UCL Special Collections
UCL Special Collections is open to everyone. Our collections of rare, unique and historic archives & books cover themes including history of UCL, education, arts and sciences.
ucl.ac.uk/library/special-col…
- This term we have launched Books and Book History at UCL Special Collections, a new MA module collaboratively designed and delivered by us and @uclhistory.bsky.social. This thread is the first in the series of student-produced posts highlighting our book history adventures! Post: Sabrina Wiggins
- Last week Book History module outing to St Bride Foundation! Established in 1891, the St Bride Foundation served the print and publishing trades. Today, they maintain thousands of publishing and design artefacts.
- Barry, a former printer who now guides tours and workshops at St Bride, narrated the story of printing, exhibited traditional tools, and demonstrated printing methods! Thank you Barry!
- Reposted by UCL Special CollectionsOne month to go… UCL turns 200! 🎉 On 11 February, we kick off #UCL200 – a year of celebrations marking our radical founding in 1826 as London’s first university, open to all. Expect parties, exhibitions, student festivals, art, books, performances, and more. Get ready! @uclspeccoll.bsky.social
- UCL Special Collections will be closed from 5pm on Tuesday 23rd December until Monday 5th January. Wishing you all a very happy holiday!
- Current Special Collections Visiting Fellow Michelle Reynolds (@lovelymydear.bsky.social) is researching the role of Laurence Housman (1865-1959) in the women's suffrage movement.
- She says her project explores the printed material produced by Housman championing the women’s suffrage movement in UCL's Housman Collection: "Works I have so far examined include An Anti-Suffrage Alphabet (1911), which features the work of women illustrators who supported the cause"
- "I am considering the techniques used to make this book, its targeted audiences, and Housman’s role in its production." Also interested in working with our fascinating collections? Apply for a UCL RIC Visiting Fellowship & receive a grant of £5,000. Deadline 12th Jan: www.ucl.ac.uk/research-ins...
- Head of UCL Special Collections, Sarah Aitchison, @saraha73.bsky.social, reflects on the digital 'Prejudice in Power' exhibition. The visuals and eye‑catching quotations have drawn passersby to pause, reflect, and engage with UCLs eugenic history. blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll... #eugenics
- Current Visiting Fellow Andrew Whiteman (Musician @ Broken Social Scene, Creative Director @ Siren Recordings & PhD student @ Concordia) discusses his project focusing on rare AV material in our Small Press Collections. The piece he's composing in response will be premiered at UCL this summer
- Also interested in working with our fascinating collections? Apply for a RIC Visiting Fellowship & receive a grant of £5,000 to come to London to delve into our collections and produce a creative or academic piece of work. We're accepting applications until 12th Jan ’26 www.ucl.ac.uk/research-ins...
- Applications for The Research Institute for Collections (RIC) 2026 fellowships are now open! RIC offers funded opportunities to conduct research using our archives and manuscripts, rare printed collections, records, and museum #collections. To learn more and apply: www.ucl.ac.uk/research-ins...
- Open to applicants at any career stage and to diverse range of approaches to collections-based research and practice, the fellowships are a brilliant opportunity to delve into UCL's outstanding collections and collaborate with UCL's community.
- CFP: 'Difficult Collections' Special issue of 'Paper Trails' @uclpress.bsky.social. Focus on challenges of working with troubling heritage collections (colonialism, eugenics, representation, etc). Proposals: 31/01/26; Submissions: 31/05/26. Details: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll... #GLAM ##HistorySky
- Applications are now open for The New Curators Project 2026! Deadline: 8pm 22 February. This annual project – offers 10 paid places for east Londoners aged 18-24 who do not have a degree but are interested in working in the cultural heritage sector. Apply now: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
- Are you a UCL student or staff member curious about Wikidata? Join us on 3 Dec for a fun, hands-on workshop where you’ll explore what Wikidata is and make your first edits using data from UCL’s Ethnography Collections. Come start your Wikidata journey with us!
