Echoes from the VaultUniversity of St. Andrews Special Collections
Echoes from the Vault is the official blog of the Special Collections of the University of St Andrews. Here you can find posts about unique or exciting finds amongst the vaults in our day-to-day work, bringing to light voices that have remained quiet for many years. This blog will also feature news and events happening within the Special Collections Department and the University Library.
18th-Century CommonThe 18th-Century Common offers a public space for sharing the research of scholars who study eighteenth-century cultures with nonacademic readers.
EnfiladeA serial newsletter for Historians of Eighteenth-Century Art & Architecture
Horace Walpole at 300This year-long blog will feature items from the Lewis Walpole Library’s collection associated with Walpole. Each week, a new blog post will look at something that Walpole either owned, wrote, had printed at his house in Twickenham called Strawberry Hill, or in some way was closely connected with him. Alternating with entries by current Lewis Walpole Library staff and former Fellows will be chapters from W.S. Lewis’s Rescuing Horace Walpole, reproduced here with permission of the Yale University Press.
John Johnson Collection's Ephemera ResourcesThis blog aims to accumulate a useful and growing guide to the many websites either wholly or partially devoted to ephemera. The blog will list two types of resources: online resources and bibliographic references (books and articles, both hard copy and electronic).
The Long EighteenthThe Long Eighteenth has been created as a response to a desire expressed by several members of the listserv C18-L for a weblog community for the discussion of eighteenth-century scholarship and criticism across disciplinary and language boundaries. The Long Eighteenth offers contributor rights to anyone who has a desire to engage others in conversation about current issues in eighteenth-century studies. Includes many links to related resources, including other relevant blogs.
Op-EdOp-Ed is the blog of the Yale Indian Papers Project. Editors intend it to be a discussion point about people, places, things, and events relating to New England Native communities.
Rare Books Blog -- Yale Law LibraryThe Lillian Goldman Law Library has a splendid rare book collection. Law Library Rare Book Librarians post news about recent acquisitions and events and share some interesting new things about the collections.
Recent Antiquarian AcquisitionsThe Recent Antiquarian Acquisitions blog features new additions of early materials to the Lewis Walpole Library’s collection.
Yale Book HistoryThe Yale Program in the History of the Book brings together scholars across disciplines to explore the materiality of the written word over time and across cultures. The collaboration between Yale’s Department of English and Beinecke Library offers seminar meetings for the Yale community and lectures open to the public
Collaborative and Digital Humanities Projects
18th-Century CommonA Public Humanities Website for Enthusiasts of 18th-Century Studies. The 18th-Century Common offers a public space for sharing the research of scholars who study eighteenth-century cultures with nonacademic readers.
Georgian Papers Programme (UK)King's College London and the Royal Archives established the Georgian Papers Programme (GPP) to enrich public historical understanding of Britain, George III, British monarchy and a crucial period in British and world history. The GPP is a partnership between the Royal Collection Trust and King’s College London, and is joined by primary United States partners the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the College of William & Mary. The project hopes to transform the understanding of eighteenth-century North America and Georgian Britain and its monarchy, at a time of profound cultural, political, economic and social change which created the modern nation. You can read more about the work of King's College London (KCL) fellows, KCL initiatives, and details about Georgian Papers Programme related conferences or events to be offered in the U.K. on the King's College London site at georgianpapersprogramme.com.
Georgian Papers Programme (US)King's College London and the Royal Archives established the Georgian Papers Programme (GPP) to enrich public historical understanding of Britain, George III, British monarchy and a crucial period in British and world history. The GPP is a partnership between the Royal Collection Trust and King’s College London, and is joined by primary United States partners the Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture and William & Mary. The project hopes to transform the understanding of eighteenth-century North America and Georgian Britain and its monarchy, at a time of profound cultural, political, economic and social change which created the modern nation.
