Friends of the Nations’ Libraries

Made in Ancient Egypt Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition at Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Thoroughly recommend 'Made in Ancient Egypt' at the @fitzmuseum.bsky.social for a window into the work of craftspeople THOUSANDS of years ago. fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/plan-your-vi...

Delighted that we were able to award a grant to fund the conservation of the wonderful Bury Psalter.

Churchill Archives Centre Future Development - Churchill College Churchill College’s Governing Body has voted in favour of plans to build a new Churchill Archives Centre within the Grounds of the College. This vote took place after a period […]

🎉We are very happy to share the news that Churchill College’s Governing Body has voted in favour of plans to build a new Churchill Archives Centre within the Grounds of the College. www.chu.cam.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Thrilled that we could give a major grant and so make it possible for @swheritagetrust.bsky.social to acquire this wonderful map. It is a really terrific acquisition!

A profoundly important collection of artworks created in Theresienstadt has been donated to our archive this Holocaust Memorial Day.

Find out more about the journey of suitcase #681 and this important Czech polymath whose life was cut short by the Holocaust: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

This is the point in an interesting thread when someone who properly knows something moves from "this pop history book maybe has some issues" to "what? What the hell is this?" Interesting cautionary stuff.

Apothecary's manuscript acquired at auction Dr Giles Roberts came up with the

Delighted our grant enabled Dorset History Centre to acquire this fascinating manuscript. Dr Giles Roberts (1766-1834) was a key personality in Bridport's history. In 1807 he was appointed Medical Attendant there and campaigned for better hygiene and public health.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A must for archivists, librarians and other custodians of collections!

Sign up for our FNL Briefing (free, online) on March 11 on Acceptance in Lieu, the Cultural Gifts Scheme & Private Treaty Sales. Speakers include Anastasia Tennant, Mark Purcell & Joan Winterkorn
(huge thanks to @rluk.ac.uk for helping make this possible)

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fnl-briefi...

Installing a new display at the Weston Library takes time and precision.

Dancing with Jane Austen is now open, featuring rare loans from Jane Austen’s House, including a manuscript music book copied in Jane Austen’s own hand.

A glimpse behind the scenes, before the final case came together.

Job klaxon!

Delighted we could support the acquisition of these rare newsletters and ephemera that capture a pivotal moment -when ordinary tenants fought for dignity and security amid rising rents, overcrowding, and inadequate repairs under relaxed rent controls.

A leather-bound edition of 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll, ith gold embossed details on the cover.

'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll, opened up to a page showing an illustration of Alice and the Cheshire Cat

'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll, opened up to a page showing an illustration of Alice surrounded by playing cards

'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll, opened up to a page showing an illustration of three playing cards under the tree

A rare first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), annotated by Lewis Carroll and illustrated by John Tenniel, has been jointly acquired by Christ Church, Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries!

Read more: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about/media/2026/jan/alice-acquisition

Image from the event held to launch the online catalogue of the collectioin of Thomas Hine.

Thanks to our 2020 grant @uonlibraries.bsky.social conserved the collection of Thos. Hine, Nottingham Architect, dating from 17C-19C. The collection was too fragile for access but it's now been digitised & the online catalogue was just launched! mss-cat.nottingham.ac.uk/Calmview/

History of Cambridge area brought to life as rare book returns to city The book is thought to be the only of its kind in existence, giving an insight into daily life in one part of Cambridge

More press coverage for this brilliant find! www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/history...

Great coverage for a great find! Delighted that @thefnl.bsky.social could help!

You are most welcome! What a brilliant find in an unexpected place.

We’re delighted we could,thanks to generous donors, buy Charlotte’s Book of Ryhmes (sic) in 2022 and donate it to Brontë Parsonage to join the others we donated to BPM in 2021 from the #BlavatnikHonresfieldLibrary! The reading, when we welcomed it back to the UK, of 2 of the poems was magical.

We've got some HUGE news! We've DOUBLED in size overnight! Not only have we added "some" more Cairo Genizah fragments, but "ALL" of them @theul.bsky.social !!!
This now brings the total number of items in Cambridge Digital Library to OVER 160,000!
cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...

#Museum30 theme 27 is #achievement. It’s been remarkable achievement for Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library to have undertaken major restoration of 17th century building. Help us achieve next phase to redevelop Undercroft to create accessible welcome, interpretation, engagement and exhibition…/👇

The @scottpolar.bsky.social are looking for a librarian. This is a rare opportunity! Work with (probably) the world's largest dedicated polar library alongside archive and museum colleagues. The dream 😍

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A painting of a house by one of Charles Darwin's children. We see a simple outline of a house with a pitched roof, two chimneys and some lead-paned windows. We see the kitchen fire, with a clock on a mantle, and some cast iron pots on a window sill. In a window at the stop of the house we see a cat, or possibly a squirrel!

A hand-written page of Charles Darwin's original manuscript for the Origin of Species. There are many ink blots and crossings out, and some foxing consistent with its age.

#OnThisDay in 1859, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was first published.

Much of the original manuscript was used as scrap paper by Darwin's children. On the back of this painting of a house is an original manuscript page from Origin!

#CambridgeUniversityLibrary (DAR 185)

We are so pleased to share that Beckford’s Tower and Museum has won two awards in this year’s Bristol Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards:

🏅 Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award: Bronze
🏅 Small Visitor Attraction of the Year: Gold

A huge well done to our brilliant team who have made this possible 👏

Delighted to help @theul.bsky.social acquire this important archive. Levy's life was sadly short but she wrote 3 vols. of verse, three novels & more. Oscar Wilde saw ‘a touch of genius’ in her stories. She is increasingly recognised as an important late-Victorian writer & pioneering social figure.

Delighted that we were able to award a grant to help @leedsunilibraries.bsky.social acquire this important archive!

A person reaches for an item from a shelf of books.

We’re launching our new catalogue on Monday 8 December.

To keep our collections safe while we do this, access and ordering will be suspended for a week before launch and all requests for 8 December onwards must be made on the new system when it launches.

Find out more: bit.ly/CollectionSu...

If I'm not mistaken I'd say those were the first editions of Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey that were donated by @thefnl.bsky.social to @hartleyspecialc.bsky.social from the #BlavatnikHonresfieldLibrary!

A big thank you to everyone who attended our curator-led tour of Spineless Wonders yesterday. Both in person and online. Spineless Wonders is still running until 29 November so there’s still plenty of time to see it!

Conservation of the Sir Joseph Banks letter of 1773 Conservation of letter from Sir Joseph Banks about the 1773 Polar exhibition. The project was funded by the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust (www.nmct.co.uk)…

Watch this excellent video of the conservation of a letter by Sir Joseph Banks, 1773. NMCT gave a grant to @josephbankssociety.bsky.social to make this possible; Yeaseul Jung was the conservator (and filmmaker).
vimeo.com/1129479950?f...

Christopher de Hamel talking about the Sarum Master Bible to a rapt audience. Courtesy of Salisbury Cathedral

An opening of the Sarum Master Bible - folio 585 Apocalypse, with initial of St John as a medieval scribe, writing his Revelation. Image courtesy of Salisbury Cathedral.

Christopher de Hamel, expert in medieval manuscripts, gave a 'magnificent' lecture this week on the 13th-century Sarum Master Bible. The packed lecture was at @salisburycathedral.bsky.social, to which FNL donated the Bible last year. The Bible is on display in the Cathedral until 2nd November.