The year Darwin came home
Cambridge University Libraries Annual Review 2021-22
Foreword by
Dr Jessica Gardner
We should know by now that there's never a dull year in the life of our libraries!
Having contended with global pandemics, lockdowns and our continued recovery from them, my life as University Librarian was temporarily turned upside down this year when a bright pink gift bag was anonymously left at the door of my office.
As many of you now know, the gift bag held two of Charles Darwin's precious notebooks - one of which contained his iconic and priceless Tree of Life sketch.
The notebooks' return marked the beginning of the end of a worldwide appeal we'd launched 15 months earlier to recover them. Our sense of relief that they were back - exactly where they belong alongside the archives of Darwin, Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking - was shared by millions all across the world.
And that in turn reaffirmed that what we do as libraries, here in Cambridge and wherever they can be found, really matters.
Libraries power learning: from school children to world-class academics, to Nobel Prize winners. The collections we hold at Cambridge - across every conceivable subject - help our students, our academics, and researchers from all over the globe challenge and disrupt what we think we know about the world (and the universe) around us.
Located at the heart of Cambridge, the University Libraries network is the product of 600 years of collecting spanning thousands of years of human history, in more than 4,000 languages, across 35 different sites.
But while we're custodians of the past, we are also at the frontier of new knowledge. As I write, we are refreshing the Libraries' strategy, looking ahead to 2030 and building on our position of strength, our role in scholarship and academic enquiry, and ensuring we are fit-for-purpose in this most digital and technological of ages.
For now, I encourage you to look back with me at some of the many successes (and challenges met head on) during the period covered in this annual review.
As well as the return of the Darwin notebooks, you'll find stories about our amazing Samurai exhibition, the exquisite and mysterious Book of Deer, pictured below, returning to Aberdeenshire for the first time in centuries, and how we took a leading role in challenging academic publishers Elsevier, to ensure fair and open access to the life-changing research that happens at Cambridge and at other research-intensive universities across the UK.
Book of Deer. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Book of Deer. Credit: Cambridge University Library
And looking ahead to 2023, we have a superb programme of exhibitions and events to look forward to at the University Library, including an exhibition on the wonderful work of illustrator and writer Raymond Briggs, as well as a spectacular exhibition about Spitting Image - and its huge cultural legacy.
We hope to welcome you to our libraries soon.
Happy reading!
Dr Jessica Gardner
Cambridge University Librarian
Making the news
The
Tree
of Life
Two notebooks belonging to Charles Darwin, one of which contains his iconic 1837 ‘Tree of Life’ sketch, were returned to Cambridge University Library in March this year, more than two decades after first being reported missing.
Their return came 15 months after Cambridge University Librarian Dr Jessica Gardner launched a worldwide appeal for information, in partnership with Cambridgeshire Police and Interpol.
Dr Jessica Gardner holds the returned Notebook B. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Dr Jessica Gardner holds the returned Notebook B. Credit: Cambridge University Library
The notebooks were returned anonymously to the Library on March 9, 2022, and are in good condition, with no obvious signs of significant handling or damage sustained in the years since their disappearance.
They were returned in a bright pink gift bag containing the notebooks’ archive box and inside a plain brown envelope addressed to the University Librarian with the printed message:
Librarian
Happy Easter
X
The painstaking process of verifying Darwin's Tree of Life
The returned notebook wrapped in cling film. Credit: Cambridge University Library
The returned notebook wrapped in cling film. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Unwrapping
The two missing notebooks were returned wrapped extremely tightly in cling film, which had to be (gently) opened by scalpel.
Library staff check the returned notebooks for signs of damage. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Library staff check the returned notebooks for signs of damage. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Damage check
The notebooks were then thoroughly checked line-by-line to help us assess if all pages were present and correct.
Library staff verify the notebooks. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Library staff verify the notebooks. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Verification
The notebooks went through four separate stages of verification to make sure they were genuine - and not fakes or forgeries.
Samurai: History and Legend
Treasures from one of the world’s most important collections of Japanese literature went on public display for the first time at Cambridge University Library in January 2022.
Samurai: History and Legend was drawn from the world-class collections of Cambridge University Library, home to one of the pre-eminent collections of Japanese material anywhere outside of Japan, including one of the first Japanese books ever to reach British shores.
