Collection focus – Page 3 – Collections

Archive Animals- Ducks

Written by Bethan Davies, Trainee Liaison Librarian. After a special visit from our friend Hodor from Reading University Library, we decided to take a deeper look at our duck related […]

#ReadaBookDay – Our top suggestions!

In celebration of #ReadABookDay, members of staff at The MERL and Special Collections have been sharing their favourite books from within our collection on Twitter. This blog post looks in […]

Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Sainsbury Singers are performing The Wizard of Oz from 17th – 20th May 2017 at the Hexagon, Reading. They visited us here at Special Collections a few weeks ago […]

The ‘New Women’: women writers of the 1890s

Written by Fiona Melhuish, UMASCS Librarian The art and literature of the 1890s is one of the strengths of the University’s Special Collections. However, although these holdings, along with the […]

‘Carnivals on the water’ : the Thames Frost Fairs

Written by Fiona Melhuish, UMASCS Librarian Behold the wonder of this present age, A famous river now becomes a stage. Question not what I now declare to you, The Thames […]

Adventurous of Mind, Young at Heart: Herbert Leader Hawkins

Written by Louise Cowan, Trainee Liaison Librarian The University of Reading’s Special Collections Service is home to the fascinating papers and unique library of Herbert Leader Hawkins, Professor of Geology at […]

Fragments of medieval manuscripts

Unknown to many members of the public, Special Collections holds an intriguing assortment of medieval manuscript fragments. They are part of the John and Griselda Lewis Collection, a fascinating collection […]

Travel Thursday – The Great New York

Written by Louise Cowan, Trainee Liaison Librarian One of the world’s top tourist destinations, New York has been attracting travellers for many years. This week’s Travel Thursday looks at the […]

Ready, Set, Bake: Recipes from the 18th and 19th Century

Written by Louise Cowan, Trainee Liaison Librarian In honour of the return of much loved T.V. show ‘The Great British Bake Off’ we’ve pulled together some wonderful recipes and baking […]

National Allotment Week: Top tips for green fingers!

Written by Louise Cowan, Trainee Liaison Librarian It is not uncommon for inexperienced people to be guilty of omissions in providing for the establishment of a garden which strike horticulturists […]