You can follow the work of the Omohundro Institute (OI) fellows, teaching and research initiatives by William & Mary faculty and students, transcription and digital archive work led by the team at William & Mary Libraries, as well as find details about any Georgian Papers Programme related conferences or events to be offered in the U.S., on the OI and W&M site at georgianpapers-us.wm.edu
Layers of LondonLayers of London is a free online resource that uses maps and user generated content to blend history, geography and digital technology.
Highlight categories
Layers of London is rich with categorised content. Browse a few of our highlighted categories...
Ethnicity, language and culture; Art and Literature; Education; Crime and Punishment; Lost London; Archaeology
Layers of London -- Location of picture sales in London 1750-1800Location of picture sales in the cities of London and Westminster, and occupation of the venue's owner, collected from directories, newspaper advertisements, trade cards and sales catalogues.
This data was collected by Dr. Bénédicte Miyamoto (Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle)
Professional Organizations and Listservs
ASECS American Society for Eighteenth-Century StudiesThe American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies is an interdisciplinary group dedicated to the advancement of scholarship in all aspects of the period . . . from the later seventeenth through the early nineteenth century.
Established in 1969, the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies advances study and research in the history of a time that has profoundly influenced our world. ASECS is a pioneer in interdisciplinary investigation, and it therefore welcomes as members those working in all areas of scholarly inquiry pertinent to eighteenth-century studies.
BSECS British Society for Eighteenth-Century StudiesThe British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies promotes the study of all aspects of the global 'long' eighteenth century.
The Society organises a major conference every January, and supports a number of smaller specialist or regional meetings and conferences. It is affiliated to the International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies.
ExLibris listservEXLIBRIS is an unedited news and discussion group for the
purpose of discussing matters related to rare book and manuscript librarianship, including special collections and related issues.
H-AlbionThe H-Net Discussion Network for British and Irish History. The primary purpose of H-Albion is to enable historians more easily to discuss research interests, teaching methods and the state of historiography. H-Albion is especially interested in methods of teaching history to graduate and undergraduate students in diverse settings.
NEASECS Northeastern American Society for Eighteenth-century StudiesNEASECS is a regional interdisciplinary association for the study of eighteenth-century history, literature, arts, and culture. It was founded in 1977 and is affiliated with the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, serving the Northeastern region of the United States and eastern Canada. We hold our annual meeting in the fall, normally in September, October, or November.
NACBS North American Conference on British StudiesThe North American Conference on British Studies (NACBS) is a scholarly society dedicated to all aspects of the study of British civilization. The NACBS sponsors a scholarly journal, the Journal of British Studies, online publications, an annual conference, as well as several academic prizes, graduate fellowships, and undergraduate essay contests.
RBMS Rare Book and Manuscript Section of ACRLThe official website of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). RBMS strives to represent and promote the interests of librarians who work with rare books, manuscripts, and other types of special collections
RBMS list of Discussion Listslist of discussion lists that address current issues in rare book and manuscript librarianship
Rare Book SchoolRare Book School (RBS) provides continuing-education opportunities for students from all disciplines and levels to study the history of written, printed, and born-digital materials with leading scholars and professionals in the field. Founded in 1983, RBS moved to its present home at the University of Virginia in 1992.
SHARP-LLike its parent organization, the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing, SHARP-L is devoted to forging connections among scholars in all disciplines who are working on the history of the printed word in any place or period.
Reviews in History(The Institute of Historical Research in London)*
Launched in 1996, this e-journal publishes reviews and reappraisals of significant work in all fields of historical interest. To date, they have published over 950 reviews, reaching thousands of readers via the Internet and the free email alert. New reviews appear regularly.
H-Albion ReviewsH-Net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences is an online scholarly review resource. Patricia Rogers is Associate Editor and Charlotte Weber is Assistant Editor of H-Net Reviews. Each H-Net discussion network has its own review editor. Once posted to individual H-Net networks, reviews are posted to H-Review and archived on this site.