Among the priceless treasures on display for the first time as a seven metre-long scroll of the Lotus Sutra, a key Buddhist scripture in East Asia. Those with wealth and power showed their reverence for the sutra by sponsoring copies on the most precious materials available.
The free exhibition explored the historic roots of the samurai and the literary image of the samurai in manuscripts and woodblock-printed books from Japan.
The objects provide a contrast to familiar imagery and modern perceptions of the samurai that, especially in the West, have led to widespread misunderstanding of their social and cultural role in Japan.
Samurai were not only warriors. Life as a samurai was complex and multi-faceted, not all predicated on warriorship, samurai swords and battles.
Darwin in Conversation
Charles Darwin’s iconic ‘Tree of Life’ sketch – which was stolen and then returned to Cambridge University Library more than two decades after its disappearance – went on public display for the first time this century in a major new exhibition.
Darwin in Conversation (which transfers to New York Public Library in 2023) examined how the great naturalist sought help from a cast of thousands of men, women and even children across the globe as he wrote his foundational works on evolution such as On the Origin of Species.
Cambridge University Library's Rachel Sawicki pictured with the Tree of Life notebook
Exhibition curator Dr Alison Pearn, Associate Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project, said: “Charles Darwin is one of the most famous names in science and through his letters we can all meet the man behind his world-changing ideas.
“The letters mix science and gossip and Darwin counted many correspondents as friends even if he never met them. His global network of correspondents included women and men from all walks of life; from working-class pigeon breeders to aristocratic orchid-collectors, from Victorian asylum directors to some of the earliest female scientists and suffragettes.
"These extraordinary letters are a window into their lives, too.”
Cambridge University Library's Rachel Sawicki pictured with the Tree of Life notebook. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library's Rachel Sawicki pictured with the Tree of Life notebook
This video of some kidney beans which were sent to Darwin in 1857 getting a clean has amassed over 200K views and more than a million impressions on social media, becoming a media and Twitter sensation in the process. The beans were put on display as part of Darwin in Conversation.
Book of Deer returns to Scotland
For the first time in hundreds of years, the 10th-century Book of Deer returned to the North East, where it may have originated.
The rare example of a pocket gospel went on display at Aberdeen Art Gallery, on loan from Cambridge University Library.
The manuscript arrived at the UL in 1715 and contains the text of the gospels in Latin which has been dated to the first half of the tenth century. It was produced for private use rather than for church services.
The Book of Deer. Credit: Cambridge University Library
The Book of Deer. Credit: Cambridge University Library
It contains the oldest surviving example of written Scots Gaelic in the world within its margins. At the start of each gospel text is a full-page illustration of a human figure or figures.
Dr Jessica Gardner, University Librarian, said: “The Book of Deer is of supreme cultural importance to Scotland generally, and to the North East of Scotland in particular. We were delighted to be a partner in this project."
Forgotten notebook reveals Newton's early views on religion
A manuscript notebook which illuminated Isaac Newton’s complex and unorthodox relationship with Christianity – thought lost for almost 350 years – has been added to the world’s largest and most important archive of Newton material, held at Cambridge University Library.
The notebook, originally thought lost, belonged to Newton’s long-time friend and collaborator, John Wickins, and was purchased at auction in 2021 thanks to the generosity of Friends of the National Libraries, Friends of Cambridge University Library and other donors.
Manuscript notebook of John Wickins. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Manuscript notebook of John Wickins. Credit: Cambridge University Library
It was kept by Wickins while he was Newton’s roommate at Trinity College, and presents the earliest datable evidence of Newton’s theological writing. Containing 12,000 words in English and 5,000 in Latin, the notebook is the longest collection of Newtonian writing to be discovered in the last half a century.
Dr Jill Whitelock, Head of Special Collections at the University Library, said "The notebook of John Wickins is a fine complement to these papers and adds significantly to our understanding of Newton and his writings, as well as casting new light on other manuscripts in the University Library"
Sharing our collections with the world
Cambridge's first printer (and record debtor?)
Five hundred years ago, John Siberch, the son of a German wool merchant, borrowed £20 from Cambridge University and set up the first printing press in the city.
He stayed in Cambridge only a short while before returning to Germany and dying, as far as records suggest, without ever repaying his debt.
