Written by Erika Delbecque, UMASCS Librarian We are delighted to announce the purchase of a collection of twenty-two rare agricultural pamphlets from the mid-19thcentury. These works, which relate to the agricultural innovations and economics of this period, will enhance our existing collection strengths in British agricultural history. The collection includes rare works on early applications […]

In 2011, the University of Reading received a remarkable and moving gift from the University of Hiroshima in Japan: a shattered roof tile collected from the riverbed near the hypocentre of the atomic bomb attack of 6 August 1945. The gift was made in recognition of the fact that the University had sent books in […]

Written by Fiona Melhuish, UMASCS Librarian. When turning the pages of The Song of Songs, one of our recent acquisitions for the Printing Collection, for the first time, you could be forgiven for thinking it is a medieval illuminated manuscript, with a handwritten script and elaborate handpainted illumination. However, it is actually a printed book, […]

The University of Reading and the Beckett International Foundation are delighted to announce the purchase of a unique archive of actress Billie Whitelaw’s work with playwright Samuel Beckett. The £35,000 acquisition, funded by generous contributions from the Beckett International Foundation, the Arts Council England/Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and the Friends of the […]

Written by Fiona Melhuish, UMASCS Librarian. One of our most recent acquisitions for the Children’s Collection will also be one of the largest books in the collection. King Arthur’s Wood, by Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes, measures an impressive 53 x 39 x 4 cms, with a robust hessian binding covering, and would seem almost too big […]

The remarkably diverse collections held by the University of Reading’s Special Collections service and MERL are currently being celebrated with displays of new collections based art work in our reading room, highlighting the visual appeal of many of our rare books and archives (which are usually kept safely in our store). Come in and visit […]

Special Collections has recently acquired three books that provide a Reading connection to Ireland’s early 20th-century troubles. The Enemies of the State project, a collaboration between the Department of English Literature at the University of Reading and Berkshire Record Office, ran in 2012 to engage audiences with archives on the internment of Irish patriots in Reading Prison following the 1916 […]

The graphic artist Talwin Morris (1865-1911) was a member of the circle of artists surrounding the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow. Through his book designs, Morris was able to introduce a wide audience to what was known as the ‘Glasgow Style’ as it flourished at the end of the nineteenth century. Five years ago […]