International Cat Day

Posted on August 8, 2017 by scastaff

Today we are feline very good in Special Collections and Archives – August 8^th 2017 is International Cat Day. As we are cat-loving librarians and archivists, we have selected a taster of our best cat themed items from the Children’s books, Science Fiction Foundation Collections, Cunard Archive, and University Archive fur you to enjoy.

Children’s Literature

SC&A houses more than 7000 pre-First World War children’s books, of which the tale of mischievous cats throughout is a common feature. In The Tale of Tom Kitten, Tom and his siblings Mittens and Moppet play outside in their best clothes, only for them to be stolen by ducks (Oldham 173). Tit, Tiny, and Tittens: The Three White Kittens are a handful, too – they get themselves in all sorts of predicaments (JUV 308:60).

Oldham 173

JUV.308:60

The History of Whittington and His Cat is the feline rags to riches story we are all familiar with. The copy held here in Special Collections is in the form of a chapbook, a small paperback for children which would sell for a cheap price and provide a story with a moral message. This copy also includes the alphabet, allowing children to practice their reading skills from the most basic stage (Oldham 43).

Oldham 43

Science Fiction Foundation Collections

Continuing the theme of children’s literature, the below novel from the Science Fiction collections is written for the young adults audience in the Bantam Action series. In this short novel, robot cats are created to clean-up the city, but are hijacked and used for evil deeds (PR6061.I39.C99 1996). Cats also crop-up regularly in Science Fiction as representation of earth-like normality and domesticity on space ships (for presumably a similar purpose as a ships cat; see below). A personal favorite is Jonesy, Ripley’s ginger tom, from the Alien franchise.

PR6061.I39.C99 1996

Cunard

Cats were commonplace aboard ships for many reasons – they caught vermin, provided comfort to crew, and even predicted storms through their enhanced sensitivity to low pressure environments. Some ships cats have become famous; ‘Unsinkable Sam’, a German cat, survived the sinking of three ships during World War II! From the Cunard archive here, we see below Captain Rostron’s cat and her adorable kittens aboard the Mauretania, from the Cunard Magazine during the mid 1920s (D42/PR5/12).

D42/PR5/12. Cunard Magazine, Vol. 16.

University Archive

A prominent deposit within the staff papers of the University Archive are the papers of Professor (and Sir) Charles Reilly. One of the most important figures in the history of twentieth-century architecture in Britain, Sir Reilly dominated architectural education and had a profound influence on architectural practice. The below photograph shows Sir Charles Reilly holding a rather uninterested Timoshenko the cat, in the garden of his home in Twickenham during the the World War II era (D938/2/15).

D938/2/15. Photograph by Louise Sedgwick ©

The Special Collections and Archives Cats

From the top left to the bottom right: Audrey and Lilly (Jo Klett, University Archivist), Clara (Katy Hooper, Special Collections Librarian), Chester (Robyn Orr, Library Assistant), Yan, Barry, and Hamilton (Jenny Higham, Special Collections and Archives Manager), and Reginald Ecclefechan (Lucy Evans, Assistant Librarian – Special Collections).

All of these items are available to view right meow in the Special Collections and Archives reading room (except our pet cats – we wish, though…). Please do see our website for more information on visiting us.

World Health Day

Posted on April 7, 2017 by scastaff

In keeping with World Health Day on the 7th of April, we have selected a range of printed material from Special Collections that provides advice on health and wellness, from the 17th century to the 20th century.

The Treasury of Hidden Secrets

How would a 17th century English housewife monitor the health of herself and her family? Homemade remedies made from flora were popular, as shown in the below pamphlet (1653). For instance, wormwood was (and still is) used frequently to settle illnesses of the stomach.

SPEC Knows.pamph 458 (15)

An Essay on the Gout

Among the elites and aspiring middling sorts of the 18^th century, taking the waters at Bath was considered an excellent method of promoting one’s good health. The physician George Cheyne published his work, An Essay on the Gout, With an Account of Nature and Qualities of The Bath Waters (second edition) in 1720. Despite suffering from gout and obesity himself, Dr Cheyne promoted vegetarianism and treated famous patients such as Samuel Richardson and Alexander Pope.

