in face-masks where appropriate for filming in the course of close work, and without masks for short periods of filming where full social distancing was feasible.
Library Lowdown Finding a book on the shelves Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-03-15 | Library Lowdown - a series of video shorts introducing essential tips for using the UL. There are over 8 million items in the UL. One quarter of these are on the open shelves – that’s 24 floors and 42 miles of shelves! So how do you find the book that you need? Each book has a unique classmark which includes information about the size of the book and its position on the shelf. When you find the book on the catalogue, you will see where that particular classmark is located. Books are grouped together first of all by subject. Books are then grouped on the shelves by size. The largest size ‘a’ books appear first, then ‘b’, then ‘c’, then, finally, ‘d’. Periodicals are shelved together at one end of the floor – you can spot these as they have a ‘P’ in front of the classmark.****************************************************************************************************** Film made by Cambridge University Library and the University of Cambridge Communications Team
Ghost Words exhibition launch March 2021 Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-03-04 | #CambridgeUniversityLibrary Held on Tuesday 2 March, Cambridge University Library marked the opening of Ghost Words: Reading the Past, a season of digital events and exhibitions, with an online lecture:The Three Lives of Codex Zacynthiuswith David C. Parker, Professor Emeritus of the University of BirminghamCodex Zacynthius was first written in the eighth century. It is the oldest surviving copy of a New Testament writing to contain in its margins a commentary. This text was erased in the twelfth century and replaced with a lectionary text. The use of modern imaging techniques has made possible fuller reconstruction of the old text than ever before. And digital technology has made possible an online edition which provides a complete set of images and the full text of both layers of writing. The lecture describes the research project and describes what we have learned about Codex Zacynthius.There was also the opportunity to hear from the curators of the Ghost Words exhibition, Dr Ben Outhwaite and Dr Suzanne Paul, with questions facilitated by University Librarian, Dr Jessica Gardner. Take the virtual tour of the exhibition here: lib.cam.ac.uk/ghostwords#ULghostwords
(Zero) Contact Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-02-24 | #cambridgeuniversitylibrary #ZeroContact #blenderEver wondered how our Scan and Deliver and Click and Collect services actually work?Wonder no more after viewing this unique footage from our Main Reading Room. Please note: No lamps or books were injured during filming. Find out more about our Zero-Contact services here: lib.cam.ac.uk/using-library/zero-contact-servicesMade by Blazej Mikula
A thousand year old seal from the Cairo Genizah Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2021-01-29 | Cambridge’s Genizah Collections are a window on the medieval world, preserving a huge number of personal letters, legal deeds and other documents, alongside literary and sacred texts. Some, like the manuscript in this video, are incredibly fragile. Attached to the bottom of the document is a seal impression (bulla) in dried clay, from the hand of Nehemiah Gaon - head of one of the Iraqi Jewish academies (yeshivot). It’s unique, very crumbly, and never sees the light of day.
Darwins missing notebooks - an appeal by Dr Jessica Gardner Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2020-11-24 | #DarwinAppeal #TreeofLifeCambridge University Library, with the help of Cambridgeshire Police, have launched a public appeal for help in finding two missing notebooks belonging to Charles Darwin, one of which contains his iconic Tree of Life sketch. Here, University Librarian Dr Jessica Gardner appeals for anyone with information to get in touch with the Library or the Police, anonymously if they wish.For more details, visit: cam.ac.uk/stories/DarwinAppeal
Darwins Tree of Life notebook is missing - Cambridge University Library launches public appeal Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2020-11-24 | #DarwinAppeal #TreeofLifeCambridge University Library has announced a public appeal for help in locating two missing notebooks, one of which contains Charles Darwin’s iconic 1837 ‘Tree of Life’ sketch.Following an exhaustive search, the largest in the library’s history, curators have concluded the notebooks, first listed as missing in January 2001, have likely been stolen.Dr Jessica Gardner, University Librarian and Director of Library Services since 2017, said: “I am heartbroken that the location of these Darwin notebooks, including Darwin’s iconic ‘Tree of Life’ drawing, is currently unknown, but we’re determined to do everything possible to discover what happened and will leave no stone unturned during this process."For more information, please visit: cam.ac.uk/stories/DarwinAppeal
Mothers Day Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2020-09-24 | The Rising Tide: Women at Cambridge exhibition attracted nearly 54,000 visitors to Cambridge University Library from October 2019 to March 2020, and examined the incalculable impact women have had on the University over centuries.As part of the wider programme of events on the subject of women at Cambridge, for which University staff and students were asked to contribute, the University Library commissioned two independently produced films featuring the lived experiences and voices of female students and researchers who combine their study and work with motherhood.Created by filmmaker, Polly Card, these projects have been created to provide a platform for women at Cambridge to share their stories visually and explore some experiences of motherhood during graduate studies and returning to work. The films are collaborations between researchers, artists and educators and use visual methods to explore the issues, challenges and opportunities experienced by mothers at Cambridge.Find yourself immersed in this 360 film; a curated performance space where baby booties, nappies, and breast pumps reflect the reality of mothers who are also Cambridge students and staff.
