Laura Cooijmans-Keizer

Exhibition inside Merchiston Tower, containing projected images and 3D-printed models of the figures and grotesques found on the early painted ceiling (which is in the same room).

Detail of the early painted ceiling found in Merchiston Tower, Edinburgh, featuring a variety of figures, items, and grotesques.

Poster for the student exhibition 'As above, so below: Monsters, Memes, Merchiston Tower', hosted by Edinburgh Napier University (30 May - 6 June 2025)

Brilliant to see the creativity and skill on display by ENU students reinterpreting the Renaissance painted ceiling inside Merchiston Tower! A great example of what can be achieved when students connect with heritage collections 😊

@enuheritage.bsky.social @edinburghnapier.bsky.social

04.06.2025 10:54 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Selection of overlaid black and white photographs detailing the refurbishment of the late medieval Merchiston Tower in Edinburgh in various stages. Individual images show the Lionsgate entrance, scaffolding, a maquette of the proposed campus surrounding the tower, the stairs into the tower, a workman working on a wall, and several interior shots of work in progress.

Photograph of ENU Curator showing a toby jug to three other people during a tour in the War Poets Collection exhibition at Edinburgh Napier University's Craiglockhart Campus, which was a hospital for shell-shocked officers during WWI. The toby jug (a jug in the shape of a standing man with a green coat, yellow waistcoat, blue trousers, white stockings, and a blue wide-brimmed hat, was hand painted by Second Lieutenant J. Wood as part of his treatment at the hospital in 1918.

Photograph of a loose ceiling board dating from 1581, with a colour checker and ruler. The ceiling board is part of the Prestongrange House ceiling which is nowadays housed in Edinburgh Napier University's medieval Merchiston Tower. The board in question features - in shades of black, white, and gray - part of a shell (scallops) and swirls resembling ornate ironwork, on a background of red.

A leaf from Anton Koberger's 'Vitaspatrum sanctorum Egiptiorum', dated to 1483. The page features a large illuminated initial 'B' (ECC A13).

Working to develop @enuheritage.bsky.social for the past two and a half years has been an enormous privilege, and I'll greatly miss all the lovely colleagues and collections I've gotten to know during that period!

02.06.2025 11:25 — 👍 6    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The NLS building on George IV Bridge, Edinburgh. Photo from Wikimedia Commons (Marcok).

With the paperwork out of the way, I'm absolutely chuffed to announce I'll be taking up the position of Curator at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh (@natlibscot.bsky.social), looking after its early printed collections up to 1700. Deeply honoured and excited to get started!

02.06.2025 11:25 — 👍 88    🔁 5    💬 3    📌 0

Photograph showing the front cover of Moore's Irish Melodies (1866), which is a vivid green with golden decoration of a small harp in the centre, enclosed by four interlocking hearts featuring the book's title, and surrounded by swirling leaves and flowers.

Photograph of an hand inside a blue nitrile glove holding the book entitled Moore's Irish Melodies which is inserted into an archival-quality zip lock bag. A handwritten note on the front reads: 'WARNING! This bookbinding contains arsenic & lead. Only handle with nitrile gloves.'

☠️| Did you know that books can be dangerous?
We discovered a poisonous book today!

During the 19th century, heavy metals such as arsenic and lead were sometimes added to book bindings to create the vivid green colours like in this copy of Moore's Irish Melodies (ECC E346).

#PoisonBooks #booksky

08.04.2025 14:00 — 👍 99    🔁 27    💬 4    📌 2

Three books from the War Poets Collection at Edinburgh Napier University: 1. Made in the Trenches: composed entirely from articles & sketches contributed by soldiers (1916) 2. Edith Sitwell's Wheels 1919 3. Field service pocket book (1914).

Front cover of the Hydra: The Magazine of Craiglockhart War Hospital, featuring nurses ready to attend to a soldier caught up in a shell shock nightmare (depicted here in the form of the Hydra of Lerna).

