Newsletter September 2015

....Future Talks....Future Talks....Future Talks....Future Talks........All Details on the Back Page....

Note from the Editor Priscilla Barlow psbarlow@talktalk.net

We are well into our 40th anniversaryyear and we hope you have enjoyedthe events so far and will continue toenjoy events we have planned.

This edition might well be called theHelen Durndell issue and we arehappy to publish Stephen Rawles’sappreciation of his former colleagueand indeed, perhaps also a little sadly,

the last of Helen’s Letter to the Friends.We wish her good fortune in her‘retirement’; we know she will not justbe bird watching.

We note here the resignation from thecommittee of Dr David Fergus andthank him for his knowledgeable inputat meetings. He is continuing hismembership and, we hope, as one of

the newsletter’s valued proof readers.Don’t forget your ideas and commentson the Friends’ activities and thenewsletter are welcome. We would liketo hear from you by email:friends@lib.gla.ac.uk or in writing to

Friends of Glasgow University Library,c/o University of Glasgow Library,Hillhead Street, Glasgow G12 8QE.

November:

Bookvaluations;Lyon &Turnbull

October:

Talk bySusanAshworth:new Librarian

November:

ProfessorJeremy SmithScript to Print -The afterlives ofmedieval texts

February:

ProfessorGerard CarruthersThe Songs of RobertBurns: A GlasgowPerspective - Withsoprano Alison McNeill.

March:

Dick PeeblesThomasHopkirk -Books,Botany andFungi

The bare bones of information onHelen were provided in the NewsletterProfiles (Winter 2011). She soon gotover the trauma of being born inLondon by being brought up inAberdeenshire. She’s a graduate ofAberdeen, and moved to Glasgow towork at Strathclyde, getting the PGdiploma in Librarianship there, andthen working at the Glasgow School ofArt, and then at the Western School ofNursing. She came to GUL as aSubject Librarian for Engineering in1979. She moved to Circulation in1984/5, and later took the Enquiriesservice into her remit. She became aPrincipal Assistant Librarian in 1989,which is when I came to work moreclosely with her and two other “PALs”in the “Reader Services ManagementTeam”. When Chris Bailey becameLibrarian, Helen became her deputy,and subsequently became “the boss”in 2006, happily regaining the formaltitle “University Librarian”.

As a colleague Helen was a calmingpresence - PALs’ work at a time ofgreat structural change was not a bedof roses, and we needed to expend alot of time and energy on persuadingcolleagues, both Academics and in theLibrary, of the rightness of what washappening. Helen’s gentle voice andmanner were a huge asset in theLibrary, and on academic committees.The other thing Helen always managedto do was organise people and shiftsso that, as if by magic, Library openinghours could be gradually increased totheir current levels.

A few years ago we were told Librarieswere not going to be necessarybecause of all the online stuff comingonstream, but Helen tells me GUL ispacking two million readers in everyyear. I wonder whether the café sheinstituted has something to do with it,but I suspect the Library’s success hasmore to do with the ongoing ethos of

Reader Service which she and hercolleagues inherited, and havedeveloped with reduced staffresources. What’s more, and this is asensational achievement, she’smaintained Library materials fundinglevels: that is quite something!Perhaps, now she’s on its board, shecan do something to help the NLS inthis respect.

Helen Durndell An Appreciation by Stephen Rawles

Congratulations to Susan Ashworth on her appointment as University Librarian insuccession to Helen Durndell. Helen, on her retirement, has kindly accepted thepost of Hon Vice-President of the society.

Andrew Carnegie was right - “There is not such a cradle of democracy upon theearth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, officenor wealth receives the slightest consideration.” He encouraged new libraries,starting with New York and Scotland, and all of them to be open freely to all. 70years later, and on a much smaller scale, The Friends of Glasgow University Librarywas started as a society open to all “to bring people together who are interested inbooks, to promote the Library, and engage the public.”

Our programme in this 40th Anniversary Year includes Meet the New Librarian, inOctober, Professor Jeremy Smith on Script to Print in November, The Songs ofRobert Burns: A Glasgow Perspective by Professor Gerard Carruthers in February

- with songs being performed by the distinguished soprano Alison McNeill; a delightful discourse in Marchabout the pioneering Thomas Hopkirk - Books, Botany and Fungi; and in early April the public book launchat the University of Friendly Shelves; The History of the University of Glasgow Library. This will be on sale inprint form and electronic form.

