Divinity School

Tuesday, July 14, 2015
We visited the University of Edinburgh – New College Library today. (Apologies for the long post now…)

From across the street... for perspective (via K. Emmons) — From across the street… for perspective (via K. Emmons)

It’s just south of the Royal Mile (Edinburgh isn’t that big of a city) and dominates the hill.

The architecture is fantastic.

It was originally a church, then became a college to train ministers in the 1840s. In the 1930s the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh joined the ranks of New College Library.

Gorgeous New College Library (via K. Emmons) — See the stained glass? (via K. Emmons)

It focuses mainly on religious studies with diverse materials covering many topics. They have roughly 250,000 materials of which 90,000 are rare items.

Small, cordoned off rare book area (via K. Emmons)

They’ve currently catalogued about 30,000 items to be accessed online. The rest are bound in little books on the shelf.

Rows of bound catalog pages (via K. Emmons)

The furniture in the room is original to the 1930s and does not have the flexibility of modern furniture arrangements. The area has been recently rewired for WiFi so computer terminals don’t exist for public use; patrons must bring their personal computers and technologies. There is not an informal group space, the area lends itself to individual study… but the librarians said that they haven’t heard many complaints. The users prefer the quiet area to work.

Now for a flash of some of the rare materials they laid out for us to look at:

Galileo! Galileo! Figaroooo... (via K. Emmons and Queen) — Galileo! Galileo! Figaroooo… (via K. Emmons and Queen)

Less than a dozen copies in the world (via K. Emmons)

Can you spot the unicorns on the ark? (via K. Emmons)

Common prayer book translated into Scottish (via K. Emmons)

What about this *neat* comparison between cataloging classifications? Most of the collection uses Library of Congress Classifications (LCC) but some of the collection uses Union Theological Seminary (UTS) which is similar. See the differences?

Library of Congress cataloging (via K. Emmons) — Library of Congress classification (via K. Emmons)

Union Theological Seminary cataloging (via K. Emmons) — Union Theological Seminary classification (via K. Emmons)

I’ve never heard of UTS, but from a quick Google search I believe it’s associated with the school in New York – a book was published in 1939 called Classification of the Library of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. I’m calling that a link.

Once dismissed, I scurried down the hill to visit Primark (a great store with cheap clothes) with some friends and got a lovely pair of “leather” boots for the Highlands of Scotland for only £14!

Edinburgh Castle was next up. It’s definitely a touristy area (I suggest not going during lunch or just after lunch), but totally worth it for the views.

Nah, no photo edits... I promise! (via K. Emmons) — Nah, no photo edits… I promise! (via K. Emmons)

We got to see the Scottish crown jewels…

Scottish Crown Jewels (via K. Emmons) — Scottish Crown Jewels sign, no photos of the jewels (via K. Emmons)

…and even had time for an afternoon tea. Check out the food page for images of the food.

The Tea Rooms... we had tea! (via K. Emmons) — The Tea Rooms… we had tea! (via K. Emmons)

The Writers’ Museum was interesting too. It’s a compact residence devoted to Robert Lewis Stevenson (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde or Treasure Island), Robert Burns (“My love is like a red, red rose” or Auld Lang Syne), and Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe or Rob Roy).

Writer's Museum (via K. Emmons) — Writers’ Museum (via K. Emmons)

The building is tucked just off the Royal Mile down one of the many closes. Don’t miss it!

Did you know that Sir Walter Scott has the world’s largest monument devoted to a writer?

Sir Walter Scott monument (via K. Emmons)

It’s a part of the landscape of Edinburgh just off Prince’s Street. The Scottish take pride to a whole new level… that’s not bad, mind you!

I tried a whiskey flight at dinner that night too. Check out the Food in England/Scotland page to see it.

On to Day 20!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Yesterday was our daytrip to Oxford and the University there. We woke up quite early to catch the bus and drove 2 hours in a chilly bus. Upon arriving though, we parked on Broad Street and walked around the corner to the main event: the Bodleian Library of Oxford University.

We took a group photo, scattered to grab some breakfast, and then returned for the Bodleian Heritage Tour (the only official tour, our guide mentioned). Each of the 38 colleges at Oxford University have libraries and we were visiting the main administrative library: the Bodleian. It is a reference library and books cannot be taken off the premises.

We began our tour in the Divinity School, originally designed as a lecture room for students. It took 65 years to build and completed construction in 1488 (for those of you bad with numbers as I am, that’s 527 years ago).

Divinity School... anyone see the Hogwarts infirmary at the end? (via K. Emmons) — Divinity School… anyone see the Hogwarts infirmary at the end? (via K. Emmons)

The next room we visited was the Convocation House. Originally it was used for meeting and decision making. The Chancellor sat on the throne-like seat where the hexagonal sounding board above his head amplified his voice. (I never realized that’s where the term came from.) It doesn’t get much use now a days.

Convocation House, tour guide (via K. Emmons)

Unfortunately, we couldn’t take photos of my favorite part, but I’ve found photos on the Internet for you at home! It is… *drum roll* …Duke Humfrey’s Library! (Probably not a surprise for those of you that know me.)

The magic that is Duke Humfrey (via Bodleian weblog)

Really. Just imagine that you can smell the books and the leather while looking at this picture.

(Photo by James Whitaker via Bodleian website)

I was pretty much weak in the knees.

The rest of the day was spent wandering the city of Oxford. A few of us librarian students stopped for lunch at a local pub and enjoyed the beautiful, sunny weather under an awning. We couldn’t have asked for anything more. After that, we came across the Oxford University Press bookshop. You just can’t take a bunch of librarian students anywhere without them finding a place filled with books.

The Oxford University Press bookshop! (via K. Emmons)

We journeyed south to visit Alice’s gift shop. It’s the little grocery shop written into Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. The real Alice (Alice Liddell) used to visit the shop and buy sweets.

Alice visits a grocery store (via Alice's Shop History) — Alice visits a grocery store (via Alice’s Shop History)

We ventured north and took a moment to see the Eagle and Child pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis used to hang out.

The Eagle and Child pub... Tolkien! C.S. Lewis! (via K. Emmons) — The Eagle & Child pub… Tolkien! C.S. Lewis! (via K. Emmons)

We spent some time at the Ashmolean Museum, just south of The Eagle & Child.

Night at the Museum... just kidding. (via Ashmolean website) — Night at the Museum… just kidding. (via Ashmolean website)

This is the portrait of Elias Ashmole whom the museum is name after…

Elias Ashmole of the Ashmolean Museum (via K. Emmons)

A few of us toured the grounds of Balliol College, just to get a glimpse of Oxford University life. Let me tell you, I could get used to the grounds. They take gardening quite seriously here.