Collections, Research, News and Events at the discover National Library of Scotland ISSUE 6 WINTER 2007 Thomas French Byron Te l f o r d revelation writes to reply Father of modern Following Stevenson’s A bard’s engineering footsteps Aberdeen ScotlandScotland andand Slavery:Slavery: TheThe EvidenceEvidence Anniversary celebrations provide the focus for the Stevenson also looms large, as Janice Galloway 1 Foreword two lead articles in this issue. The life, work and reflects on her experiences as previous recipient of influence of civil engineer Thomas Telford is the RLS Fellowship. celebrated by a collaborative exhibition which The works of these literary heavyweights rub opened at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery shoulders in the Library’s stacks with those less discover earlier this month, 250 years after his birth. The famous. Isobel Mackenzie’s Caberfeigh: A collaborative work extends to the articles in the Magazine of Polite Literature is an innovative magazine, with pieces from NLS and NGS example of female private press publishing in the curators exploring Telford’s achievements and the Victorian era, while women’s literature also inspiration others drew from him. In the wake of features in our regular spotlight on the Library’s the publicity surrounding this year’s 200th growing digital resources. Finally, the grand scale anniversary of the abolition of slavery, Eric on which NLS and other major libraries are Graham reminds us of the involvement of Scots on digitising their large printed collections is touched both sides of the slavery debate. on by the first in a two part series of articles Our literature collections continue to inspire concerned with mass digitisation. research and creative responses. Aberdeen writer Diane Morgan dons the mask of Byron this issue FEATURES and fills us in on the poet’s affinity with the ‘Granite City’, while the ghost of Robert Louis Julian Stone 6 Thomas Telford: A lifetime of monumental achievement Editor Sheila Mackenzie, Imogen Gibbon and Iain Brown reflect on the great civil engineer Contributors in this issue Dr Iain Gordon Brown is Principal Curator in the Manuscript Collections Division, 16 Byron writes to reply where he is chiefly concerned with acquisitions. He is actively involved in the field of discover Diane Morgan pens a missive from the literary Lord architectural history in which he has published extensively, and where his work has been recognised by fellowships of the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISSUE 6 WINTER 2007 Diane Morgan has never dropped out of university, stacked supermarket shelves nor National Library of Scotland 20 Abolitionists to apologists been a bus conductor. Though lacking such mandatory criteria for authorship she has George IV Bridge Edinburgh contrived to write seven books on Aberdeen.The eighth, Lost Aberdeen:The Outskirts,is Eric Graham delves into Scottish Slave Trade history EH1 1EW coming shortly from Birlinn. Uniquely, she has twice received the Personal Award of Aberdeen Civic Society for her work on the heritage and environment. Current Telephone 0131 623 3700 projects include a study of panoramic art and redesigning her library. Fax 0131 623 3701 Email [email protected] 24 Parliamentary debates Dr Eric Graham is a graduate of Strathclyde and Exeter Universities where he studied Editor-in-Chief: Alexandra Miller Scottish and Maritime History. He is currently an Honorary Post Doctoral Research Fellow of Editor: Julian Stone REGULARS Dan Gray and Maria Castrillo report on an international parliamentary conference the Department of Scottish History, University of Edinburgh. He is the author of A Maritime Design: Martin Budd, OneWorld 2NLS News History of Scotland (1650–1790), Seawolves: Pirates & the Scots and Clyde Built: Blockade Runners Design, Edinburgh of the American Civil War. 12 NLS Discovery Editorial Adviser: Willis Pickard 23 Professional Distribution: Bruce Blacklaw Practice 26 A writer’s tour de France Imogen Gibbon is a Senior Curator at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, where ISSN: 1 872 116 38 8 she has worked for the last five and a half years. She is responsible for the Reference 28 Meet the Team Janice Galloway shares fond Fellowship memories We welcome all comments, Section, an archive detailing portraits of and by Scots held in public and private questions, editorial submissions and collections outwith the National Galleries of Scotland. She has co-curated the joint subscription enquiries. Please write exhibition Te lford: Father of Modern Engineering with NLS Senior Manuscript to us at the address above or Curator Sheila Mackenzie. email [email protected] The National Library of Scotland is a registered Cover A word on Shelfmarks Janice Galloway is the author of seven books of prose, prose-poetry and poems. Her first Scottish charity. Scottish Charity No. SC011086 Image: Shelfmarks are references which identify novel, The Trick is to keep Breathing,now widely regarded as a Scottish contemporary classic, (c) Kieran Beamish 2007. the location of specific collection items was published in 1990. Her most recent book, Rosengarten (with sculptor Anne Bevan) www.LTScotland.org.uk/abolition (usually a series of numbers and letters e.g. explored medical implements used in child birth and is now on permanent exhibition at the MS.1007; 5.144(2); RB.s.788).You can use an Hunterian Art Gallery. She is currently finishing a new novel, started at her RLS Fellowship in item's shelfmark to search for it in our Grez-sur-Loing. online catalogues, to order it up in our reading rooms, and as part of any reference www.nls.uk to that specific NLS copy. Printed on paper made from Sustainable Forest, ECF Low Chlorine and 50% Recyclable. 