The Pump Room Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2020-09-24 | The Rising Tide: Women at Cambridge exhibition attracted nearly 54,000 visitors to Cambridge University Library from October 2019 to March 2020, and examined the incalculable impact women have had on the University over centuries.As part of the wider programme of events on the subject of women at Cambridge, for which University staff and students were asked to contribute, the University Library commissioned two independently produced films featuring the lived experiences and voices of female students and researchers who combine their study and work with motherhood.Created by filmmaker, Polly Card, these projects have been created to provide a platform for women at Cambridge to share their stories visually and explore some experiences of motherhood during graduate studies and returning to work. The films are collaborations between researchers, artists and educators and use visual methods to explore the issues, challenges and opportunities experienced by mothers at Cambridge.In this documentary film, we follow five women as they articulate and share their experiences of juggling motherhood with the intensity of academia at one of the world's most prestigious universities.
Your Library Account in iDiscover Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2020-09-17 | Using your My Library Account allows you to check what books you have out, if you need to renew them to avoid any fines, as well as if you have any books waiting for you that you ordered.In this video, we show you what you can do with your My Library Account in iDiscover.
Basic searching with iDiscover Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2020-09-16 | In this short video, we will show you how to quickly search iDiscover using the main search box. This is often useful if you know exactly what you're looking for!
Open Cambridge: Behind-the-scenes of the University of Cambridge Library Storage Facility Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2020-09-11 | #CambridgeUniversityLibrary You are invited to explore a state of the art book store, standing at the height of two giraffes and with over 105km of shelving to house 4 million books from the libraries of the University of Cambridge, through this special digital tour for Open Cambridge.As a Legal Deposit Library since 1710, Cambridge University Library has been entitled to claim a copy of every book published in the UK and Ireland for more than 300 years. Today, the University Library collections encompass around nine million books, manuscripts and other physical items. So what happens when the University Library runs out of space to store them all?Low-use material is now kept in the new state of the art store in Ely and, book lovers everywhere are invited to join Robin James, Head of Collection Logistics and Services, on this special digital tour of the University of Cambridge Library Storage Facility.
Heritage tour of Cambridge University Library with the Librarian Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2020-09-11 | #CambridgeUniversityLibrary Join University Librarian and Head of Library Services, Dr Jessica Gardner, for a guided video tour of the University of Cambridge’s central research library. Over the course of six centuries, the collection at Cambridge University Library has grown from a few dozen volumes on a handful of subjects into an extraordinary accumulation of more than nine million books, maps, manuscripts and journals, plus a further five million electronic items. What began as a few manuscripts in simple wooden chests is now a building with 120 miles of shelving and a 157ft book-filled tower. Plus an additional offsite library store in Ely that can house a further five and a half million items to free up space across the libraries of the University. Through our video tour created especially for Heritage Open Days 2020, you are invited to explore the grand Art Deco interior of the Library with Jessica, as she introduces you to our incredible collections that span over four thousand years.
Summer Family Fun: How to make a Cartonera book Cambridge University Library (the UL) 2020-08-26 | Cartonera is an artistic publishing movement which originally began in Argentina but spread all across Latin America. It was born of an economic crisis where people – cartoneros - started making a living by selling materials they had salvaged to recycling plants.Cartonera books are usually made from the cardboard bought from cartoneros at a higher cost set by recycling plants. The cardboard they find is used to create covers for short books of prose or poetry. These book covers are hand painted, usually in bright colours and then sold on the streets at the cost of production in order to increase access to literature. This is a great way to recycle cardboard at home by making your own cartonera books!Suitable for ages 6-15 years (with supervision for younger kids) What you need:4 to 8 pieces of lightweight paper for your text sheets (you can use any kind of paper)1 piece of cardboard for your cover, slightly larger than your text sheetsA pair of scissors A rulerA needleAn awl (optional)Embroidery thread (using three strands)Paints, Coloured pencils or Markers Step-by-step instructions:1. Gather sheets for your text block. You’ll need to measure the cardboard cover once you’ve done this. Make sure the cardboard is slightly larger than your text sheets.2. Fold your text paper and cover in half. Tip: Use a ruler to guide your fold for the cover.3. Paint and decorate your cardboard after you cut it to size. 4. Use your needle or awl to punch three holes near the fold: One in the middle, one ½ an inch from the top and ½ an inch from the bottom. You can punch into a thick magazine or a cork board to protect your table.5. Use all six strands of the six strand embroidery thread. You’ll need a length of thread as long as your arm. Thread your needle: Start sewing from the inside of the middle hole, leaving a 4 inch tail of thread. (Hold the thread down with your other hand, as shown) . Sew into the top hole (from the outside). Skip the middle hole and sew through the bottom hole. Come back in front at the middle hole (take care not to split the thread already there).6. Snip your thread. Tie the two thread ends around the long middle piece with a square knot (left over right, right over left). Things to think about when making your book:1. Four to eight sheets of folded paper makes a typical gathering for lightweight paper. The thicker your paper, the less pages your gathering should hold. 2. You can use a variety of papers for each signature. Once you get the hang of sewing together a pamphlet, experiment with using different weights of paper in your gatherings.3. You can add decorative paper as end sheets. They should be the same size as your text sheets. If you choose to do this add it to the outside of your text block before you add the cover.4. Cardboard can be tricky when folded so make sure you use a guide to make the middle fold.5. Wrap your book in a sheet of paper and place it under a heavy pile of books to get it to lay flat.
