Latest Posts
Adam Smith; Or, ‘Tis 300 Years Since
This year marks 300 years since the birth of Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith (1723–1790). More specifically, today – Monday 5 June 2023 – marks Smith’s 300th birthday.[1] Born in Kirkcaldy, in Fife, Scotland, Smith first attended the University of Glasgow as a student in 1737, aged just 14. He subsequently studied for a […]
Visiting the Advocates Library in the 18th Century
We are fortunate that some of our Books and Borrowing libraries survive in forms our eighteenth and nineteenth century borrowers would recognise. The books of Innerpeffray Library and the Leighton Library still live in their original homes of 1762 and 1687 respectively. For other libraries, such as the university libraries in our study, the books […]
Five Go On A Writing Retreat
Last week several members of the Books and Borrowing team (Matt, Katie, Josh, Cleo and Maxine) attended the University of Stirling’s annual Eighteenth-Century Writing Group Writing Retreat in the lovely surroundings of Alexander House, Auchterarder. We all used the time to make significant progress on writing projects. Collectively, the participants managed a whopping 60,000 words […]
Libraries, Lives and Legacies Research Festival: Event Report – Part Two (Stirling)
Following on from last week’s blog, in which I reported on the first part of our Libraries Lives and Legacies Research Festival, held in Liverpool and online, this week’s blog will focus on the second of our events, the conference on Reading and Book Circulation 1650-1850, held at the Iris Murdoch Building of the University […]
Libraries, Lives and Legacies Research Festival: Event Report – Part One (Liverpool and Online)
Regular readers of this blog will know that over the past few months we had been gearing up for our Research Festival on the theme of Libraries, Lives and Legacies, run in partnership with the C18th Libraries Online project at the University of Liverpool. From 13th to 19th April, therefore, we enjoyed an intense week […]
Creating Our (Fabulous!) Online Exhibition with the University of Edinburgh
The best laid plans… It’s there, listed in our ‘Pathways to Impact’ statement: exhibitions. Back then, before the pandemic, that meant in-person displays of materials relating to the Books and Borrowing project. Borrowing registers or receipt books, selected books from partners’ collections, and featured library users from each library perhaps. We were going to create […]
A Comic Poem Inspired by the Books and Borrowing Project
This week, we are delighted to introduce the last of our Highly Commended entries to the Books and Borrowing Creative Writing Competition: Cara Morsello’s poem ‘Chambers’ Library – A Dangerous Place’ © Cara Morsello. Please do not publish or reproduce this poem without the author’s permission. Cara Morsello Royal is a recovering lawyer. Since her […]
A Short Poem Inspired by the Leighton Library’s Water Drinkers
This week, we are happy to present another work in our Highly Commended series, which features creative work inspired by the Books and Borrowing materials. Gillian Mellor’s poem, ‘Extracts from the Leighton Library’, was inspired by the Water Drinker’s Register from the Leighton Library in Dunblane. Our judging panel enjoyed Gillian’s poem, which evokes the […]
More New Creative Work Inspired by Books and Borrowing Materials
This week, we are happy to present Moira McPartlin’s story ‘The Missionary’. Moira’s story uses names from our Borrowers’ Registers. Moira has been writing for over twenty-five years. Her debut novel The Incomers, published by Fledgling Press in 2012, was shortlisted for the Saltire Society First Book of the Year Award. Over the next seven […]
More Creative Work Inspired by the Books and Borrowing Project
This week, we’re happy to present the second of our Highly Commended Creative Writing Competition entries – i.e. works inspired by Books and Borrowing project materials. This week it is a short story, written by Virginia Crow. Virginia is an award-winning historical fiction author who grew up in Orkney, and now lives in rural Caithness. […]