SPEC Knows.pamph 221

Home Gymnastics for the Well and the Sick

In the later 19th century the popularity of German-influenced “physical culture” led to emphasis on gymnastics in the USA and England. As part of this general trend, Home Gymnastics of the Well and the Sick (1889) promoted exercises that were simple, without specialist apparatus, for people of varied ages.

SPEC Children EVIII:257

Instructions on how to dad dance – SPEC Children EVIII:257

As always, the items featured in this post are available to view in the Special Collections and Archives reading room. Please see our website for more information.

New Acquisitions: March

Posted on March 29, 2017 by scastaff

Three notable acquisitions in Special Collections and Archives in March, alongside “The horses’s levee” mentioned in the blog post of last week.

“The old cobbler of the cottage: to which is added The idler” are two stories by female authors, Isabelle de Montolieu and Mary Martha Sherwood for children. The item is an excellent addition to our children’s literature collections and also to the number of Sherwood items already available within the collections.

SPEC 2017.a.002

The item is bound in a publisher issued embossed cloth binding with a paper label to the upper board, it also bears the provenance marks of Adriana Lacy and her Aunt, Sarah Lacy.

The embossed cloth binding.

Signed by the Lacy family.

The second item new to SCA this month is “The history of the Fairchild Family” by the ubiquitous Mrs Sherwood. This 1818 volume, bound in tree calf, was in print for nearly a century in numerous editions. It uses the format of the novel to explain the concept of original sin to a juvenile audience.

An introduction to original sin for young children, not recommended for the small people in your life!

The final new acquisition is “The trial of Harry Hardheart: for ingratitude and cruelty to certain individuals of the brute creation”. This item, dated approximately 1820, seeks to caution young people about the dangers of cruelty to animals.

The trial of Harry Hardheart

The item, which is in the original publisher issued blue paper covered boards, is recorded in only 8 locations worldwide.

Remember: be kind to elephants.

As ever, these items are now available for consultation in SCA, for information on how to make an appointment please see our webpages.

A butterfly, a grasshopper and a horse’s levee: William Roscoe in SCA collections

Posted on March 21, 2017 by scastaff

A new acquisition to Special Collections and Archives highlights the importance of William Roscoe to the social and cultural history of Liverpool. Roscoe, known as a leading abolitionist and historian, is perhaps as well known for his poem “The butterfly’s ball and the grasshopper’s feast” which was written for his children and published in 1807. Here in SCA we hold a copy of the 1808 edition. “Butterfly’s ball” was unusual for this period of juvenile literature as instead of seeking to contribute to the moral education of children it sought only to entertain and amuse.

JUV.508:3

In yellow paper wrappers, a common feature of this publisher, John Harris.

A hand coloured plate from the Butterfly’s Ball.

SPEC G8.15

As well as “Butterfly’s ball” SCA includes several items with Roscoe provenance including a 1683 volume bearing his signature and a 1551 Dante thought to have belonged to him.

SPEC H23.26

The new addition to the collections is “The horse’s levee, or, The court of Pegasus“. The title-page states that this rare edition (only 10 copies are recorded) is a companion to “The butterfly’s ball” rather than directly authored by Roscoe, but this perhaps highlights his influence on juvenile literature in this period.

SPEC 2016.t1.03

The yellow wrappers of the publisher John Harris.

“The horse’s levee” is an early astronomy primer for children, the plates show animals with their astronomical parallels and the verses instruct and amuse.

A party we would all like to be at.

Using Primary Sources: new open access e-textbook launched

Posted on March 3, 2017 by scastaff

Special Collections & Archives has been a key contributor in “Using Primary Sources”, a newly launched Open Access teaching and study resource that combines archival and early printed source materials with high quality peer-reviewed chapters by leading academics.

Edited by Dr Jonathan Hogg, Senior Lecturer in Twentieth Century History at the University of Liverpool, with over 30 academics contributing, this project is a collaboration between Liverpool University Press, the University of Liverpool Library and JISC, and is available for free on the BiblioBoard platform.

