Latest Posts
John Anderson: Professor, Philosopher, and Military Man
As the end of my scholarship draws closer, I intend to bring my project closer to home by delving into eighteenth-century professorial registers from the University of Glasgow. More specifically, I have examined the borrowing records for John Anderson (1726-1796), a Professor at the University of Glasgow between 1754 and 1796. As these records have […]
Romantic Period Book Circulation: Our BARS Salon, 18 August 2021
Which books were really circulating in the Romantic Period? We will be hosting a salon at Romantic Disconnections/Reconnections, BARS’ International Digital Conference which is taking place from 12-20 August 2021. Our salon on ‘Romantic Period Book Circulation’ will take place on 18 August 2021 from 11:30-13:00 (BST) and is limited to 20 participants. Registrants will […]
Labouring-Class Borrowing at Innerpeffray Library, 1815-1833
Now that I’m in the final few weeks of my Carnegie-funded research with Books and Borrowing (I’m very sad about this!) I thought I’d share some of my findings with you. There’s too much for me to share in a single blog post, so this post will centre around labouring-class borrowings at Innerpeffray Library from […]
Beatrix Potter at Innerpeffray Library
First posted on the Library of Innerpeffray’s blog and cross-posted here by kind permission of the Keeper of Books Beatrix Potter at Innerpeffray Library As it is the 155th anniversary of Beatrix Potter’s birth on 28 July 2021, we are celebrating by exploring some of the links between Beatrix Potter and the Library of Innerpeffray. […]
In Memoriam William St Clair
The Books and Borrowing team were all saddened to hear of the recent death of William St Clair. In what follows, three of us reflect on his enduring legacy. Matthew Sangster writes: I have a very clear memory of first reading The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period on a train in the Scottish Highlands. […]
Robert Chambers’ Circulating Library Borrowing Register, 1828-1829
The Chambers Library Borrowing Register: A Unique Manuscript A surviving borrowing register for Robert Chambers’ circulating library, which operated in Edinburgh in the 1820s, records book loans from 1828-1829 (NLS, Dep. 341/413). The Books and Borrowing project is working with the National Library of Scotland to conserve and digitise this unique manuscript that K. A. […]
David Brichan: The Borrowings of a St Andrews University Student
As a student, I admit the thought of undertaking cutting-edge research with the ‘Books and Borrowing’ Project was at first daunting. Funded by a Carnegie Trust Vacation Scholarship, my project concerns itself with the French Revolution and its effects, if it had any, on the reading practices of St. Andrews University students and the wider […]
Return from Orkney
Like Harriot Byron, I ask, what am I to do with my gratitude? I can do nothing but thank you and go on.[1] In this quotation, Jane Austen quotes Richardson’s Sir Charles Grandison to thank her sister Cassandra for her kindness in sending a long letter. I, too, wish to record my gratitude for the […]
The Most Borrowed Books of the Leighton Library’s Water Drinkers
by Jacqueline Kennard I’m thrilled about my temporary placement with Books and Borrowing and to be writing my first blog post! Funded by the Carnegie Trust’s Undergraduate Vacation Scholarship, I’ll be spending twelve weeks comparing and analysing early-nineteenth-century book borrowings from five libraries in provincial Scotland, namely the Leighton Library, St Andrews University Library, the […]
Celebrity Spotting – Robert Riddell at St Andrews
Work has been continuing on the massive body of borrowing data we have from St Andrews University library. With the roughly 4,000 records of the 1748-1753 mixed professors/students register entered into our system, my attention has recently been on the 1772-1776 student ledger. This volume presents some distinctive challenges. In general, librarians’ record-keeping develops a […]