The work, and purposes, of public engagement remain paramount in supporting the Library, whether ingrants for acquisitions and development, talks, events and exhibitions at Gilmorehill and also available online.Andrew Carnegie would have delighted in the democracy of the digital age.

Letter from theChairman Graeme Smith

The Royal Conservatoire ofScotland’s Archives and Collectionsare a repository of some onehundred and sixty-eight years ofcultural memory and performancehistory in Scotland. Founded as theGlasgow Athenaeum in 1847 andopened by Charles Dickens in thesame year, the Conservatoire’sarchives contain unparalleledresources rich in research potential.

The Conservatoire’s profile as centreof excellence in brass pedagogy issupported by some of the world’smost eminent collections in this field;the Robert Minter Collection ofseventeenth and eighteenth-centurymusic manuscripts of rare andobscure trumpet repertory; theFriedel Keim Collection of originalresearch into the history of

trumpeters throughout the world andthe Edward H. Tarr Collection ofscholarly materials including overone hundred original urtext editionsof brass music are all underpinnedby the world-class John WebbCollection of historic andcontemporary musical instrumentsacquired by RCS in 2012.

Furth of brass, RCS archives alsocare for and curate a number ofprestigious performing artscollections such as the JimmyLogan Archive, Rita Dow BalletArchive, John Steane OperaArchive, David Nicholson FluteArchive and the BritanniaPanopticon Music Hall Archiveamong many others.

Antithetical to many similar services,

however, RCS’ archives are a livingcollection which contributes both tothe student experience and to theperformance output of the institution;our antique instruments and raremusic materials were made to beheard. A balance is struck betweenthe careful conservation of sensitivematerials and the exigencies ofhistorically informed performancewhich helps to keep the dust fromthe shelves. The Conservatoire’sarchives are open to the public byappointment with the archivist StuartHarris-Logan archives@rcs.ac.uk

Tel: 0141 270 8299

https://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/archives/

The Royal Conservtoire of Scotland’sArchives and Collections: A Fine Complement to The ScottishTheatre Archive

Portrait of Jimmy Logan as Dame Lizzie Trotterby June Crisfield Chapman

Keim Pocket Trumpet

Book of Strangers, Dickens Signature

Professor of Chemistry at theUniversity of Glasgow from 1874 to1915. The main strengths of thispart of the collection lie in alchemyand the pseudo-sciences,amounting to over 100 incunabula.

Last but not least is the collectionof Dr William Hunter (1718-83)

himself, withmore thanhalf of theL i b r a r y ’ scollection ofincunabula.

The party was divided into threemore manageable groups and takenon the tour by Julie Gardham andmembers of her team, Katie O’Neilland Bob Maclean. One exceptionalbook on display was a magnificentcopy of a Breviary, printed on vellumand published in Venice in 1478 bythe celebrated printer NicolausJenson (1404-1480). Jenson went toMainz to study printing, but there isno evidence that while there he wasever under the tutelage of JohannesGutenberg who had only recentlyperfected the technique of movabletype. This booked was personalisedas a gift for Leonardo Botta, theMilanese Ambassador to Venice atthe time. It is unique in being

enhanced by nine fully decoratedpages painted by an artist identifiedonly as 'Petrus V', by which GUL staffmanaged to identify the intendedrecipient.

There was a tea and cakes intervalafter which Julie took us to SpecialCollections on the 12th Floor to viewwhat she called her “long list”,another selection from thisfascinating collection that due tolimits of space failed to make thefinal cut. The illustrations represent avery small fraction of the display.

Some thirty Friends and their guestswere in for a real treat when they hada private tour of the IngeniousImpressions exhibition on 27 April.The exhibition (27 February - 21June) was mounted in the HunterianArt Gallery. The exhibitionshowcased the University’s richcollection of early printed books, orincunabula, exploring the transitionfrom manuscript to print during thesecond half of the 15th century. Thecollection is one of the UK’s largestand most important of its kind and,as we were to see, it was not an easytask selecting which examples to useand which to leave out.

The collection was formed from threemain bequests, all well representedin the exhibition. The most recentwas part of 12,000 volumes from thelibrary of William Euing (1788-1874),a Glasgow insurance broker, whichincluded 130 incunabula in hisgeneral collection, 24 incunabula inhis collection of bibles, psalters, andbooks of prayers and hymns, and 7incunabula among his volumes ofearly printed music which wastransferred to the University ofGlasgow Library as recently as 1936.

