The Decoration of Spring

Spring has arrived! The flowers bud, newborn animals lay in the fields; and the sky transforms from the dark grey snows of winter, to the dull grey constant rain that all other seasons in the British Isles consist of.

So to help evoke the more traditional thoughts of spring, we turn to Capital Collections new online exhibition ‘L’ animal dans la decoration’. Merging bold colours with the use of animals, French Art Nouveau artist Maurice Pillard Verneuil, created a collection of prints which show how animals can inspire design and decoration in items of furniture, papers, tiles and even outdoor items such as railings.

So let Edinburgh Libraries bring spring to you, when the rain (or snow!!) prevents you from getting out and experiencing it for yourself.

A boy’s own adventure in Norway

Our latest exhibition on Capital Collections is a unique sketchbook of watercolour ‘Views in Norway’ dating from 1864 belonging to the Scottish author, R. M. Ballantyne.

The watercolour sketches take Ballantyne from the port of Bergen, north around the Norwegian coast up to the Arctic Circle, a journey of around 430 miles. No mean feat in an age before the 4×4 and gore-tex. Ballantyne would have travelled mostly on foot, by boat or by cariole (horse-driven carriage). At the back of the fantastically ornate sketchbook are a number of photographs collected on his travels. The picture postcard views of Bergen, the portrait of the author in his hiking gear and portraits of local people (including a Sami bride and bridegroom head to toe in furs), complete the picture of his walking holiday.

The author’s travel experiences often set the backdrop for the boys’ own adventure stories he wrote, or allowed him to imagine and describe places he hadn’t visited. There is a strong correlation between the ‘Views in Norway’ sketchbook and Ballantyne’s Norwegian adventure story, ‘Chasing the Sun’, where the main protagonist goes in search of perpetual daylight.

Ballantyne wrote around 80 stories, but perhaps only the title of ‘Coral Island’ is widely known today. Browse all Ballantyne’s titles and download the ebooks for free from Library2go and discover the spirit of boys’ own adventure. (Go to the ‘Additional ebooks’ area on Overdrive which gives free access to Project Gutenberg books.)

Edinburgh parks photography competition

Fancy yourself as a photographer? Edinburgh Outdoors are running a competition to show what Edinburgh’s parks have to offer.

To get your creative juices flowing here are a few of our favourite images of parks and gardens from Capital Collections, our online picture gallery - how many do you recognise?

 

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Penny farthings, a drunken rabble and vintage beachwear – Edinburgh in pictures

Our ever-expanding online image library, Capital Collections, has had a bit of a makeover recently. As well as a timeline and map there’s a zoom feature which is great for viewing pictures in detail. Click on the images below to get the full benefit of a close-up view.

First, a crowded Portobello beach in 1900, and not a bathing costume in sight. In fact the number of jackets and heavy coats on show suggest it might not have been the warmest of days.

This lot are probably in even greater discomfort, riding their penny-farthings in formation down a cobbled George Street back in 1884. It’s a remarkable scene, and one that seems to have drawn a fair crowd of curious onlookers.

There’s a great deal of action in William Reed’s wonderfully detailed painting of an extremely boozy Leith Races. This is in fact the only recorded painting by the artist, although his obvious skill suggests he must have produced more.

Our next selection is of a group of photographers at Blackford Hill in 1890. Maybe I’ve watched too many westerns, but these guys look like they could be planning a bank robbery.

Our final image is of the Freedom Bus. Use the zoom feature to see the cheeky wee face on the upper deck.

We’ll be showcasing more images from Capital Collections here soon but in the meantime why not take a look round the site and see what you can find?

Take a butcher’s at these characters

Stereotypes abound in our latest Capital Collection exhibition, London Types, a set of printed woodcut prints by the renowned painter and printer William Nicholson, with verses by the equally well regarded W. H Henley.

London Types visits a whole range of characters and the verses which accompany them cast a satirical eye over the people of London. Have a look on Capital Collections and see how many characters you recognize…..

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Japanese art treasure unearthed in Central Library

There’s been a lot of excitement surrounding the discovery of a rare Japanese eighteenth century handscroll painting among our collections.

For decades the  44ft long scroll has been held in the Central Library without anyone realising its true significance. Now Edinburgh City Libraries and National Museums Scotland have submitted a joint application to the Sumitomo Foundation for conservation funding with the result expected in March.