Decorative endpapers of Edith Sitwell's Wheels 1919 edited poetry volume. The modernist drawings of men playing darts were made by William Roberts.

📖 | Starting the year off strong with some wonderful items from our War Poets Collection out for consultation today.

Find your favourite items from our collections, and information on how to view them in person at ➡️ tinyurl.com/3ajbbaxt

10.01.2025 15:14 — 👍 13    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Such a great event! Always a privilege to co-host @enuheritage.bsky.social sessions with enthusiastic and knowledgeable academics. There's so much more to discover about our collections! 📖 📚

27.11.2024 10:16 — 👍 9    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Landing page of the new Heritage Collections Discovery portal.

Exciting news! 📢

After many months of work, our new Heritage Collections Discovery portal is now live.

From rare books, to archives, and unique artifacts, you can find exactly what you’re looking for – quickly and easily.

Do have a look to explore our unique collections
➡️ tinyurl.com/2hsve3pm

19.11.2024 17:38 — 👍 16    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Hi! I'm the Curator at Edinburgh Napier University where we have a small museum and lots of brilliant heritage collections. Might I join this lovely list? 😊

13.11.2024 13:01 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Hi! I'd love to be added to the list, if possible. Thanks!

12.11.2024 19:39 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Hi! I'm a Curator at Edinburgh Napier University, and would love to be added to this list! 😊

12.11.2024 19:37 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Hello! Might I join this pack? Thanks 😊

12.11.2024 19:26 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

This is set to be an excellent event! Do come along and have a look at some amazing items from the unique and outstanding Edward Clark Collection. 📖 📚

For more info on the Heritage Collections, see also:
www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/our...

12.11.2024 16:17 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Ancestry event gives opportunity to research family links within nursing and midwifery At Edinburgh Napier University, we nurture talent and create knowledge that shapes communities all around the world.

More information about this exciting event can be found here: www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/new...

04.06.2024 20:01 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Nursing staff at Craiglockhart War Hospital (March 1917).

Come and join this event at the NLS tomorrow where @sudlow-mckay.bsky.social and myself will be representing
@edinburghnapier.bsky.social's Heritage Collections to talk about the nurses at Craiglockhart War Hospital (1916-1919).

There's still time to register! www.tickettailor.com/events/edinb...

04.06.2024 19:55 — 👍 4    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0

❤

08.12.2023 08:47 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Announcement poster for the book launch of Charles Glass' Soldier's Don't Go Mad.

There are still tickets available for tonight's brilliant event!

📖 Join Charles Glass at our Craiglockhart campus, home to the celebrated War Poets Collection, for the launch of his new book 'Soldiers Don't Go Mad'.

📆 Tue 28 Nov
⏰ 6.30pm
📍 Craiglockhart campus

Full details➡ orlo.uk/ltnbl

28.11.2023 15:20 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Announcement poster for ENU's public lecture by Prof. Alison Fell.

Next week, we're hosting a wonderful talk by Prof. Alison Fell, whose title, 'Glorifying Women: Remembering Women’s Roles in WWI,' directly speaks to Sassoon's poem 'Glory of Women.'

The event is free and open to all, but ticketed. Reserve using the link below:
www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/our...

08.11.2023 09:03 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Photograph of the Heritage Collections team with Scottish playwright and poet Stewart Conn during his donation of Sassoon's Glory of Women.

Back in July, a very special item was donated to our War Poets Collection: an original poem by Siegfried Sassoon, written while he was staying at Craiglockhart War Hospital (which is now the campus for ENU's business school).

www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/new...

08.11.2023 09:02 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Illuminated initial B

Woodblock of playing cards

Front cover of The Hydra: The Magazine of Craiglockhart War Hospital

Photograph of curator showing others a toby jug from the War Poets Collection

Hi! Just joined Bluesky. I'm Curator at Edinburgh Napier University, where we're currently setting up a new heritage service. The collections cover over 500 years of history, taking in printing, war poetry, Victorian literature & 1960s countercultures.

15.09.2023 13:11 — 👍 6    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0