- Reposted by UCL Special Collections2025 marks the 60th anniversary of UCL's Small Press collections. UCL has collected widely in this area of independent radical publishing to preserve the outputs of these activities. The collections comprise 4,500 periodicals and 20,000 pamphlets. Watch a new celebratory video at lnkd.in/eAhT7M6t.
- Happy Halloween! 💀🎃 What could be scarrier than a skeleton whose bones bend in unnatural ways? This drawing of a skeleton is from the 1696 Pharmacopœia Londinensis. While the skeleton may look unrealistic, the bones are accurately labelled.
- UCL Research Institute for Collections Fellow, Dr. Liz Bruchet and Ming Tiampo will be presenting at this symposium next week. Their paper will focus on 'Slade Overseas Students and Conjunctures of Global Activism' and will draw on records from our College Archive. benuri.org/events/80-sy...
- Reposted by UCL Special CollectionsComing soon to British Online Archives — Witchcraft and Magic in England, c. 1400–1920. Featuring rare records from The National Archives, British Library, UCL, and The Folklore Society. Register your interest: buff.ly/YBeFCF1
- Join us on 4 Nov for a workshop with @wikimediauk.bsky.social and discover how this project used historic student publications to support research, teaching, and public engagement. You'll also have the chance to see the original material and get hands-on training processing historical documents.
- We love inscriptions, though "Nausea" is an uncommon name to find! This inscription is from vol 1 of Denis Diderot's 1751 Encyclopédie. It is a later addition, as it is on late 19th/early 20th century paper added when the book was rebound. Who added the inscription, and why? Suggestions welcome!
- In 2025 UCL Special Collections celebrates 60 years of collecting small press. This year also marks 50 years of publishing by Coracle Press @coracle.bsky.social Join us for a birthday bash! 12 November 17:00 - 20:00 Free & open to all / booking essential. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/we-continu...
- Reposted by UCL Special Collections@uclspeccoll.bsky.social has appointed Monitor Books as the inaugural Small Press in Residence as part of celebrations marking 60 years since UCL’s Small Press Collection was established. Read more here: www.ucl.ac.uk/library/news...
- Reposted by UCL Special CollectionsHappy National Poetry Day! For more information on the @uclspeccoll.bsky.social Poetry Store visit www.ucl.ac.uk/library/spec...
- Join us on October 23rd for our Bloomsbury Open Morning! We'll be looking at items from our collection related to sewers & clean water in C19th London 🚰 To book your free ticket, visit: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ucl-specia... #londonhistory #londonwater
- A unique, free pop-in event to celebrate World Food Day. Come along on 14 Oct to explore our fascinating collections and discover the stories behind food and daily life through the ages at UCL East in Stratford. Book your ticket on tinyurl.com/UCLSpecCollF... now! #worldfoodday
- We are grateful to Professor Timon Screech for gifting these two coffee mugs and saucers that used to be in the academic staff common room. They will be added to the College Archive.
- Yes! And if you want to explore Orwell as a social commentator and journalist, check out our free online schools resource: Orwell in the Archive www.ucl.ac.uk/library/coll...
- Are you teaching about George Orwell's Animal Farm? On the book's 80th birthday, discover letters, special editions and teaching resources from the Orwell collection – free and available online. @uclspeccoll.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/aug/...
- Last chance to see! Our #display of 'spinless' objects from @ucl.ac.uk Small Press Collections is on display @senatehouselib.bsky.social until 9 September, and can be see as part of the excellent Spinless Wonders #exhibition there. Free and open to all! On display in the 4th floor membership area
- Originally scheduled to close 31 August, the display has been extended and still open for a few days!