The scroll, by Japanese painter Furuyama Moromasa, is over 44ft in length and depicts an extended street scene in C18th Edo, or Tokyo, showing shops, theatres and domestic detail of life at that time.

Dr Rosina Buckland, Senior Curator of National Museums Scotland’s Japanese collections, has worked with Edinburgh City Libraries to help interpret the scroll using her knowledge of the period.

She said: “This handscroll is a fascinating and important work. It presents a wealth of amusing and entertaining scenes of life in Edo (today’s Tokyo) around 1700, as well as plentiful information on the lively world of the popular theatre, and is the only known large handscroll painting by this artist.

“We very much hope that our funding application for specialist conservation work will be successful, so that the painting can be enjoyed by many people in Scotland, and beyond.”

The scroll was gifted to Edinburgh City Libraries in the 1940s by a relative of Henry Dyer, a Scottish engineer who played a major part in the industrialisation of Japan.

Learn more about the scroll, Henry Dyer and other treasures of the library on Capital Collections.

The Traverse Theatre at 50

We’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of an Edinburgh cultural institution with a specially curated exhibition.

January 2nd 1963 saw the birth of a Theatre Club housed in an abandoned brothel in the Lawnmarket. From inauspicious beginnings, the Traverse Theatre has grown in scale and stature over the years to a global reputation for producing innovative, must-see Theatre.

Taking images from the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection’s theatre archive, material from the ‘Traverse Archive’ kindly loaned by the National Library of Scotland and specially commissioned photographs of the Traverse in its 50th year, the exhibition traces the history of the theatre from its early days in Edinburgh’s Lawnmarket, via its second location in the Grassmarket, right up to present day production shots taken during the dress rehearsal for ‘Arthur Conan Doyle’s Appreciation Society’.

The Traverse Theatre was given its name by Terry Lane, its first Artistic Director who had mistaken the name of the ‘transverse’ staging arrangement. However, he realised too late as the name had already stuck for Edinburgh’s newest theatre. Today, the Traverse Theatre is synonymous with new writing and over the years has helped launch the careers of some of Scotland’s most prestigious and best-loved playwrights, including John Byrne, David Greig, David Harrower and Liz Lochhead.

Our ’Fifty Years of the Traverse Theatre’ exhibition runs on the Central Library Mezzanine from 3rd January to 27th February. However, if you can’t make it in, you can view our online exhibition to enjoy a behind the scenes tour of the Traverse through the years.

From our collections, ‘A Series of Etchings’ by John Clerk of Eldin

John Clerk of Eldin was a remarkable man, best known in his day as a naval writer and tactician, he was also friend to the geologist, James Hutton and architect Robert Adam. Today though, it is Clerk the amateur artist, who is more widely recognised. Currently on show at the City Art Centre is an exhibition dedicated to his etchings of Scottish Scenes, from his earliest self-taught efforts to later finely executed works.

If you’ve not yet caught the John Clerk of Eldin exhibition at the City Art Centre, here’s a little preview of what to expect. From our library archives, we’ve put together a small selection of Clerk’s etchings focusing on scenes of Edinburgh and the surrounding area. Click on the image in Capital Collections and you can zoom right in to the smallest detail to see how the city looked two centuries ago.

City Art Centre exhibition runs until 3^rd February 2013.

1950s Greenside revisited – and it’s all thanks to you

A wee while ago we blogged a request for help to locate the artist of a collection of fantastic photographs depicting life in 1950s Greenside.  We’re delighted to say that with a little help from friends on Facebook, we’ve made contact with the photographer’s family who have kindly allowed us to share and publish the pictures online.

Here’s a preview of the wonderful pictures taken by Ewing Smith of children playing in the streets and at the Greenside Youth Club. The photographs are a unique record of a lost community and a terrific picture of youth culture in 1950s Edinburgh. Look out for The Little Demon Skiffle Group, including some mean washboard playing… Browse the full exhibition on Capital Collections. And let us know if you spot any familiar faces amongst the youth club crowd!

Valentine’s Scotland

Taken from the library’s metaphorical attic and now Capital Collections newest exhibition is this wonderful album of photographs from the 19^th century photographer and publisher, James Valentine.

James Valentine’s album is far removed from the traditional photo album, with crumpled pictures of Great Uncle Charles and Granny with her army of spaniels; these pictures capture some of Scotland’s most fantastic scenery, landmarks and historical sites.