Adjusting for a compound interest rate of 5% over the intervening five centuries, the debt would today stand in the hundreds of billions.
Fortunately for any descendants, the original sum was repaid and interest waived by the University in 1971, on the 450th anniversary of Cambridge’s first publication.
New collections on the Cambridge Digital Library
Painting of Thomas Hobson on a black horse. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Painting of Thomas Hobson on a black horse. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Thomas Hobson
One of Cambridge's most famous townspeople was Thomas Hobson (1544-1631). A carrier of goods and people, he also hired out horses and introduced us to the expression 'Hobson's Choice' ('this or none'). This collection, thanks to the generous research funding of Nigel Grimshaw, shines a new light on these vignettes.
Front view of Anglesey Abbey. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Front view of Anglesey Abbey. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Relhan collection
In collaboration with Cambridge Antiquarian Society, this collection of works by Richard Anthony Relhan (1782-1844), who was a Cambridge apothecary and gifted amateur artist. Between 1797-1838, he produced an expressive record of buildings, antiquities, heraldry and the countryside around Cambridgeshire.
Coloured picture of St. George and the dragon. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Coloured picture of St. George and the dragon. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Ethiopian culture
Ethiopian literary culture carries with it a treasure trove of scribal and intellectual history, and for this reason Ethiopian works continue to attract the attention of book historians, linguists, and religion scholars. This sample from the Ethiopian manuscript collection at the UL demonstrates the long history of Ethiopic studies.
Letter from Giacomo Leopardi to Francesco Cancellieri. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Letter from Giacomo Leopardi to Francesco Cancellieri. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Giacomo Leopardi
Giacomo Leopardi is one of the best-known Italian authors. He was born in Recanati, a small town in the centre of Italy, in 1798 and died in Naples in 1837. This collection of letters and other documents was presented to the Library in 1917, and is presented here as a digital edition in collaboration with Cambridge Digital Humanities.
Aerial image and painting of Stoke-by-Neyland, Suffolk. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Aerial image and painting of Stoke-by-Neyland, Suffolk. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Walking with Constable
John Constable’s connection with the countryside and his intimate familiarity with rural life is evident in his paintings, drawings, and prints. This project, a collaboration between Cambridge Digital Humanities and the Fitzwilliam Museum, experiments using digital technologies to take prints locked in a museum back into the landscape which made them.
Some of the most popular items on the Digital Library have been...
Ajāʼib al-makhlūqāt - "The cosmography of Qazwini" (MS Nn.3.74) 78,207 views
Shi zhu zhai shu hua pu (FH.910.83-98)
68,968 views
Book of Deer (MS Ii.6.32)
105,490 views
Newton's College Notebook (MS Add. 4000)
73,215 views
Nuremberg Chronicle (Inc.0.A.7.2[888])
188,568 views
A partner in research
New Elsevier deal for Cambridge
On 23 March 2022, the outcome was announced of negotiations between UK Universities and academic publisher Elsevier.
A contract has been agreed, providing both unlimited open access publishing and access to paywalled journal articles for a significant reduction on the current institutional spend. The three-year deal has also secured a cost reduction and price cap on publishing in Elsevier’s fully open access journals.
UK Universities have accepted this deal as it meets all the core requirements set out by the sector, including the requirement to materially reduce existing expenditure and to provide full and immediate open access publishing to all UK researchers at all UK institutions.
Members of the University of Cambridge will see some changes in the way they can publish in Elsevier journals.
Libraries partnership to explore misinformation around the pandemic
A partnership involving Cambridge University Library and led by the National Library of Scotland has secured £230,958 funding from the Wellcome Trust to archive and explore online resources about health information and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Titled ‘The Archive of Tomorrow: Health Information and Misinformation in the UK Web Archive’, the project will examine how we archive websites and other online information about health.
Alongside the National Library of Scotland and Cambridge University Library, other project partners include Edinburgh University Library and Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, with key roles based at all institutions that will form a network of expertise and investigation. The British Library will play a key supporting role in the project.
Caylin Smith, Head of Digital Preservation at Cambridge University Library, said: "The current period is a time where thinking critically about the information we consume, particularly online, is more important than ever. Web archives form an invaluable resource for capturing, as well as enabling users to interrogate, the present moment as it's experienced, as well as the recent past.