2 nlsnews 3 Royal visitor takes in tea, Family history resources tigers and treasures Home and dry go live Independence in focus at Thousands of collection items have been saved from His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh visited NLS on 5 July A new section of the website to help people research their book festival damage after a flood at the Library’s George IV Bridge to open the Library’s summer exhibition, Tea and Tigers: Scottish family history has been put online. The section of the Popular broadcaster, political pundit and writer Andrew building. The flood, which was caused by accidental Stories of Scotland and South Asia.The exhibition focused NLS website has been significantly expanded with 20 additional Marr made an inspiring appearance at the Donald Dewar damage to a sprinkler pipe during renovation work, on the role of Scots in India, before, during and after the British pages of useful information and provides an easy to follow Memorial Lecture in August, sponsored annually by NLS at occurred in the early hours of 10 September. Staff Empire, a subject of great interest to Prince Philip, as Patron of resource for anyone new to genealogy. The section explains a the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Marr delivered a worked through the night, with assistance from Lothian the Edinburgh Indian Association, which was one of the range of services for researching your family tree, including the thought-provoking talk on Scotland’s political future in the and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, to ensure that exhibition’s key partners. The Prince was also given a full tour of use of emigration and passenger lists, the census, newspapers, early days of its first nationalist government, to a packed damage was minimised and services could return to the John Murray Archive exhibition and enjoyed a specially films, gravestone inscriptions and valuation and voters’ rolls, as auditorium of over 500 people. Marr argued that Scotland’s normal as swiftly as possible. organised display of treasures from our collections of rare well as other resources available at NLS. It also provides political future should not always be viewed purely in The majority of the books affected escaped with only books, manuscripts and maps, before signing the visitors’ book. helpful links through to the websites of the other main financial terms and also touched on climate change and superficial humidity or very slight water damage, with Prince Philip had previously visited the Library when Her Majesty organisations for family terrorism in his hour-long unscripted talk. The session was many protected by specially designed conservation boxes The Queen formally opened the Library’s George IV Bridge history in Scotland: the chaired by political journalist Iain Macwhirter, an which encase the items and bore the brunt of any water building in July 1956. General Register Office for appropriate choice as contact. Nearly all items concerned have now been dried Scotland and the National Macwhirter gave Marr his first out and returned to the shelves, with only five requiring Archives of Scotland.To learn break in broadcast journalism special conservation treatment. more please go to some twenty years earlier. Cate Newton, Director of Collection Development www.nls.uk/family-history. Both speakers stayed to praised staff and colleagues from other organisations for answer questions from the their help: ‘We are extremely grateful to the many audience, which included people who responded so swiftly and calmly to the politicians, journalists and incident,’ she said. ‘And the hard work and environmentalists, and met professionalism of collection and conservation staff with guests at a lively reception Family portrait from a photo year-round was instrumental in keeping damage to an album.Taken around 1870 by hosted by the Library later absolute minimum.’ Robert Gibson Rettie of that evening. Kirkcaldy. Pilot service makes searching a synch Licence to print opens celebrations A new search service that allows web users to search dozens of databases, thousands of full-text resources and millions of The earliest evidence of printing in Scotland went on display at records with a single click is being piloted at NLS.