Cambridge University Library

The image shows a close-up of an old, engraved map cartouche. We see a polar bear leaning forward with its front paws resting on a draped cloth or banner.

It's #InternationalPolarBearDay 🐻‍❄️

This handsome bear decorates a 1649 map of the Arctic Pole and surrounding lands, engraved in Amsterdam by Dutch cartographer Johannes Janssonius (1588–1664).

Shelfmark: Maps.bb.17.F.20.

All my colleagues @theul.bsky.social are cool, obviously, but some are super cool 👇

Promotional poster for University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives’ “Research Skills Training Programme.” The poster features the university library's logo at the top, followed by the title of the programme. It describes the training as “a programme of events to teach essential skills and build confidence for every stage of the research journey.” Topics include reading and note-making, literature searching, academic writing, data management, referencing and copyright, thesis deposit, and publishing, fair attribution & metrics. The background image shows a student working at a desk with books, a laptop, and stationery.

📝 The Research Skills Training Programme from University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives is open for bookings!

👋 Designed primarily for PhD students and researchers, the sessions are open to all Cambridge staff and students.

🔎Learn more and book: https://loom.ly/RjU6dj4

A coloured book plate of snowdrops and crocuses

A coloured book plate showing delicate white narcissi flowers.

A coloured book plate showing a delicate bunch of violets tied with a pink ribbon.

Spring is on the horizon, with all its sweet promise.

💐Images of spring flowers are all coloured plates from "The romance of nature" written and illustrated by Louisa Anne Twamley (later Meredith). Published in London, 1836 (Eb.5.17).

Please join us online this evening to discuss Wuthering Heights!

This is fantastic, Sarah!

Bookends article in Literary Review magazine

Cover of Literary Review mag on a black and white cushion

My love letter to @theul.bsky.social pre-1978 Supplementary Catalogue in @litreview.bsky.social

literaryreview.co.uk/list-of-a-li...

Cairo Genizah : Genizah Fragment

✍️This letter is written in Judaeo-Arabic (Arabic written using the Hebrew alphabet). It was written in the 12th century by a Jewish scholar called Perahya to his wife. It is part of the Genizah Collection at Cambridge University Library.

📚 The Really Popular Book Club has two fantastic reads coming up!

📖 24 February
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

📖 31 March
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Join us online - everyone is welcome!

🎟️ FREE tickets are available now: https://loom.ly/PlR2sr0

Pencil drawing of a female Kestrel.

Five Kestrels seen today along the A10 from Ely to Denver, and two on the way back. 💚

Drawing by William Swainson (1789-1855), from four volumes of sketches, plates and other illustrations for his various ornithological projects. MS Add. 9901 @theul.bsky.social

A graphic with a black background featuring a colourful abstract logo in the top left corner and a large block of white text. The text is a testimonial about publishing an article with The Company of Biologists, discussing the benefits of the Read & Publish initiative and the planting of a tree in the Forest of Biologists. Beneath the text, there is a small portrait photo of a person with curly hair wearing a textured top. At the bottom, bright blue text reads: “Laura Machesky, University of Cambridge, UK.”

Thank you Laura Machesky @lmachesky.bsky.social for sharing your experience of fee-free #OA publishing in
@jcellsci.bsky.social via our #ReadAndPublish agreement with
@theul.bsky.social

Read Laura’s paper: bit.ly/4cucNGK

Is your institution participating too? bit.ly/3O7BxGi

Join one of our 45-minute taster tours of the University Library with a member of our friendly Library staff focusing on our collections, services and workspaces.

📍UL tours take place on the second Saturday of the month.
🔗Find out more and book your place: https://loom.ly/_W79-4A

Screenshot showing 557 downloads of the MORPHSS report

Our new report **Openness in the arts, humanities and social sciences: Documenting open research practices beyond STEM** has already had over 550 downloads!

If you haven't seen it yet but are interested in taking a look, you can find it here: doi.org/10.17613/jn1...

#morphss #OpenResearch #AHSS

Yunnan Jiamǎ (甲馬) are traditional woodblock prints used for protection and blessings in Yunnan province in China.

Yunnan Jiamǎ (甲馬) are traditional woodblock prints used for protection and blessings in Yunnan province in China. (FH.911.214)

Islamic Manuscripts : al-Qurʼān Illuminated Qurʾān with two decorated medallions and two magnificent headpieces containing the Fātiḥa. The text of the Qurʾān

Ramadan is here!

This illuminated Qurʾān (NN.3.75) is part of the Islamic Manuscripts Collection at #CambridgeUniversityLibrary.

Islamic Manuscripts : ʻAjāʼib al-makhlūqāt A richly illuminated 16th Century [CE] copy of the Persian version of Qazwini's ʻAjāʼib al-makhlūqāt wa-gharāʼib al-mawjūdāt,

ʻAjāʼib al-makhlūqāt, 16th century Persian manuscript (MS Nn.3.74)
loom.ly/DM7BI9Q

Uji shūi monogatari emaki, images from Japanese tales written in the 13th century, reproduced in our modern collections. (FD.960.95, f.)

