The Carnation Revolution – 50 years

On By europeancollectionsIn PortugueseLeave a comment

Today marks 50 years since 25 April, 1974, the date of Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution”, which led to the overthrow of the authoritarian Estado Novo regime, the introduction of democracy in the country, and the withdrawal of Portugal from its African colonies. For more detailed information about 25 April, you can read our earlier post commemorating its 40th anniversary here.

Unsurprisingly, given this momentous anniversary, much more material related to the Revolution has been published recently in Portugal and elsewhere, so we have acquired many new relevant titles. The significance of 25 April in international terms is shown by the fact that, as well as the expected titles in Portuguese, in recent years we have also bought books on the topic in French, Spanish and English:

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Bowness and a touch of synchronicity

On By europeancollectionsIn Special collectionsLeave a comment

Sir Alan Bowness, director of the Tate Gallery in the 1980s and son-in-law of Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, donated to the UL his extensive art history library, containing many exhibition catalogues and private view cards. In recent years several blog posts have been devoted to progress on the Bowness collection, the earliest in 2019. This year I have been working on adding more exhibition catalogues to the library catalogue. I have been struck by how relevant the collection is now as over and over again I have noticed links between it and the 2024 cultural world. Continue reading “Bowness and a touch of synchronicity” →

Who was Gordon Craig?

On By europeancollectionsIn Historical collections, Special collectionsLeave a comment

Gordon Craig in 1903 (picture via Wikimedia Commons)

Have you ever noticed the Gordon Craig Theatre when travelling through Stevenage station and wondered who Gordon Craig was? I did and after a quick search on my phone it was soon apparent that this was a figure with an interesting and complex life worth writing about. Born in Stevenage (hence the theatre being named after him), Gordon Craig (1872-1966) was the son of the famous actress Ellen Terry, and as a young man he too was an actor alongside his mother in Henry Irving’s company. Much of his later work related to the theatre – stage designs, directing and writing widely on the theatre – but he also produced woodcuts and bookplates. This blog post will explore some aspects of his life and work using the UL’s rich collections. Continue reading “Who was Gordon Craig?” →

Beautiful Ukrainian donations : the April 2024 Ukrainian item(s) of the month

On By europeancollectionsIn New Acquisitions, Slavonic, UkrainianLeave a comment

A few weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to receive a donation of five lovely books from the Kharkiv-based publisher Oleksandr Savchook and the organisation Progress-14.

The five donations add to the 12 Savchook titles we had previously bought and which were published between 2014 and 2021.  The five new publications, which reflect the core strengths of Mr Savchook’s publishing house in terms of their concentration on the arts, were published in 2022 and 2023 and make very welcome additions to Cambridge’s Ukrainian collection. Continue reading “Beautiful Ukrainian donations : the April 2024 Ukrainian item(s) of the month” →

Kyivan Christianity – 14 new volumes : the March 2024 Ukrainian item(s) of the month

On By europeancollectionsIn New Acquisitions, Slavonic, UkrainianLeave a comment

While the Ukrainian Christmas largely joined the western Christmas in 2023, this Easter will still see a substantial difference, with the western churches celebrating Christ’s resurrection in March and Ukrainians celebrating in May.  Nevertheless, the Easter weekend for most in Cambridge seems a good time to mark the arrival of many new volumes in the Kyivan Christianity set.

illustrations from volumes 20, 29, 31

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The mystery of the Pied Piper

On By europeancollectionsIn GermanLeave a comment

Cover of In search of the pied piper showing late 16th c. picture based on Hamelin church stained glass window

I wrote earlier about Till Eulenspiegel, a figure of German folklore who may have been real or fictional. In this post I will look at another legendary German character with similarly mysterious origins, the Pied Piper of Hamelin, made well known to German and English speakers by many different retellings of the story.

