Tag: Orkney Library & Archive
Announcement: Books and Borrowing Creative Writing Competition: Second Prize!
We are delighted to congratulate Jenny Mitchell, whose short story ‘Byron Jumps Slave Trader in Stromness’ was awarded the second prize in our Books and Borrowing Creative Writing competition. Jenny was inspired by the records of the Orkney Library, held in the Orkney Library & Archive in Kirkwall. Jenny is in her late sixties. At […]
Why Do Libraries Matter?
This week, I’ve been reflecting on a theme which is, of course, very close to our Books and Borrowing hearts. Why do libraries matter? This was prompted by a conversation with the Chief Printer of the Pathfoot Press, project friend and supporter Kelsey Jackson Williams. Back in the dim ages of long ago (also known […]
The Pirate, The Sea and a Cargo of Books
by Linda Cracknell The moral compass was already set when I launched North in May to run a creative writing workshop at the Orkney Library & Archive, Kirkwall, Orkney. The Books and Borrowing project had established that there was an enthusiastic readership in nineteenth-century Orkney for both local Mary Brunton’s best-selling novel of moral excellence, […]
Forgotten Best-Sellers: Mary Brunton’s Self-Control (1811)
In her blog last week, Katie Halsey introduced the first of a new series within the Books and Borrowing blog: the ‘Forgotten Best-Sellers’. These best-sellers must ‘either top the charts in a single library, or…appear frequently across a large number of different libraries’; they are works that ‘were clearly popular and important in their own […]
Christmas in Kirkwall
As the festive season approaches, I thought I would write something to get us all in the mood for Christmas. This time last year, I looked at Christmas borrowings at the Library of Innerpeffray. This year, I’m going to be focussing on the Orkney Library, and reporting on what borrowers were returning to the library […]
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 […]
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 Archives Re-Open: Planning for Research in the Orkney Archives
News that archives and libraries are now able to re-open has been enormously welcome to the whole project team as we start to plan our research over the summer and for the remainder of this year. I am particularly excited to be planning a long-delayed and long-anticipated trip up to the Orkney Archives in Kirkwall […]