Sanskrit Manuscripts : Kalāpustaka A masterfully crafted 17th-century Nepalese accordion book, completely consisting of polychrome drawings, for a total of

Happy Lunar New Year!

We're welcoming the Year of the Fire Horse with highlights from our collections 🔥🐎

Kalāpustaka, 17th century Nepalese accordion book (MS Add. 864)
loom.ly/3Wjvk_Q

📣 New report says a broader definition of “open research" is needed to include arts, humanities and social science practices.
Discover more about this landmark report by @morphss.bsky.social: https://loom.ly/7msI5RU

A richly coloured illustration of a horse and two birds (probably parrots) in a 17th century Nepalese book

A traditional East Asian–style painting showing several horses in a stable.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Year of the Fire Horse highlights from our collections...

🐎Uji shūi monogatari emaki, images from Japanese tales written in the 13th century, reproduced in our modern collections. (FD.960.95, f.)

🐎 Kalāpustaka, 17th century Nepalese accordion book (MS Add. 864)

Ah, Monday again. Like Cathy, we cannot "be persuaded into tranquillity".

Wuthering Heights is our choice for this month's Really Popular Book Club on 24 February.

Booking info ➡️ https://loom.ly/ehSIrNA

Image taken from a 1908 edition of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1908.7.1151).

Ornate Victorian Valentine with a complicated design of flowers, romantic figures and other decorative patterns.

Ornate envelope addressed to Miss Ellen Epps, 20 Devonshire Street, near Portland Place.

A sepia-toned photo of Ellen Epps, later Mrs Edmund Gosse. She wears a shawl with long beaded necklaces, and her hair is swept back with bands in a bohemian style.

💌 This beautiful Valentine was sent to Miss Ellen Epps in 1864.

Ellen (1850-1926) was a painter, who later married Sir Edmund William Gosse (1849-1928), poet and man of letters.

Images:
1-2. Valentine, 1864 (MS Add.7019/1).
4. Photograph of Ellen Epps (MS Add.7019/19).

A promotional graphic from the University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives. At the top, text reads: “Cambridge University Library’s Manuscript and Rare Books services will be closed on Monday 16 February.” Below, a person in a light blue outfit carefully handles an old, thick book resting on orange supports in a library reading room, with desks and chairs blurred in the background.

Please not that our Manuscript and Rare Books services will not be available on Monday 16 February.

This is to allow staff to complete the move to the new combined Special Collections Reading Room, which opens on Tuesday 17 February.

Learn more about the changes: https://loom.ly/OQYhclI

Genizah Fragment (Or.1080 J23): a late 12th century love letter.

Perahya is in Cairo and misses his wife, Umm Thana: “Of late my yearning has become so strong that I am not able to bear it anymore." He invites her to join him, promising she can choose her own carpets. 🤔

https://loom.ly/h2W1pMI

A recent addition to Cambridge Digital Library, the 'Survey of India Maps' (cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...) are part of a wider project that has created an amazing open-access search portal for historic survey maps of India!
You can read more about the project and platform below:
⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

A photograph of Cambridge University Library's Dye Garden. We see a little wooden sign in a flower bed, which reads 'The Dye Garden". The bed is full of leafy green plants covered in a light dusting of snow.

😴 While the Dye Garden hibernates, our Conservation team are busy making plans for the coming months...

🌱 begin early spring planting
🌱 move some plants for better light/drainage
🌱 leave the perennial crocuses and madder to mature
🌱 Order new seeds, like 'true indigo'

Cambridge Digital Library is home to 130 collections containing 1.5 million images of 160,000 items (6593 of which have transcription), that originate from at least 2000 places around the globe...
👀 Have you ever wondered what that looks like? 😮
Enjoy some data fireworks! - cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk

A University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives recruitment graphic. Text reads: “We’re hiring” and “Senior Library Assistant – Korean Collections.” The background features a colourful traditional-style illustration of a woman, standing among plants and lotus flowers, with a pavilion and landscape behind her. The University of Cambridge logo appears in the top left corner.

We’re recruiting a Senior Library Assistant to support the University Library's Korean collection.

You will be responsible for selecting, ordering, and cataloguing Korean books and digital resources, as well as processing new acquisitions.

Apply before 22 February
https://loom.ly/AwPbdtA

Spitting Image puppet of Margaret Thatcher at Cambridge University Library

#OnThisDay in 1975, Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of the Conservative Party, replacing Edward Heath.

One of Spitting Image's Maggie puppets now lives at Cambridge University Library, along with the rest of the Spitting Image Archive.

🔎 https://loom.ly/01f5sRQ

A promotional graphic from the University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives. At the top, text reads: “Cambridge University Library’s Manuscript and Rare Books services will be closed on Monday 16 February.” Below, a person in a light blue outfit carefully handles an old, thick book resting on orange supports in a library reading room, with desks and chairs blurred in the background.

Please note that our Manuscript and Rare Books services will not be available on Monday 16 February.

This is to allow staff to complete the move to the new combined Special Collections Reading Room, which opens on Tuesday 17 February.

Learn more: loom.ly/OQYhclI

@theulspeccoll.bsky.social