Special Collections & Archives has provided images for several chapters across the Medieval, Early Modern and Modern anthologies. Dr Martin Heale’s chapter on Popular Religion features high resolution images from some of SC&A’s illuminated medieval manuscript treasures, including the Dance of Death scene in MS.F.2.14, a French Book of Hours from the late 15^th century. Death is represented as a rotting corpse, followed by a procession of a pope, an emperor and a cardinal. The depiction is intended to have a moral message: a reminder the end is the same for all, regardless of their wealth or status. The accompanying chapter provides the context for the interpretation of such primary sources, so as to better understand attitudes to popular religion during this period.

Dance of Death, Book of Hours (Use of Chalons), LUL MS F.2.14 f82r

Both the Cunard archive and the Rathbone papers feature in Dr Graeme Milne’s chapter on Business History, whilst items from our children’s literature collections have been selected for Dr Chris Pearson’s chapter on the Environment. Some of these items are also used in teaching classes, where students have the opportunity to see and interpret the volumes for themselves.

A. Johnston, Animals of the Countryside, 1941. Oldham 485

Title page of A. White, The instructive picture book, 1866 JUV.550.2

From the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament ephemera collected by Science Fiction author John Brunner to a 14^th century English Book of Hours, “Using Primary Sources” is both a valuable showcase for SC&A’s collections, and an important open access resource for students.

The textbook can be accessed via the Library catalogue, or directly from: https://library.biblioboard.com/module/usingprimarysources.

You can read more about the project on the Liverpool University Press website, as well as an interview with editor Dr Jon Hogg.

Follow “Using Primary Sources” on Twitter @LivUniSources to find out when new themes are added to the e-textbook. Forthcoming chapters for launch in 2017 include Science & Medicine, Gender and Political Culture.

New Acquisition: February

Posted on February 28, 2017 by scastaff

February saw “The Garland, or Thirteen extracts with colored vignettes for rewards” added to the collections in Special Collections and Archives.

This item, dated approximately 1820, has 14 leaves printed on the recto which are hand coloured throughout. Each leaf bears an illustration and a poem to reward a child for good behaviour. Some may have been more enjoyable than others for the juvenile reader …

The item also bears an interesting provenance, the book is signed on the first free endleaf recto “Ellen Claye Manchester November 1st 1822” and a blind stamp for a bookseller appears on the final free endleaf for “Claye, Printer and Stationer, Stockport”. Perhaps a gift from the bookseller for a young family member?

This item is now available for consultation in SCA so please do feel free to make an appointment.

Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2017 by scastaff

For Valentine’s Day this year, we’re highlighting five love-themed items in Special Collections & Archives…

John Wyndham’s poems for Grace Wilson

Science-fiction author John Wyndham is best known for his novels, including The Day of the Triffids (1951) and The Midwich Cuckoos (1957), but he also dabbled in poetry. His archive features several verses, most of which he wrote for Grace Wilson. They married in 1963, though they had been partners for around 30 years by the time they tied the knot.

Wyndham 8/4/1: 1944 Valentine from Wyndham to Grace Wilson

Wyndham 8/6/2: 1962 Valentine from Wyndham to Grace Wilson

Love Letter from George James Boswell to Hannah Chason

Percy Boswell was Professor of Geology at the University of Liverpool, 1917-1930, and his archive collection mostly consists of his academic and professional papers, such as essays, notes and correspondence. However, this letter, from Boswell’s great-grandfather George James Boswell, has also survived. It is addressed to Hannah Chason and is an ardent expression of Boswell’s love. He describes how his sincere friendship has ‘ripened into an affection of a more tender nature,’ and reassures her of his ‘perfectly honourable’ intentions, before proposing marriage. And marry they did, in 1855.

D4/2/2 Love letter from George James Boswell to Hannah Chason

The Quiver of Love: A Collection of Valentines Ancient and Modern

Published in 1876, The Quiver of Love comprises verses from the likes of Christina Rossetti, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Sir Philip Sidney, along with a host of others, collected together in a volume which could be given as a gift, ‘either as a token of esteem, or as an indication of deeper regard.’ It also includes beautiful colour illustrations by artists Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway.