"But the web is a vast and volatile resource where information can change, disappear, be misleading, be factually incorrect - or a combination of these things. Online information relating to health, and especially the Covid-19 pandemic, has a wide reach and potentially global consequences. This project will build upon the UL's efforts to collect and archive the pandemic, as well as its role as a UK Legal Deposit Library and shared responsibility for the UK Web Archive."
New pilot policy helping researchers retain copyright
In April 2022, Cambridge University Libraries launched an opt-in pilot to allow researchers to retain rights to their publications in order to share them immediately through Apollo, the University’s open access repository, and comply with existing funder requirements.
Rights retention is increasing in popularity due in part to new funder requirements that require immediate open access to articles upon publication.
The approach is based on the researcher entering into an agreement with the University that requires manuscripts that have been accepted for publication to be made open access in the repository.
Researchers inform the publisher of this agreement when they submit an article and proceed with the publication process as normal, depositing the article into Apollo upon acceptance.
Nearly 450 researchers (at the time of publication) have signed up to participate from across the University’s schools and colleges. Having received advice from library colleagues across the UK, the library is now also helping to support other universities to devise their own policy.
The results of the pilot will help the library understand the best way to support rights retention in future.
"Supporting Cambridge academics in retaining their rights is crucial for disseminating the University’s research as far as possible. This approach helps ensure an affordable transition to an open access model both in the UK and worldwide and also enables full compliance with funder mandates," says Niamh Tumelty, Head of Open Research Services.
"This is just one piece in a larger programme to transition from the world of paywalled research to a world in which researchers can both read and publish their work without a pay barrier."
Work has now commenced on development of a Self-Archiving Policy, which will build on what we have learned through the pilot and provide an additional open access route via our institutional repository for all Cambridge researchers.
By developing a policy at university level and notifying publishers of this policy in advance, it enables any researcher to upload their accepted manuscript to the repository without embargo, while removing the administrative burden of the researcher having to discuss open access approach with the editors every time an article is submitted to a journal.
Discarded History
As part of a wider University campaign looking at the impact of research at Cambridge, the research of the Genizah Research Unit was put forward as an example of excellence.
Over 200,000 manuscript fragments make up the Cairo Genizah Collection at Cambridge University Library and are regarded as a unique treasure within the Jewish community.
Dr Solomon Schechter with the collection in the old University Library at the Old Schools. Credit: Cambridge University Library
Dr Solomon Schechter with the collection in the old University Library at the Old Schools. Credit: Cambridge University Library
The collection is used for public education worldwide, reaching schoolchildren, rabbis, scholars and the general public through school visits, television documentaries, web and social media engagement, exhibitions and meetings with religious groups.
Painstaking conservation and analysis of the collection is revealing an unknown history of medieval Jewish communities.
“This programme of research at the GRU really has changed everything we know about pre-modern Judaism,” says Unit lead Dr Ben Outhwaite. “And one of our responsibilities is to make it available to the world.”
Safepod
The University of Cambridge has become one of the first institutions in the UK to receive a ‘SafePod’, which is now available for use in the University Library.
A SafePod is a small prefabricated room which provides the necessary security and controls to enable a researcher to access and work on sensitive data.
The Cambridge SafePod is part of a countrywide network of standardised safe settings - the SafePod Network - which enables approved researchers across the UK to securely access data to better understand our society and economy.
By the end of 2022, 25 SafePods are expected to have been installed. Based primarily at universities, the network removes the travel, cost and time barriers that researchers have previously faced in order to attend the handful of existing dedicated safe settings in the UK.
"Joining the SafePod Network makes it convenient for researchers across our city and the wider area to securely – and equitably - access a wide range of data.
"We hope that access to public sector data will enrich research here that may, in turn, inform public policies," said Dr Jessica Gardner, University Librarian.
Funding and grants
We would like to thank the following funders for their support in facilitating research at Cambridge University Libraries, alongside our University, national and international partners.