Another bequestwas from the libraryof Professor JohnFerguson (1838-1916), Regius

Friends Visit Ingenious Impressions Exhibition at theHunterian Art Gallery Duncan Beaton Reports

Photos courtesy of Iain Wotherspoon

Friends take tea

Blockbook Apocalypse

Julie shows Friends the 'rejects'

Johannes Regiomontanus, Calendar

Solinus, Gaius Julius. Polyhistor,sive De mirabilibus mundi

Suetonius Tranquillus,Gaius. Vitae XII Caesaru

We are sad to record that Margaret Walker, wife of the late Professor David Walker, first Honorary President of theFriends of GUL, died suddenly but peacefully at her home on Tuesday, 28th July.

Julie introduces exhibition tour

Abstract

Dr Reid’s paper discussed the workbeing undertaken on his AHRC-fundedproject, ‘Bridging the ContinentalDivide: neo-Latin and its cultural role inJacobean Scotland, as seen in theDelitiae Poetarum Scotorum (1637)’.The project is producing an electroniccritical edition of 13 of the 37 poetsfeatured in the Delitiae PoetarumScotorum (DPS: Amsterdam, 1637), ananthology of Scotland's best andbrightest neo-Latin poets, paid for andedited by the Fife nobleman John Scotof Scotstarvit with the assistance of theAberdonian poet Arthur Johnston.

Although several volumes of poetry bymultiple authors were produced inseventeenth-century Scotland, theDPS (totalling 1,272 pages) was theonly anthology produced for aninternational audience, or on such alarge scale. Dr Reid outlined the historyand contents of the DPS, explored theelectronic critical edition produced bythe BCD project, set the work of theproject against Dr Reid’s broaderresearch into print culture and genretypes in Scottish Latin literature, anddiscussed the major conclusions onScottish neo-Latin that the project

team have arrived at. The talkhighlighted the wide range of poetsactive in the reign of King James VIand I, who worked in a variety ofoccupations ranging from teachers tosoldiers, and were both Protestant andCatholic. The DPS also paradoxicallyshows that neo-Latin humanist culture,with its reverence for the classical (andpagan) past, became immenselypopular in Scotland at the exact sametime as it became one of the mostdoctrinaire Reformed countries inEurope.

On 17 February Dr Steven Reid,currently Lecturer in Scottish Historyin the School of Humanities, gave ahighly informative talk to the Friends.His main research interests are in theintellectual, political and religioushistory of Scotland between c. 1450and c. 1650. With a FulbrightScholars Award, funded by the US-UK Fulbright Commission and theScottish Government, he was avisiting lecturer in Church History atYale Divinity School between Januaryand May 2012. Dr Reid is theprincipal investigator in the Bridging

the Continental Divide project fundedby the Arts and Humanities ResearchCouncil. His publications includeHumanism and Calvinism: AndrewMelville and the Universities ofScotland 1560-1625 and he hasedited with R. A. Mason, AndrewMelville (1545-1622): Writings,Reception, and Reputation: StAndrews Studies in ReformationHistory. Ashgate: Farnham, 2014 andwith E.A Wilson, Ramus, Pedagogyand the Liberal Arts: Ramism in Britainand the Wider World. Ashgate:Farnham, 2011.

Bridging the Continental Divide -Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum

Norman F. Shead is an Honorary Research Fellow in History, a member of theConference of Scottish Medievalists and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Hehas been involved in several of the co-operative projects of the Conference. Hispublications include 'Glasgow an Ecclesiastical Burgh’ in The Scottish Medieval Town,(ed. M. Lynch et al) and contributions to the Atlas of Scottish History, (eds. P.G.B.McNeill and H.L. MacQueen), articles in the Scottish Historical Review, the InnesReview, contributions to Historic Govan, (eds. C. Dalglish and S.T.Driscoll), Church,Chronicle and Learning in Medieval and Early Renaissance Scotland, (ed.B.E.Crawford) and to A Tale of Two Towns. A History of Medieval Glasgow, (ed. N.

Baxter). He co-edited with D.E.R.Watt, The Heads of Religious Houses in Scotland from the Twelfth to the SixteenthCenturies (Scottish Record Society) and was one of the team recruited by Watt to edit Walter Bower’sScotichronicon, the largest chronicle of medieval Scotland. The late fifteenth century printed copy of Vincent ofBeauvais' chronicle in Special Collections was instrumental in identifying substantial portions of Bower's text.