JUV.509:9 The Quiver of Love

Happy Homes and How to Make Them (or Counsels on Love, Courtship, and Marriage)

This volume by J. W. Kirton, published in the 1870s, is packed full of advice in areas such as ‘Courting and Popping the Question,’ ‘The Mutual Duties of Married Life’ and ‘The Public-House the Rival of Home.’ To young men seeking a wife, the author urges them to ‘select the daughter of a good mother,’ ‘see that she is of domestic habits’ and ‘seek one that knows the worth of money,’ but warns them to ‘never trifle with any young woman’s affections, for it is cruel and wicked in the extreme.’ Women are advised to choose a mate who is respectable, careful, honest and healthy and, once married, to dress neatly but not extravagantly, learn to submit, and not talk about their husbands’ failings abroad (‘for if you have married a fool, it is not wisdom to go and tell every one that you have done so’).

JUV.414:2 Frontispiece of Happy Homes, and How to Make Them

Emblems of Love, in four languages

Emblem books, which first emerged in Europe in the 16^th century, comprised symbolic pictures accompanied by mottoes, verses or prose. This volume, by poet and translator Philip J. Ayres, features beautiful engravings alongside verses in Latin, English, Italian and French; it is thought to date from the late 17th-early 18th century.

SPEC H35.26 Emblems of Love

New Acquisitions: November

Posted on November 11, 2016 by scastaff

The Special Collections and Archives department has welcomed three notable accessions written by women to their collections in November.

Mont Blanc, and other poems by Mary Ann Browne, who is the sister of the more well know Liverpool poet Felicia Hemans, has been catalogued and added to the SCA collections. As SCA had acquired a portion of Hemans’ correspondence and archive previously, this new item makes an excellent accompaniment to this collection.

Mont Blanc, and other poems. SPEC 2016.b.024

As well as containing the poems of fifteen-year-old Mary, the item has an interesting provenance history including a poem tipped into the beginning of the volume which begins “I know, my love, thou art false to me …”, a manuscript copy of the poem which appears on page 119. The book also bears the inscription of Mary Hiles, which has been cut away from the title-page, and a cut-out and handcoloured floral image pasted to the upper paste-down.

Paste-down. SPEC 2016.b.024

“I know, my love, thou art false to me …” SPEC 2016.b.024

Poems by one of the authors of “Poems for youth, by a family circle” is written by Jane Roscoe (later Hornblower), the daughter of Liverpool luminary William Roscoe, who wrote “Butterfly’s Ball” for his family.

SPEC 2016.a.019(2)

This handsome 1821 volume is bound in blind stamped pink calfskin and is one of only four reported copies in the UK. The Liverpool connection makes this edition a fine complement to the collections here which already boasts many items by or related to the Roscoe family.

Blind stamped pink calfskin. SPEC 2016 a.019

Fabulous histories by the Suffolk author and educationalist Sarah Trimmer (1741-1810) uses stories from the animal kingdom to further children’s moral education and to teach about cruelty to animals. This 1786 copy is bound in 18^th century sheepskin and is one of only 8 reported copies in the world. Many other works authored by the prolific Mrs Trimmer can be found in our children’s book collection, making this volume an excellent addition to the collections.

Fabulous histories. SPEC 2016.a.020

As ever, these items are available for consultation in the reading room here at SCA.

Spooky Collections and Arrrgh-chives!

Quote

Posted on October 29, 2016 by scastaff

Halloween is thought to originate from a Gaelic festival called Samhain that marked the end of the harvest season and the start of a new year. On this day, that stood on the verge between summer and winter, it was believed that the boundaries between our world and the other-world would blur.

Today, Halloween is a great excuse to eat sweets, douse yourself in fake blood, and indulge in a bit of self-inflicted, adrenaline inducing, fear.

We are, it seems, and always have been, obsessed with the spine chilling and mysterious. We’ve picked some spooky books to wet your Halloween appetite. Prepare for a scare.

We have a plethora of anatomy books (SPEC Anatomy) in Special Collections and Archives that were once part of the Medical School Library and used for teaching.