Valentine’s album contains photographs covering all areas of Scotland and all aspects of Scottish life. Photographs of ancient castles, of hills filled with folklore of fairies and magic, photographs of Burns cottage in Alloway and Sir Walter Scott’s mansion Abbotsford, and historical images of Scotland’s biggest cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

So settle down with a cup of tea, slice of cake and have a browse, we guarantee this is one album you won’t be bored of by page two.

Local and family historians – this one’s for YOU

A top-notch lineup of local and family history professionals are joining us for Central Library’s Local and Family History Day on Saturday 17th November.

Get expert advice on how to trace your ancestors, discover the incredible hidden treasures from our collections, and take a look at some specially collated exhibitions.

Throughout the day (from 11am till 3pm) you’ll be able to talk to representatives from the following organisations who’ll be able to answer all your family history queries and questions on the history of Edinburgh:

Old Edinburgh Club

Lothians Family History Society

SCRAN

Edinburgh City Archives

The Scottish Genealogy Society

Living Memory Association

Edinburgh Museums and Galleries

Edinburgh Libraries

Edinburgh’s War

We’ve also got the following talks lined up:

Local and Family History Resources from the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection
11.00 – 11.45am and 1.00 – 1.45pm in the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

Free online local and family history resources: drop-in sessions
12.00 – 12.30pm and 2.15 – 2.45pm in the George Washington Browne Room

Discover the treasures of Central Library (looking at our rare collections)
11.30 – 12.00 noon and 2.00 – 3.00pm in the Board Room

“The history of Burke and Hare”. A talk by John Baxter, RCAHMS
Burke and Hare expert John Baxter will delve into the world of the infamous duo to discover what Edinburgh was like at the time and to see what still exists from when they walked our city’s streets.
1.00 – 1.45pm in the Conference Room

Between times you can explore The World War One History Hub or take a look at the following exhibitions:

Travels with Robert Louis Stevenson: Stevenson’s Journey in the Cevennes

Capital Collections: Picturing the Past. Images, books and objects from the collections of Edinburgh Libraries, Museums and Galleries

If you’d like to know more email informationdigital@edinburgh.gov.uk

Do you remember the Greenside of the 1950s?

Before the glass facade of the multiplex cinema, the metal giraffes and the car boot sales, the Greenside area of Edinburgh was home to a population of 571 people living in 256 houses. Lying in the shadow of Calton Hill, the neighbourhood’s narrow streets and alleyways saw little sunshine. The area suffered from poor ventilation, over-crowding and poor sanitation. With the backing of the City’s Medical Officer of Health and the Chief Sanitory Inspector, Greenside was a priority area on the council’s programme of slum clearances. The Medical Officer had declared the area unfit for human habitation and the only satisfactory option would be to pull the tenements down.

In 1961, after demolition had started, a journalist wrote in the Edinburgh Evening News that the area was awaiting a ‘new era of usefulness’. The area would have to wait some time as a large multi-storey car park filled the gap left behind by the housing until the late 1990s when a multi-million pound development for a cinema and leisure complex was invisaged.

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We’ve discovered within the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, a fantastic collection of images of Greenside dating from the late 1950s before demolition work had begun. The photographs capture the dark and unsalubrious atmosphere of the narrow streets. They also however, show a different side of the neighbourhood. Many of the pictures are taken at Greenside Youth Club, possibly run by Greenside Parish Church, and show a strong community coming together to laugh and play and have fun.

We think the photographer was William Ewing Smith, but unfortunately we haven’t been able to trace him to get in contact. We’d love to hear from you, if you lived in the Greenside area of Edinburgh in the 1950s or maybe you went to the Greenside Youth Club? We’d love to hear your memories and we’d really like to hear from anyone who helped run the Youth Club or knew Mr Smith.

If you’ve any information you can share with us, please contact informationdigital@edinburgh.gov.uk

Edinburgh’s Olympic Parade in pictures

As the Olympic Parade made its way through Edinburgh on Sunday we were on hand to get a few pictures for our Capital Collections archive.

Despite the rain there was a great turnout of an estimated 30,000 people.  The parade started at the City Chambers where six-time gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy was joined on the golden bus by Olympians David Florence, Lynsey Sharp, Josh Taylor, Euan Burton, Chris Sherrington, Sally Conway and Sarah Clark, and by Paralympians Jim Anderson, Sean Fraser and Sam Ingram.

