Durham University Collections

Book cover illustration featuring ghosts, ghouls, and spooky imagery.

Step into the spooky past with The Haunted Library (1880)! 👻 John F. Layson shares ghostly tales from a Newcastle library. Have you ever seen a ghost in ours? 👀📚 Explore the mystery! 📖 Ref: SC 10874 #HauntedLibrary #GhostStories #NewcastleHistory #DUCollections

Printed illustration of a skeleton operating a printing press. 

💀 Discover a skeleton working a printing press in the Peter Isaac Collection! Peter Isaac, an engineer turned printing enthusiast, focused on the English provincial book trade. The collection is being catalogued — more surprises to come! #RareBooks #PrintingHistory #Archives

Open book showing a page with Bram Stoker’s handwritten signature. 

Bram Stoker’s handwritten signature. 

We’re kicking off the spooky season with an unexpected discovery - Bram Stoker’s signature in Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (Vol. 1), part of the Virginia Surtees Collection. Not Dracula — but a glimpse into the world that helped inspire it. 🖋️📖 #BramStoker #ArchivesUncovered #Dracula

"A pleasant change from your ordinary drink"...we are not sure we believe them...🤔

Bundles of papers bound in pink tape.

A person talking while walking down a garden path with other following.

Two people standing in front of a redcurrant plant.

On Day 2 we went to Raby Castle and looked at more recipe books and did more transcription. We also look at material from the Raby Castle Estate at the time the redcurrant was first grown there. We also enjoyed a tour of the gardens and getting to sample the famous redcurrant itself!
#gardenhistory

A group of people sat around a table that is covered in papers.

A group of people in a historic room sat around a table with books supported on cushions.

The two-day event started at Palace Green Library and involved learning about garden history, learning how to transcribe recipes and trying out some interpretations of eighteenth century recipes.

iiif.durham.ac.uk/index.html?m...

#DUCollections

Several books on a table supported by cushions.

Several people looking at a phone

Back to school or uni (or very nearly!) The change in the weather has got us thinking about what we did on our summer holidays!

In partnership with @rabycastleofficial we introduced local garden enthusiasts to gardening history resources and celebrated the famous ‘Raby Redcurrant’.

#RabyCastle

View of the Palace Museum in the 1920s and 2025; Photos: © The Palace Museum; Image designed by Ziyu Zhou 

Look👀what is on at The Oriental Museum-a new exhibition ‘Journey of a Century:From the Forbidden City to the Palace Museum’opening Friday 26 September. This photography exhibition takes you for a journey to the Forbidden City in the heart of Beijing-from imperial residence to global cultural icon.

😂 Yes, that would not have been quite the same sort of archive!!!

Image of the Graham Noble archival collection on the shelf, including Lever-arch files with the following titles, left to right: Jui-Jitsu in the West, Ju-Jutsu and Judo in Japan, Judo and Goshinjutsu (Self-Defence), Jiu-Jitsu and Self-Defence Books, Judo, Western Traditions 

We’re excited to announce the addition of a new collection! The Graham Noble collection includes materials from legendary figures and moments from the history of Martial Arts! It offers a unique look into martial arts and its cultural influence. 
#DUCollections #MartialArtsArchives

A paper collage of the landscape of Morocco

Artist Dinah Kelly uses found paper to make collages like this atmospheric example created during a trip to Morocco.  
You can see this in Dinah’s installation Enchanted Objects – Adornment and Personal Protection from Amulets to the Mobile Phone at the Oriental Museum until 9th November

An orange, black and red striped tea caddy container shaped like a chrysanthemum made of lacquer with inlayed petal shapes and a curved surface.

On 9th September Japan celebrates National Chrysanthemum Day. The flower is the official crest of the Japanese imperial family, seen on the passport and 50 yen coin. This chrysanthemum shaped tea caddy by artist Kosaka Susumu is made up of over 1,000 layers of lacquer and took 3 years to make.

An image of Greek collection before the repacking project surrounded by tissue paper

A display of one of our student placements preparing to create new storage for the Greek collection.

Our Greek collection after the repacking project in their now homes.

Our Greek collection after the repacking project in their now homes.

Hi! We’re Poppy & Izzy from Archaeology. Over 3 weeks on placement at the #DUMuseumofArchaeology, we explored collections care & curation. We repacked & updated records for the Greek collection and helped design a coin map showing ancient city-states through mythology & trade #DUCollections

This textile work is part of Dinah’s installation Enchanted Objects – Adornment and Personal Protection from Amulets to the Mobile Phone which is on at the #DUOrientalMuseum until 9th November.

This artwork uses a historic dress collected by the artist in Jaffa as it’s base with mobile phone shaped amulets made from recycled and found materials. Each amulet features a powerful symbol of protection.  #talismans #amulets

Image of a mannequin standing in a display case. The mannequin is dressed in a long dark blue dress with light pink stripes. Attached to the front of the dress are rectangular shaped amulets decorated with protective symbols.  

Artist Dinah Kelly's work is inspired by amulets, charms and talismans. She is interested in how in the 21st century we continue to place power in symbols and everyday objects, particularly the importance placed on mobile phones as tools of connection and security.    
#textileart #recycled

On the left hand side is a character in black armour with short hair and waving and smiling. In the middle is the title Show and Tell: Stories that Connect Us. On the other side is another drawn character in a red theatre robe, holding flags and waving and smiling.