We couldn’t resist including these chilling images, taken from John Gordon’s Engravings of the Skeleton of the Human Body published in 1818.

‘This Plate exhibits a front and lateral view of the dried Skull of a Man, of a medium stature, aged thirty-one years […] the length of the line a, b, b, a on the Skull, was exactly four inches and three quarters.’ [SPEC P.2.12 ] John Gordon, Engravings of the Skeleton of the Human Body, (London: T. & G. Underwood, 1870).

p. 8

View an online version here

Vikram and the Vampire is a collection of ancient Indian folk tales that were translated by the accomplished explorer and all-round fascinating Victorian gentleman, Richard Francis Burton. Richard F. Burton was a founding member of the Gypsy Lore Society, started in 1888 by scholars interested in the songs, stories and language of the Romany Gypsies. You can explore the Gypsy Lore Society Collections at Special Collections and Archives.

Published in 1870, Vikram and the Vampire tells the story of a clever and scheming vampire/evil spirit that animates dead bodies.This spooky first edition is complete with Ernest Griset’s grotesque illustrations.

Viram and the Vampire by Richard F. Burton (SPEC Y87.3.1916)

Viram and the Vampire by Richard F. Burton, Illustrated by Ernest Griset (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1870) [SPEC Y87.3.1916]

p. 64

View an online version here

Halloween isn’t just for the adults – spooky tales for children also surface in our collection of more than 7000 pre-First World War children’s books. Four Ghost Stories by Mrs Molesworth contains four tales of encounters with ghosts, set in the nineteenth century. Mrs Molesworth, or Mary Louisa Molesworth, was a late Victorian children’s author. Nightmare inducing ghost stories for children…Mrs Molesworth has a lot to answer for. We hold a number of works by Mrs Molesworth at Special Collections.

Mrs Molesworth, Four Ghost Stories, (London: Macmillan and Co., 1888).

You can view any of the items here at Special Collections and Archives, Sydney Jones Library, Liverpool University.

Baking in the Archives: puds, pies and towers of sugar

Posted on August 24, 2016 by scastaff

We’re celebrating the welcome return of the Great British Bake Off by showcasing some of the lesser-known, baking-themed items from our collections!

SC&A houses thousands of children’s books, including a few featuring cakes, pies and puddings, such as this gem of a picture book: A Apple Pie (1886), by highly influential illustrator Kate Greenaway.

The first spread from Kate Greenaway’s A Apple Pie

Her amazing artistic abilities complement this tale of various children trying to get their hands on a tasty apple pie, with each letter corresponding to a different activity, for example:

Beatrix Potter’s The Roly-Poly Pudding (1908) recounts the (rather terrifying) tale of a mischievous kitten who attempts to hide from his mother and ends up in the chimney. Here he bumps into some nefarious rats who roll him up into a pudding. Thankfully he’s saved before things take an even darker turn.

Our collection of children’s books also contains guides for the aspiring cook and baker. The Little Girl’s Cooking Book (1923) exhorts grown-ups to ‘Let the Little Girl try her hand at Cooking, if she wants to do so. Knowledge gained in this direction will be of practical worth to her throughout her life, no matter what her calling or position.’ It’s full of useful information, such as how to lay the table, clear away the breakfast things (‘Do everything with as little noise as possible!’) and make lunch for mother. It also contains numerous recipes, including those shown here, deemed suitable for when friends come round for a birthday tea.

The Liverpool School of Cookery Recipe Book (1911) compiled by E. E. Mann covers everything from broiling to larding and is packed with recipes, including this intriguingly-named offering.

It’s just not cakes the Great British Bake-offers have to create, of course, but savoury pies too. Recipes for a multitude of sweet and savoury dishes can be found in Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1755). Gibblet pie anyone?

From the amateur, aspiring cooks and bakers, to the professionals. The following are just a few examples of the spectacular sugar work created by chefs aboard Cunard liners in the 1950s.

Cunard sugar work: the leaning tower of Pisa and a BBC camera!

Manuscripts and more

Special Collections & Archives at the University of Liverpool Library

Category Archives: Children’s Books