The parade carried on down The Mound and on to a ceremony at  the newly refurbished Assembly Rooms on George Street where Sir Chris Hoy was awarded the Freedom of the City.

Highland Railway Bridges in photographs

A new exhibition on Capital Collections documents the Victorian engineering feats constructed to realise the aim of opening up Scotland’s Highlands to rail travel. The Inverness and Perth railway was built to provide the quickest means possible of getting between Inverness, Central Scotland and further south into England. However, between Inverness and and the south lay mountain ranges, river valleys and treacherous peatbogs which would have to be traversed.

Joseph Mitchell, a former student of Thomas Telford, and his partner Murdoch Paterson were tasked with the job. They were responsible for engineering the vast majority of the canal, road and railway infrastructure that took place in the Central and Northern Highlands in the 19th Century. They have left a remarkable and enduring legacy.

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Many of their bridges and viaducts are still in regular use by passenger trains today whilst others are still standing but with changed use. One notable exception is the Ness Viaduct at Inverness. It stood for over one hundred years, but was washed away in a heavy downpour and ensuing flood water in 1989.

From our Special Collections: Monsieur Thévenot’s ‘The Art of Swimming’

If the Olympics have inspired you to take up a new sport you can do worse than taking a look at the Know the Game series, available to library members via Public Library Online.

But these kinds of books are nothing new, as a curious item from our collections demonstrates…

In 1696 Melchisedech Thévenot (scientist, traveller, diplomat and inventor of the spirit level) published ‘The Art of Swimming’, one of the very first books on the subject.

Disregarding its title, Monsieur Thévenot’s swimming handbook seems to have been designed less as a means of perfecting one’s style in the water, and more as a tool for survival in late 17^th century France. He lists a number of advantages to learning how to become adept in the water in the introduction to his book:

In case of Shipwreck, if one is not very far from Shore, the Art of Swimming may set one safe there, and to save from being drowned.

In case of being pursued by an Enemy, and meeting a River in one’s way, you have the advantage of escaping two sorts of Death, by gaining the Shore on the other side, and so escaping from your Enemy, and from being drowned in the attempt of doing it.

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This printed treasure from our Special Collections is our latest exhibition on Capital Collections, our online image gallery.

Enjoy the full volume of wonderful illustrations as well as some of the more intriguing techniques such as ‘The Agility of the Dolphin’ or ‘The Leap of the Goat’.  There’s even advice on how ‘To cut the nails of the toes in the water’. The reader is assured this is an easier task to perform in water than out – though best not try this one down the local swimming baths!

The return of the Assembly Rooms

This month sees the eagerly anticipated reopening of the Assembly Rooms. Timed to coincide with this year’s Festival Fringe, the refurbished George Street venue is set to be inundated with visitors from the city and around the world.

The Assembly Rooms, first opened on George Street in January 1787 with a Caledonian Hunt Ball. A Master of Ceremonies was appointed to make sure Edinburgh’s socialites adhered to the regulations. Dress code was strict too, with young gentlemen refused entry if their hair was unpowdered or untied, or if they were wearing boots.

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Today’s Fringe audiences are unlikely to be turned away for their attire, but they’re sure to be equally impressed by the building’s grandeur and entertainment. We’ve put together a collection of images and ephemera from our library archives to celebrate the Assembly Rooms’ history and the reopening of this magnificent Georgian building. We’ve found some wonderfully evocative programmes for music recitals and even a collection of beautifully illustrated ball dance tickets dating from the 1830s and 1840s and they’re all available to view in our special Assembly Rooms exhibition.

The Butchart Bequest

Robert Butchart held the post of Edinburgh City Librarian from 1942 until 1953. Mr Butchart had a particular interest in topographical prints of Old Edinburgh, and collected drawings by the likes of Bruce J. Home and engravings by John Ewbank and William Home Lizars. In October 1982 the collection was presented to the Central Library by his daughter, Miss Jean Butchart.

A selection of lithographs from the collection, showing Edinburgh in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries is currently on display on the mezzanine floor of Central Library, and will be so until the end of this month.

 

1952 – the year a princess became Queen

With 60 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth is second only to Victoria as the British monarch with the longest reign in history. In a couple of weeks’ time, there will be no escaping the union jacks, commemorative tv programmes, tea towels and countless other memorabilia.

