One of our Special Collections Online that has always fascinated me is a collection of photographs of “Vanished Leicester” taken by Dennis Calow, a (now retired) architect who lived and worked in Leicester. Writing a decade ago, Dennis remembered that as an architectural student he, like most of his generation, had been ‘brainwashed into believing that everything […]
Library Special Collections
The Lord of Misrule and his band of ‘lusty guts’
Behaving badly at the Christmas festivities and doing something you would really rather not remember is not an exclusively modern phenomenon, as a trawl through our Special Collections reveals – although in the 16th and 17th centuries the scene of your shame, rather than being the office party, might have been one of the many […]
An interview with Nora Waddington
During the 1980s an oral history project was undertaken by the Leicester Oral history Archive. These interviews are now held by the East Midlands Oral History Archives at the University of Leicester. I am currently working on a project to increase the number of these interviews that are available online (check out the current collection […]
Frank, the Double Duchesse
Amongst the contents of the Fairclough Collection of engraved portraits, relating to political and social history in 17th century Britain, we have recently discovered this delicately executed miniature of Frances Stuart (née Howard), Duchess of Richmond and Lennox, who died in 1639. The oval appears to have been cut from a larger composition (in watercolour […]
Arthur Edward Davis (1882-1916)
“Mr Davis was educated at Mill Hill School, London. He became a cricketer of distinction and played for Leicestershire. In the great War he joined as a Private the 11th Royal Fusiliers and served in France, where he was killed in 1916”. [ULA HIS/FOU/2, Memorial Portraits Book] As described in a previous post, the University […]
A story to … awaken thrilling horror
In the fabulously Gothic frontispiece of the first illustrated edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus, published in 1831, the monster, dramatically lit by the moon, lies in a medieval chamber, complete with grinning skeleton. The artist, Theodor von Holst, has chosen to show the moment, when Victor, overcome with horror at the […]
Garth Smithies Taylor (1896-1916)
15 October 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the death in action of Lieutenant Garth Smithies Taylor, a name which many staff and students at the University will have unwittingly passed on numerous occasions when entering the Fielding Johnson Building. The following account of Taylor’s life, death and significance to the University was researched and […]
Finding Dolly Shepherd in Historical Directories
We were recently contacted by Debra Wallace, who had used our Historical Directories collection to help research the life of Dolly Shepherd (1886-1983), an Edwardian Lady Parachutist. I found Debra’s account of Dolly’s life so fascinating that I asked to share it on the Special Collections Blog. I’m very grateful to Debra for agreeing to […]
Scrapbook exhibition
The latest exhibition in the Special Collections programme is on the theme of scrapbooks. We hold a number of different types of scrapbook and it’s been quite a challenge to decide which ones to select for the exhibition. In the end we (that’s my colleague Ian Swirles and I) have opted for a selection which […]
Welcome New Students!
A warm welcome from Special Collections to new students starting this autumn! Here are my top tips to ease you into university life (with a little help from the University Archives). 1. Don’t lose your student ID! One of the first things issued to you as a new student, use this to […]
Recent Comments