His current work is an edition of the acta of the Scottish bishops to c.1240. His researches in various libraries andarchives have included in particular working in GUL Special Collections on the manuscript transcripts of GlasgowCathedral's charters, which were taken to France at the Reformation by Archbishop Beaton and lost during theFrench Revolution. This edition will be published by the Scottish History Society.

Honorary Research FellowsWorking in the Library: 4

Abstract

The search for the world’s first comicwould have been an adventure worthyof Tintin, had Hergé ever needed toexpand the series into full-blownmetafiction. But well before Tintinsurely the first comic is a cave painting,Trajan’s column, or the BayeuxTapestry? As well as considering theimplications of the ‘Lascaux Theory’,this paper suggests some lesser-known candidates, such as thefifteenth-century Biblia pauperum, theMiroir de l’humaine salvation (1455),the bawdy Cent nouvelles nouvelles, orthe superhero genre of emblem books,all of which are to be found in GlasgowUniversity Library.

Why then in 1996 did the French claimadamantly that they had inventedcomics, even if the hero in question,Rodolphe Töpffer, was Swiss? The‘comic’ that had passed unnoticed, atleast to late-twentieth-century eyes,was the Glasgow Looking Glass.Produced by Thomas Hopkirk, JohnWatson and William Heath, theGlasgow Looking Glass first appearedon 11 June 1825 and ran for 19 issuesuntil 3 April 1826.

From first glance onwards the GlasgowLooking Glass was striking as apublication dominated by images, andone can but imagine how original itmust have appeared to its tentative

1825 audience. Its content was amixture of local and international satire,touching upon politics, character typesand fashions. Above all, with itsmixture of text and image to tell stories,the occasional use of speech bubbles,and its mass distribution thanks tolithography, the Glasgow LookingGlass fills all the criteria of the world’sfirst modern comic.

To borrow a phrase from the LookingGlass, it is a story ‘to be continued’ asHeath’s publication will star alongsideTöpffer, Lichtenstein and Frank Quitelyin the Hunterian Comic Inventionsexhibition that will open in March 2016.

Professor Laurence Grove (Billy)delighted a meeting of the Friends on21 April with his impressive andhighly interesting illustrated talk.Laurence Grove is Professor ofFrench and Text/Image Studies andDirector of the Stirling Maxwell Centrefor the Study of Text/Image Culturesat the University of Glasgow. Hisresearch focuses on historicalaspects of text/image forms, and in

particular bande dessinée (Frenchcomics). He is President of theInternational Bande DessinéeSociety, general editor of GlasgowEmblem Studies, and joint-editor ofEuropean Comic Art. He is currentlypreparing an exhibition on theWorld’s First Comic, and working onplans for a National ComicsAcademy, both of which arediscussed in this lecture.

The Glasgow Looking Glassand the Birth of Comics

P R O F I L E S18. Julie GardhamJulie studied English at AberdeenUniversity, then postgraduate studyin librarianship at Sheffield University.She became enthralled with historicalbibliography and the wonderful worldof formats, fonts, woodcuts andwormholes. Little did Julie know thatthe almost mythical sounding booksthat she read about as a studentwould one day be at her workingfingertips.

Her early posts were in cataloguingfor the British Library and as a facultylibrarian at the University of Liverpool.As Julie is originally a Scouser, whenshe applied for and got her dreamjob in Special Collections in Glasgowher mum was very cross. She has

now worked here for eighteen years.She wonders where the time hasgone. It seems that there is alwayssomething new to discover, and Julieis still thrilled by the touch and feel ofthe books. Curating IngeniousImpressions has been a fantasticopportunity to share this bibliophilicenthusiasm. She is immenselygrateful to the Friends for funding theexhibition so generously, helping tomake it such a stunning andmemorable display.

Outwith work, Julie pursues typicallibrarian pursuits such as reading,cooking and gardening (butdefinitely not knitting). She alsocycles a lot, and tries not to fall off.

This beautifully produced andfascinating volume was recentlypresented to the University ofGlasgow by Mark Goldberg onbehalf of the Goldberg family.

Forced toflee EasternEurope in1907, thefamily camefirst toG l a s g ow,where theywere able toflourish in

safety and several family memberswere educated at the University. Thefamily has given the Haggadah tothe people of Glasgow in gratitudefor the sanctuary and hospitality theyreceived here.