A new online exhibition on Capital Collections gives a flavour of what life was like in Scotland’s capital back in 1952 and the chance to appreciate the nation’s constant figurehead in an ever-changing world.

1952 was a momentous year. The USA tested the first hydrogen superbomb, the deadliest weapon yet in their Cold War nuclear armoury. A Jewish girl’s diary of her experiences during the Second World was published in English. Anne Frank’s story would have an enduring and far-reaching impact and fulfil her father’s wishes for it to stand as a warning against racial hatred. Closer to home, up to 2000 people died in London from respiratory problems triggered by an unprecedented 10 day pea-souper smog hanging over the city. The world’s first passenger jet airliner set off from London bound for South Africa, signalling the possibilities of future air travel.

In tha same year renowned architect Le Corbusier unveiled the Unite d’Habitation in Marseilles – his Utopian vision for modern living – Edinburgh’s planners revealed proposals for new housing developments for the city. Le Corbusier’s self-contained vertical city was intended to be functional and practical and to allow people to live in strong communities. In Edinburgh, a redevelopment of the rundown Canongate area was commissioned and a couple of years later, a proposal for high-rise towerblocks in the Dumbiedykes area would add a new dimension to the city’s skyline.

Perhaps though, the most significant news for the people of the British Isles was the accession to the throne of the young Queen Elizabeth II. Edinburgh joined in the celebrations with a simultaneous proclamation ceremony which proceeded throughout the city. Delve into 1952 and you’ll see pictures from the proclamation as well as two Royal visits. The new Queen is captured on her first official Scottish tour visiting Huntly House and the Duke of Edinburgh opens the 1952 International Festival of Music and Drama. We even have the menu from his official luncheon programme detailing anchovy canapés completing a four course meal. (Really – after one’s dessert?)

Picturing our changing city

On World Heritage Day 2012, we take a look at our World Heritage City through the eyes of someone who lived and worked here.

Dr Gordon Thompson was an astronomer and keen amateur photographer. What makes his work stand out is that in many cases Dr Thompson returned to stand on the exact same spot thirty years later to recapture the scene of his original picture. The results, as you can see below, are fascinating.

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These pictures from the 1960s and 1990s record how much, and in some cases how remarkably little, Edinburgh’s unique urban landscape has changed.

Dr Thompson’s family have kindly allowed us to make digital copies of his original prints and slides to add to our online image library. Pop over to Capital Collections to see more of these photographs for yourself.

The Ethel Moir diaries

With International Women’s Day taking place today, we thought we’d let you know about one remarkable woman’s story from our collections. Tucked away on the shelves of the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection are the personal journals and scrapbook of Ethel Moir.

You’ve probably never heard of Ethel, but as a young woman she lived an incredible life working as a nurse to help save the lives of soldiers and victims of World War One. As the war raged across Europe she served as a ward orderly in Dr Elsie Inglis’ Scottish Women’s Hospital in Rumania and Serbia.

Along with her friend and fellow nurse Lilias Grant, Ethel departed from Liverpool on the troopship Hanspiel on August 30th 1916. The Hanspiel also carried thirty Serbian soldiers and six officers returning to the battlefields. Their ship was escorted by a naval destroyer past the coast of Northern Ireland, before heading west into the stormy Atlantic and then north over the Arctic Circle, passing close to Iceland and through the Barents Sea. The Hanspiel finally made land at Bacheridza, about five miles from the seaport town of Archangel in Russia, on September 10th 1916. Ethel and her companions would continue their journey by train. Plans to go to Petrograd were changed because on arrival at Archangel a wire was waiting for Dr Elsie Inglis.  Ethel writes, “Plenty of work awaiting us “down south” we hear, so Dr Inglis wants to hurry on as quickly as possible”.

In her journals which span September 1916 to January 1919, Ethel Moir recounts her daily life through words and photographs. Here we can give just a small insight into her experiences through a handful of the pictures we’ve digitised so far.  The pictures show the first entry in her journal, a map of the route the Hanspiel took, as well as atmospheric photographs Ethel took on her journey and in the nursing unit. There is a group portrait showing Dr. Elsie Inglis surrounded by her nursing unit and a religious ‘Ikon’ card given to Ethel by the governor’s wife in Archangel for good luck and stuck into her diary for safe keeping.

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Soon though, we’ll be making the full volumes as well as transcriptions of the diaries accessible to all via Capital Collections.  Look out for further instalments as Ethel’s journey unfolds…