Simon Dixon
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The University’s History Told in Pictures
By Rebecca Couchman-Crook, Archives Assistant The photograph collection from the University of Leicester’s history is now more accessible than ever before! You can view them from the comfort of your sofa by simply visiting Special Collections Online and scrolling down to The University of Leicester Archives. In a move to make our collections easier to find and reach a wider […]
Who owned the Wicked Bible?
It’s been reported in the news this week that a copy of the so called “Wicked Bible” is to be auctioned at Bonhams in November. This edition of the King James Version was printed in 1631 and then hastily withdrawn after a printing error was discovered in the Ten Commandments. A crucial word was omitted from […]
Discovering Collections Discovering Communities
This week I attended the Discovering Collections, Discovering Communities conference in the impressive Lowry Centre at Salford Quays. Now in its third year, the gathering is designed to foster collaboration between archives and academic research. This year’s theme was exploring new digital destinations, which attracted a bumper crowd of 500 delegates from national libraries and […]
40 years ago: Philip Larkin opens new University library
While repackaging the photograph series in the University Archives recently Rebecca, our intern, spotted that his weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the official opening of the new University Library by Philip Larkin on 27 September 1975. An honorary graduate of the University, the poet was also a former member of its library staff, having joined […]
Caring for our Special Collections
Visitors to Special Collections often ask how we preserve the rare books, manuscripts and archives in our collection. Much of what we do could be described as preventative care. This starts as soon as someone visits us to consult an item, as we ask them only to bring pencils or digital devices into the reading […]
East Derbyshire Election, 1868
Our look back at past elections in Special Collections is rounded off today with a gallery of from an impressive volume of East Derbyshire Election Cartoons, 1868. The book was printed and published by Richard John Smithson of Chesterfield. Shown here are 21 political cartoons. Numbers 1-18 (Liberal Cartoons) were drawn by J. Priestman Atkinson, […]
Poll Books in Special Collections
With a General Election campaign in full swing, it seems like a good time for some blog posts about the sources we hold on the history of British parliamentary elections. As we all head off to our local polling stations on 7 May, one thing that we will take for granted is that when we […]
Supporting teaching in Special Collections
Supporting academic colleagues with teaching is an important part of our work in Special Collections. Semester 1 has been a busy time for us, with visits from students on eight different courses at the University of Leicester and one from our friends at De Montfort. In an age where so much primary source material is […]
Seditious works in Special Collections: the case of William Prynne (1600-1669)
One of our current projects in Special Collections is to identify material that could form the basis for undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations. To do this I’m getting the opportunity do one of the things that I enjoy most about my job: exploring our collections. Despite having worked here for two years, there’s still much that […]
Special Collections in the News
While we may be tucked away in the basement of the David Wilson Library there are plenty of exciting discoveries to be made in Special Collections, as recent media interest in our collections demonstrates. We had a busy week last week launching our new exhibition celebrating the life and work of Leicester author Sue Townsend. […]
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