The volume is a copy of TheHaggadah (Hebrew for “the telling”),which tells the story of the Exodus ofthe ancient Hebrews from theircaptivity in Egypt. It is one ofJudaism’s most popular works ofreligious literature, and has beenused at the Seder meal celebratedby families during the Passoverholiday for more than fifteen hundred

years. The Passover Haggadahincludes the text of everything that issaid, sung and enacted each yearduring this most joyful ofcelebrations. The images here werecopied fromthe Libraryblog which arer ep r oducedwith thecooperation ofThe ArthurSzyk Society,Bur l ingame,CA.

On 16th June a very good number ofFriends was welcomed to the GlasgowSchool of Art Library by the archivist,Susannah Waters, and the assistantlibrarian, Jennifer Higgins.

Some twenty books were available toexamine and happily to turn pages. Itwas a delightful and highly interestingdisplay including Vanessa Belllithographs, examples of bookbinding:The Basket of Flowers. RennieMacintosh: Poems by John Keats,(1897) Ann Macbeth: early bookplates:

A Manual: of Monumental Brasses(1861), and The Scottish Bestiary 20prints by 7 Scottish artists illustratingG. Mackay Brown’s poetry

After a tea interval the Friends weretreated to an illustrated lecture on thedestruction of the Rennie McIntoshLibrary, the storing of the rescueditems and the ongoing restorationproject. This visit provided aninteresting insight to the work of the ArtSchool which goes beyond acquiringfine art skills to include research andacademic studies in the various fieldsof art.

Haggadah binding

A Recent Acquistion

The Szyk Haggadah (Sp Coll RF 1162)

The Friends Visit the Glasgow School of Art

Jennifer Higgins

'Girl Reading'Vanessa Bell lithograph

Poems by Keats,1897, binding by Robert BellPoems by Keats, 1898, binding by Ann Macbeth,

The Book of the ome, 1900, binding byTalwin Morris

Book Binding by Jessie King

Friends examine exhibitsPhotos courtesy of Iain Wotherspoon

Funding News

Last year the Friends funded photographs made for inclusion in the book by Israel J. Katz Henry George Farmer and theFirst International Arab Music Congress (Cairo 1932.), based on the journal kept by Henry Farmer when he was the onlyBritish representative at the Cairo congress.

Farmer’s wide-ranging books, articles and papers form one of the significant holdings in Special Collections. After manyyears in preparation, with the collaboration of one of our members, Sheila Craik, the book was published in April 2015by Brill, in Leiden.

A grant of £5000 has been made by the Friends as their contribution to the funding of the exhibition, The World’s FirstComic? to be held in the Hunterian Art Gallery 18 March – 17 July 1916. The exhibition will be curated by ProfessorLaurence Grove and Peter Black. About 50% of the material will be from GU Library. Specifically the grant will gotowards the publication of the box set including a facsimile of the first satirical comic The Glasgow Looking Glass, 1825which will accompany the exhibition; RRP £20.

Dear Friends,

Once again, June finds us anticipatingthe arrival of building contractors – thistime to redevelop Level 2, (theentrance/lobby area) and Level 1. Weplan a more open foyer at the mainlibrary entrance on Level 2 with anexhibition facility to highlight ourtreasures and the role of the Friends.We are grateful to benefactors throughthe University’s Development andAlumni office for additional fundingtowards this display facility.

The main floor will be opened up ascollaborative space for students,piloting new layouts in preparation forthe University’s learning & teachinghub project. Level 1 is the oldbasement/sub-basement space forwhich the architects promise adramatic re-imagining to provide about150 new study spaces.

Visitor figures to the Hunterian ArtGallery increased by 23% in April and34% in May during the fabulousIngenious Impressions exhibition.

Positive social media posts werereceived and the weekly lunchtimeevents were well attended. Academiccolleagues in the College of Arts havesecured funding to make a permanentrecord of the exhibition - discussionsare underway on how this will bepresented.

I was very touched to receive apresentation at the special event forFriends in late April to mark myforthcoming retirement from the post ofUniversity Librarian. It has been aprivilege to occupy this role for the lastdecade and do my bit to safeguard thebuilding, add to the fantasticcollections and enhance libraryservices. I have worked with somewonderful colleagues both in thelibrary, in the university and in the widercommunity and will be pleased tosupport FGUL in the role of HonoraryVice-President.

My post-retirement diary is alreadyfilling with events linking to continuing

roles: member of the Project Board forthe proposed Learning & Teachingnew building on campus (to containthe Charles Kennedy MemorialLecture Theatre), Vice-Chair of SLIC(Scottish Library and InformationCouncil) member of the Board of theNLS (National Library of Scotland).