Unable to visit us? You can still visit our free online exhibition Show and Tell: Stories That Connect Us and be guided by John and Mei as they share stories together. You can also listen to our free audio guide on our website. stories.durham.ac.uk/show-and-tell
#TellingTales #BeastsandLegends

Colour photograph of a group of people wearing purple nitrile gloves examining books and objects.

Colour photograph of a group of people sat at a bright red table completing forms.

Colour photograph of a group of people wearing purple nitrile gloves putting items into a museum display case.

Colour photograph of a museum display case filled with objects.

Is KPop Demon Hunters the soundtrack to your summer? Then come and see our new K-Pop display curated by our talented work experience students!
The students were given items from #DUOrinentalMuseum K-Pop collection and worked hard to research their chosen objects, write labels, and plan the display.

A brass pocket watch telling the time of 8:15am.

At 8.15am 6th August 1945 an atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima. In 2023 the exhibition 'Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki' in partnership with Hiroshima Peace Memorial & Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museums held @ Oriental Museum, including this watch. The force of the blast stopped the watch at 8.15am.

You can see this sketch book along with many others in Dinah’s installation Enchanted Objects – Adornment and Personal Protection from Amulets to the Mobile Phone is on at the Oriental Museum until 9th November. #contemporaryart #DUOrientalMuseum

Paper collage of a building in Morocco. The paper used to create the collage is covered in Arabic writing.  

While traveling contemporary artist Dinah Kelly always carries a sketch book and pencils. After creating preliminary sketches of the people and places she visits, she uses different found and collected paper to produce vivid collages like this example produced during a trip to Morocco in 2014.

The aim of the Durham Collections Fellowships is to enable and foster research across the three historic collections of Durham — those held by Durham University, Durham Cathedral and Ushaw Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, all of which have internationally significant collections of books and other materials that deserve to be brought to a wider scholarly and public audience. In addition to libraries this includes archives, collections of visual and material culture, and architectural assets.

OPPORTUNITY 📯

Applications are now open for the @ducollections.bsky.social Collections Fellowships and Visiting Fellowships, enabling research across the historic collections of Durham!

Deadline: 3 September 2025

More details at durhamcollections.org.uk

We are also excited to be able to showcase Durham’s own libraries, archives, special collections, museums and galleries, hosting visits to Palace Green Library, our Shakespeare Recovered exhibition in Cosin’s Library and the Oriental Museum.

Organised by @british library, @jisc and @TheNationalArchives, DCDC25 attracts professionals from around the world, working in galleries, libraries, archives and museums.

Colleagues from across the University will be speaking at the Conference, sharing their knowledge and expertise.

Photo of an old library with wooden shelving and a balcony.

We are looking forward to welcoming over 300 delegates in person and online, as we host the international ‘Discovering Collections Discovering Communities’ Conference from tomorrow/this week.

Colour photograph of a person looking through a peephole into an exhibition case with the title 'Ghosts and Ghouls'.

Drop in to the Palace Green Library for an adventure this week! ‘Beasts and Legends: Adventures through North East Folklore’ is open all summer!

#BeastsandLegends #studentexhibition #DUCollections

Merging traditional designs and symbols with contemporary objects, Dinah has created a series of eye-catching protective shirts and tunics made from recycled and found materials.
#recycle #handmade

Image of Dinah in her studio Woman dressed in brightly coloured clothing seated at a desk. She is looking down with a smile on her face, reading a piece of paper. Surrounding her are the sketches, art materials and tools she uses to create her art.

Enchanted Objects – Adornment and Personal Protection from Amulets to the Mobile Phone has opened at #DUOrientalMuseum. Created by contemporary artist Dinah Kelly the installation highlights our ongoing interest in the power of charms, talismans and amulets.

#contemporaryart #talismans

A photograph of the puzzle box wrapped in Christmas wrapping of holly with a bible message taped onto it: “…the land……which is beyond the rivers of Ethippia: That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters……..Isaiah, Chap 18 vv. 1 and 2, 404 pieces”

A photograph of the puzzle pieces all spread out on a wooden table.

A photograph the puzzle pieces being sorted and assembled with several pairs of hands.

A photograph of the puzzle partially completed the image of a Shilluk paddling a canoe beginning to be visible.  

Archives are never dull! 
Check out a puzzle from the archives of Kenneth David Druitt Henderson—scholar and colonial officer.  

Curious what else might reside in our archive? Start exploring yourself:    
n2t.durham.ac.uk/ark:/32150/s...

 #EYAFunandGames #DUCollections

Show and Tell: Stories That Connect Us Join John - hero of the North East - and Mei - a Peking opera actor - as they share different stories from around the world. Exploring objects from Durham University's collections, they show how stori...

Want to experience more stories? Check out our accompanying online exhibition, Show and Tell: Stories that Connect Us, a collaboration between Telling Tales at the Oriental Museum and Beasts and Legends at Palace Green Library. stories.durham.ac.uk/show-and-tell #TellingTales #BeastsandLegends