- The 80th anniversary of George Orwell's Animal Farm was just a few days ago, and @uclnews.bsky.social has an article about its publication and legacy. You can read it at: www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/au... #GeorgeOrwell #AnimalFarm
- We're proud to be home to the George Orwell Archive and there are various ways you can access the collection for yourself: Finding aid: www.ucl.ac.uk/library/digi... Information on how to visit us: www.ucl.ac.uk/library/coll... Digitised collections: ucl.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/co...
- Today is International Cat Day, so please appreciate this distinguished feline from the cover of Little Folks magazine! Little Folks featured stories, songs and poems for children and encouraged submissions from readers. Shelfmark: LAURENCE HOUSMAN COLLECTION 321 #InternationalCatDay #BlackCat
- The Little Folks cover model isn't our only Edwardian cat. The Sir Fred Clarke Archive also includes a slightly damaged photograph of a cat drinking from a saucer. Shelfmark: FC/7/36
- Reposted by UCL Special CollectionsA small exhibition of material from the @uclspeccoll.bsky.social Small Press Collections is on at @senatehouselib.bsky.social until 31/8, complementary to their excellent Spineless Wonders. If you can't make it to SHL, here's a online guide to all the exhibits: sway.cloud.microsoft/tWg56jeuiFaQ...
- Reposted by UCL Special CollectionsGrateful to have attended #ISCHE46 @ische-news.bsky.social in Lille. My reflections on 'Teachers, Teaching and a Fragile Sense of Hope' are now on the @uclspeccoll.bsky.social blog: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll... #TeacherTraining #Eugenics #Hope #Imperialism #EduSky
- During July and August, ‘spineless’ items from our Small Press Collections are on display @senatehouselib.bsky.social and can be seen as part of the wider Spineless Wonders exhibition there. Free & open to all! Many thanks to our friends at Senate House for having us! Image by Christos Fotelis
- Our exhibition on 19th century sanitation is now open at the Cruciform Hub! It covers the debate over water & sanitation in the lead up to the 1875 Public Health Act. If you have a UCL card, drop by and see it! For more info: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll... @uclhealthlibraries.bsky.social
- The New Curators Project 2025 participants are launching their exhibition titled "The Best of Newham" tomorrow. Join us to celebrate with free local food, craft and games. Just show up – everyone’s welcome! Tue 10 Jun, 5-7pm East Ham Library, 328 Barking Road, E6 2RT
- We are excited to announce our new resource for GCSE History teachers that covers the topic of migration. It will be the first of a series of free, digital resources that explore our collection, presenting primary sources that reveal unique perspectives and voices. www.ucl.ac.uk/library/coll...
- This was produced in collaboration with the UCL East Schools Engagement team, who have created some short films that explore contemporary experiences of migration from within the university community.
- Our first of this series of free resources looks at Jewish migration immediately before, during and following the Second World War. www.ucl.ac.uk/library/coll...
- We selected 10 items, some of which needed to be digitised specially, wrote contextual information, a glossary, translations, transcripts and we made 4 short films to accompany the items' images. Take a look! www.ucl.ac.uk/library/coll...
- Sharpen your #knitting needles and join us for Craft Thing on 10 June, an afternoon of #crafting explored through UCL's Special Collections. Free and open to all but only a few tickets remain: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/craft-thin...
- The New Curators Projects participants are launching their exhibition next Tuesday! Come celebrate with us and enjoy free local food, crafts and games inspired by the exhibition theme “The Best of Newham”. Tuesday 10 Jun, 5-7pm East Ham Library, E6 2RT No need to sign up – just turn up!
- Dr Michelle Reynolds is our 2025 Special Collections Visiting Fellow! Michelle is a researcher in 19th-20thC art & visual culture. They will be using our Laurence Housman #rarebooks collection to explore Housman's role in the women's suffrage movement in the context of his life as a queer activist
- Join us tomorrow for a special display of our incredible collections, featured in the short films created by Year 2 BA Creative Arts and Humanities students. Stay for the premiere screening and see how our collections inspired their work. Last chance to secure your spot on tinyurl.com/uclscfilm.