The Annual Review for 2014 isavailable here:-

http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_392644_en.pdf

I am pleased to end this final updatewith the news that Susan Ashworth,currently deputy librarian, has beenappointed as my successor and willtake up the post from 1st August. Ihave worked with Susan for manyyears and she is smart and articulatewith a passion for the job and a strongloyalty as an alumnus of the Universityof Glasgow.

As ever, very happy to receivequestions or comments from Friends!

Letter from Helen Durndell University Librarian

Gift to Helen

The Friends, acting on ‘inside’information chose as a gift for HelenDurndell’s retirement, a framedantique print of British birds - and alarge bunch of flowers. On behalf ofthe Friends, our newsletter editorpresented the gift to Helen, with ourbest wishes, during the tea interval atour visit to the Ingenious Impressionsexhibition.

Dates for your Diary 40th Anniversary Year

2015Tuesday 13 October 7pmThe New Librarian - Susan AshworthPreceded by the AGM at 6.30pm

Thursday 19 NovemberLyon & Turnbull book valuationDetails to be announced

Tuesday 24 November 7pmProfessor Jeremy SmithScript to Print - The afterlives of medieval texts

2016Tuesday 9 February 7pmProfessor Gerard CarruthersThe Songs of Robert Burns: A GlasgowPerspectiveWith soprano Alison McNeill

Tuesday 15 March 7pmDick PeeblesThomas Hopkirk - Books, Botany and Fungi

Early AprilUniversity book launch ofFriendly Shelves: History of the University ofGlasgow Library

18 March - 17 JulyExhibition in Hunterian Art GalleryThe World’s First Comic?

Friends of Glasgow University Library

Honorary President: Professor Sir Kenneth Calman,Chancellor of the University

Honorary Vice President:Helen Durndell

Chairman: Graeme SmithHon. Secretary: Dr Peter Davies

Committee Members: Jean AndersonPriscilla BarlowDuncan BeatonSheila CraikNorah GrayLesley Richmond (ex officio)(Deputy Director Library)Dr Helen Cargill Thompson

Accountant: Robert AirdMembership Secretary: Freda Tuck

Friends of Glasgow University Libraryc/o University of Glasgow Library,Hillhead Street, Glasgow G12 8QE

friends@lib.gla.ac.uk

A Registered Scottish Charity No. SC006553

Website - www.gla.ac.uk/fgul

The new Special Collections display on Level 12 of theLibrary is part of the Season of Photography inScotland 2015 - a series of lively exhibitions and eventstaking place at multiple venues across the country frommid-April to the end of September, celebrating andpromoting historical and contemporary work.

Try googling Glasgow University Library Book of theMonth to look at some beautiful books.

The 9th International Conference on Music since 1900is being held in University of Glasgow in September.Special Collections are arranging a small display aboutHenry George Farmer on the afternoon of 8th fordelegates. Dr Eva Moreda Rodriguez (ChairProgramme Committee and Lord Kelvin Adam SmithFellow in Music as a Cultural Practice, School ofCulture and Creative Arts) has invited the Friendscommittee to see the display.

To access all kinds of fascinating and informative itemson blogs about the library, pasteuniversityofglasgowlibrary.wordpress.com into yourbrowser.

There you will find different headings which includeaccess to Special Collections posts written by JulieGardham, Fiona Neale, Kerry Patterson, and SarahHepworth as well as to other areas of the library.

Snippets

Evening Talks take place in the TalkLab, Library Level 3.Open to members and visitors. Refreshments.

Book in Progress: Peter DaviesFriendly Shelves, the first illustrated history of theUniversity of Glasgow Library over the centuries, isgestating smoothly. Our expert contributors continueto research their various assigned topics, exchangingtheir draft texts prior to finalizing the selection ofillustrations by the 15 October. 31 October is thedeadline for the submission of drafts for editing. Theaim is to complete the editorial process by mid-December, allowing design and print preparation totake place early in 2016.

Photographs and paintings will be supplemented withpen-and-ink drawings of the Library. Text boxes will beincorporated in the historical narrative highlightingfeatures of particular interest such as ‘human interest’stories (e.g. feminist issues and the war service ofmembers of the Library staff). The book will bepublished in hardback, softback and in e-book form.The book launch is planned to take place at the Universityin April 2016.