archive – Collections – Special Collections

Charles Hasler Collection acquired

Following the closure of the Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, Middlesex University and the University of Reading are pleased to announce that ownership of the Charles Hasler Collection will […]

Conserving a magical menagerie: the conservation and rehousing of the European Manuscripts collection

Written by Victoria Stevens, ACR The existence of manuscript fragment collections represents a fascinating snapshot of cultural and political points in history, showing the changing attitude and purpose of these […]

#StillSpecial: Google Arts & Culture launch

Written by UMASCS Librarian, Claire Clough We have some exciting news to share with you – we have become the newest member of the Google Arts & Culture family! The University of Reading Special […]

‘Embellish’d With Gold’: Crafting an Online Exhibition of Premodern European Manuscripts

Blog post written and online exhibition curated by Joanna Hulin, Reading Room Assistant. The European Manuscripts Collection held at the University of Reading’s Special Collections currently amounts to 143 items […]

Audio-Visual Beckett: Forgotten Gems from the Beckett Collection

Written by Dr Lucy Jeffery, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Samuel Beckett Research Centre When we think of Samuel Beckett and an audio-visual collection, Shades for ‘The Lively Arts’ series, broadcast on […]

Postal Notation: Melanie Daiken and Samuel Beckett

Written by Xander Ryan, graduate student in the Department of English Literature at the University of Reading When Melanie Daiken moved to Paris in 1966 she wrote to Samuel Beckett, […]

Street Fights and Radishes: the notebooks of Leslie Daiken

Written by Xander Ryan, graduate student in the Department of English Literature at the University of Reading. Amongst the rich holdings of the Samuel Beckett Collection archives are the notebooks of […]

New Exhibition: Embellish’d with Gold.Treasures from the European Manuscripts Collection

During 2018 the University was fortunate to make an important new acquisition, the European Manuscripts Collection. The collection consists of 141 folio illuminated manuscripts and 2 volumes: a seventeenth century […]

Recovering Publishing Histories: the Adam & Charles Black Letterbooks

By Amara Thornton (Research Officer, Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology) The publishing house Adam and Charles Black was established in 1834 in Edinburgh. Now its archive is held in University […]

The Queen’s Resolve: Queen Victoria in the Special Collections

Following the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth, Liaison Librarian Bethan Davies takes a closer look at our Special Collections and the surprising connections with the famous monarch. Housed in […]