Reading the Collections, Week 16: Kew Gardens
“The petals were voluminous enough to be stirred by the summer breeze, and when they moved, the red, blue and yellow lights passed one over… Read More »Reading the Collections, Week 16: Kew Gardens
woodcuts
New Acquisitions: Hand-coloured 1589 Luther Bible
Earlier this year the rare books team acquired a significant, and rather pretty, addition to its developing Bible Collection. This Bible, a 1589 folio… Read More »New Acquisitions: Hand-coloured 1589 Luther Bible
52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations, Week 49: Estienne’s Anatomy (1546)
Charles Estienne’s De dissectione partium corporis humani libri tres (1545) was the third fully illustrated anatomical work ever to be published. Estienne came from a… Read More »52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations, Week 49: Estienne’s Anatomy (1546)
52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations, Week 23: Images of St Andrew
We couldn’t resist celebrating St Andrews day with some ‘inspiring illustrations’ of our eponym himself. The cult of St Andrew was actively pursued in Scotland… Read More »52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations, Week 23: Images of St Andrew
52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations, Week 12: the typographical beauty of “The Muses welcome” (1618)
On the 15th of May, 1617, King James VI & I landed at Port ‘Seatown’ (now Seton) to begin what would be his only homecoming… Read More »52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations, Week 12: the typographical beauty of “The Muses welcome” (1618)
52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations, Week 9: Piero Valeriano’s menagerie of symbols (Hieroglyphica, 1556)
This week’s illustration post comes straight out of a very close-knit circle of Renaissance Italian humanists working in the 16th century, however the story begin… Read More »52 Weeks of Inspiring Illustrations, Week 9: Piero Valeriano’s menagerie of symbols (Hieroglyphica, 1556)