Scholars generally believe that the legend is based on a real historical event which occurred on June 26th, 1284 when a man with a pipe led 130 children away from the town of Hamelin (in German, Hameln) in north Germany. The first known evidence of this was a stained glass window depicting the Pied Piper and the children, erected in the town church around 1300. This was unfortunately destroyed in the 17th century but was written about several times and copied in the late 16th century. Early texts made no mention of rats but over time the story developed into one in which the piper (wearing pied – or colourful – clothes) successfully rid the town of an abundance of rats but led the children away as revenge when the townspeople refused to pay him. The German name for the character, Der Rattenfänger von Hameln, references this aspect. Continue reading “The mystery of the Pied Piper” →

Illustrated books and humour in Cambridge University Library’s Liberation collection (1944-1946)

On By europeancollectionsIn French, Historical collections, Special collections, The Department of Collections and Academic LiaisonLeave a comment

This year will mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings and the Liberation of France from German occupation, at the end of the Second World War. As part of the ongoing promotion of and research into Cambridge University’s Library Liberation collection (1944-1946), we have been delighted to shed light on Sophie Dubillot’s AHRC-funded collaborative (Cambridge UL and Open University) PhD project: ‘Ce n’est pas une blague: Purposes and Limits of Visual Humour in Early Post-War France (1944-46)’ and on the Liberation Collection (1944-46) Visiting Scholarship at Cambridge UL, whose first recipient will be announced in the next few weeks. We would be very happy to welcome you on Tuesday 19th March, 5-6pm at the Faculty of Divinity on the Sidgwick site, for Sophie Dubillot and Irène Fabry-Tehranchi’s talk on the Liberation collection: Illustrated books and humour in Cambridge University Library’s Liberation collection (1944-46), as part of the Cambridge Festival (you can register here).

This talk will examine a selection of the Liberation collection’s illustrated works (ranging from deluxe fundraising anthologies to commemorative works, clandestine printing and poetry), as well as humorous drawings representing struggles (such as restrictions, housing issues, and missing family members), in an ideologically divided country in dire need of reconstruction.

Irène Fabry-Tehranchi

Percy Cruikshank’s Panorama of the Franco-Prussian war (1870) in context

On By europeancollectionsIn E-resources, French, Historical collections, New Acquisitions, Special collectionsLeave a comment

Two years ago, Cambridge University Library acquired a satirical pocket-size (but 3 meters long, once unfolded) Panorama of the Franco-Prussian war by Percy Cruikshank (1870) (8000.e.354). This work is a good complement to the library’s Collection of 1870-71 Franco-Prussian caricatures from a British perspective. In a talk taking place on Thursday 7 March from 5-6pm in the University Library’s Milstein room, as part of the Cambridge History of Material Texts seminar, we are going to present Cruikshank’s panorama and contextualise this work within the author’s creation of other comic cartoons produced in the concertina format.

Panorama of the Franco Prussian War, painted by PC [Percy Cruikshank], London : F. Platts, 185 Fleet Street EC, & Mann Nephews, 39 Cornhill E.C., [1870-71].
Percy Cruikshank, The Comic History of the Russian War, London : Read & Co., 1856-57.

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Postage stamps : the Ukrainian item(s) of the month

On By europeancollectionsIn New Acquisitions, Slavonic, UkrainianLeave a comment

Books about stamps are not a huge business in modern purchasing at the University Library, but they can be incredibly interesting to more than the dedicated philatelist.  We recently bought two volumes about Ukrainian stamps more for the principles and attitudes reflected in the stamps than for the images themselves.  What inspires a government agency in its selection of images?  It’s a particularly keen question when it comes to a country whose last 10 years have seen parts of its territory overtaken by illegal annexation and ruined by a growing war.

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24.02.2022 in the words of Ukrainians

On By europeancollectionsIn English, New Acquisitions, Slavonic, UkrainianLeave a comment

Today Ukrainians remember the shock of the air strikes in the early hours of 24 February 2022 that heralded Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country and mark the appalling destruction and loss that continue to this day.  A great deal has been written across the world about Russia’s move from the previous 8 years of conflict to this open war (“special military operation”) but in this post we focus on what has been written specifically by Ukrainians, including new translations into English.

Interest in the Ukrainian language outside the country leapt following Russia’s assault, as awareness of Ukrainian culture and identity grew and as those working with and hosting refugees from the war worked to gain at least basic knowledge of the language.  But the many resources we collect in the UL in Ukrainian to capture Ukrainians’ experience of the devastating war will still have a fairly small audience, so we try to pick up translations into English as much as possible too, so that all our library readers have the chance to hear directly from those facing the attack.

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