Analytical Tools
Gale Primary SourcesGale Primary Sources is a universal research experience that combines Gale's acclaimed digital archives in a single cross-search interface. Includes Advanced Search Features, Subject Indexing, Term Frequency, and Term Clusters. Enables graphing.
Yale Digital Humanities LabOffering space, community, and resources within the Library for Yale researchers who are working with digital methods to pursue humanistic inquiries, the DHLab functions as a hub on campus for digital humanities research and teaching. Staff are available to consult at any stage in a project, from conceptualization through implementation.
Bindings
British Armorial BindingsUnder the sponsorship of The Bibliographical Society of London in conjunction with the University of Toronto Library, the British Armorial Binding database brings to fruition almost half a century of endeavour. Its purpose is to create a comprehensive catalogue of all the coats of arms, crests, and other heraldic devices that have been stamped by British owners on the outer covers of their books, together with the bibliographical sources of the stamps.
British Library Database of BookbindingsTEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE:
This database is a finding aid to the British Library's bookbinding collections. It includes information and images for selected items from the Library's rich collection of fine bindings of books printed in western Europe from the fifteenth century to date. There is also a selection from the valuable bookbindings collections of the Library's partner, the National Library of the Netherlands. The database is a work in progress and its scope will be widened as resources allow.
Papermaking and Watermarks
Bernstein Consortium: Memory of PaperThe Bernstein Consortium produces a digital infrastructure for the expertise and history of paper based on images visualizing the paper's structure. The individual resources are databases of watermarks and other annotated features, image measurement software, contextual resources for cartography and bibliography, and an integrated workspace. Additionally the Consortium organizes tutorials and an exhibition on paper studies.
Includes watermarks databases:
NIKI's International Database of Watermarks and Paper used for Prints and Drawings (c. 1450-1800)
Piccard-Online (mainly archive documents 14th-16th c.)
WIES - Watermarks in Incunabula printed in España
WILC - Watermarks in Incunabula printed in the Low Countries
WZMA - Watermarks of the Middle-Ages (Austrian, 14th-15th c.)
Papermaking at Hayle MillA short film, made by Anglia TV, describing all the processes in making fine paper including a section devoted to making and fitting a watermark to a mould.
(1976 film by Anglia TV, posted by Simon Barcham Green)
The Thomas L. Gravell Watermark ArchiveThe Thomas L. Gravell Watermark Collection of photographic reproductions of over 7,000 watermarks in paper made between 1400 and 1835 available as a searchable online electronic database on the Internet
Printers' and Publishers' Devices
CompositorCompositor (formerly Fleuron) is a database of eighteenth-century printers’ ornaments. Browse by date, printer, city, or author, or search for a specific ornament or book. You can also use the Visual Search
Information sources about rare books and book history
ABC for Book CollectorsReference work on book terminology. Includes definition and analysis of the technical terms of book collecting and bibliography, intersperced with insihtful comments on such subjects as auctions, condition, facsimiles, fakes, points, rarity, organizations, etc.
A Dictionary of Abbreviations Commonly Used by German and Italian Antiquarian Booksellers and Auctioneers"German and Italian antiquarian booksellers and auctioneers are very fond of using abbreviations in their catalogs, sometimes on a rather lavish scale. This enables them to convey a large amount of information in a relatively short space, but readers not completely fluent in those languages are likely to be left somewhat bewildered, even discouraged, by strings of vowels and consonants occurring either singly or in unfamiliar combinations in the midst of what would otherwise be a fairly comprehensible text. For them, this little dictionary, the first one of its kind, I think, may come in handy. Each abbreviation is followed by the full resolution of the German and Italian word and by its English translation, in most cases with one or more examples illustrating the context and the combinations in which the abbreviation is most likely to occur."
Dictionnaire de termes en usage dans le commerce des livres anciensby Edgar Franco, in English, French, German, and Italian. "Contrary to common practice, this dictionary contains as few words as possible. I have limited the terms, to those used by antiquarian booksellers, which are not to be found in the usual bilingual, trilingual, or multilingual dictionaries"