Project title: Digital approaches to the capture and analysis of watermarks
Funder: AHRC/NEH
Project dates: 12 February 2021- 11 August 2023
Project title: Arabic Poetry in the Cairo Genizah
Funder: ERC
Project dates: 1 July 2020 - 30 June 2025
Project title: Curious Cures
Funder: Wellcome Trust
Project dates: 23 May 2022 - 22 May 2024
Project title: Archive of Tomorrow
Funder: Wellcome Trust
Project dates: 1 February 2022 - 3 April 2023
Project title: Fragmentarium Fellowship
Funder: Zeno Karl Schindler Foundation and Aurelius Trust
Project dates: 5 July 2022 - 4 July 2023
Project title: TEXTEVOLVE: a new approach to the evolution of texts based on the manuscripts of the Targums
Funder: ERC
Project dates: 1 October 2021 - 30 September 2024
Project title: African Poetry Digital Portal
Funder: Mellon
Project dates: 1 August 2021 - 31 July 2023
Project title: Sterne Digital Library
Funder: AHRC
Project dates: 25 March 2019 - 24 September 2021
Project title: Walking with Constable
Funder: Research and Collections Programme
Project dates: 1 November 2021 - 31 July 2022
Project title: War humour in French publications June 1944-October 1946 [PhD studentship]
Funder: Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership
Project dates: 1 October 2020 - 30 September 2024
Services @ Cambridge University Libraries
Iconic red phone box begins a new life
In June 2022, a fully refurbished Kiosk Number 6 (K6) telephone box was installed at the entrance of the University Library, in preparation for its new life as a book drop for returned loans.
It's a fitting role for what the UK public once voted as the most iconic British design of all time - the K6 was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the very same architect behind our Grade II listed library building.
The instantly-recognisable red telephone box was designed by Gilbert Scott for the General Post Office in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V (moulded Royal crowns appear on each kiosk).
One year earlier, in 1934, Gilbert Scott's design for Cambridge University Library had been completed and officially opened by George V and Queen Mary.
The similarities between the library's tower - a monolith of industrial art deco design - and Kiosk Number 6 haven't passed unnoticed over the years...
A new library for West Cambridge
In April 2022, the West Hub opened on the University’s West Cambridge Site. The University’s first co-working hub is open to all, providing a place to learn, collaborate and socialise, and is home to Cambridge University Libraries' newest service.
Marking a fresh approach to learning spaces and shared-use resources, the West Hub enables new ways for academics, researchers, students, businesses and the wider community to share the flexible spaces and services it offers.
The West Hub Library includes specialists from the Technology Libraries Team supporting the University’s Departments of Engineering, Computer Science and Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.
The team brings library support to the whole Hub community including the West Cambridge Innovation District, making full use of the range of spaces available throughout the building to deliver innovative services to all users.
A new Archive Management System for the University of Cambridge
Cambridge University Library has launched ArchiveSearch, a new discovery platform for archives held at Cambridge University Library and across the city.
This allows a global audience of thousands of students, local historians, and academic researchers to explore the wealth of archives held in the city.
Behind ArchiveSearch is a new archive management system called ArchivesSpace which has been implemented to provide online access to archives, manuscripts, and digital objects and to provide archivists with robust tools to steward these unique and irreplaceable materials.
ArchiveSearch contains an impressive amount of data. There are 788,539 published records available to users.
In total, 876,759 records were successfully migrated from 26 legacy systems to the new system which is run by Cambridge University Library and supports 30 different partners from university departments, faculties, museums, and colleges who opted to join during the project.
Thank you
To support and enable the constellation of libraries across the University of Cambridge, we depend on a network of individuals, trusts, and foundations who share our commitment to education, learning and research.
We are grateful to all our supporters, including The Bank of America, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ann D Foundation, the Evolution Education Trust, Nigel Grimshaw, the Second Joseph Aaron Littman Foundation, the Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation, the Penchant Foundation, other generous donors who wish to remain anonymous and those who have pledged a legacy to the Library.
We would also like to acknowledge the incredible generosity of the late Professor Catherine Belsey for her legacy gift, which will leave a lasting impression on the Library’s work and collections.
We extend our gratitude for the continuing support of the Arcadia Fund for our Open Access work.
We are pleased to thank Cambridge University Library's Patrons, whose contributions enable the Libraries to grow, share, and care for our collections. We extend our sincere thanks to Lady Dusha Bateson, Sir Charles Chadwyck-Healey, Nigel Grimshaw, Gurnee Hart, Stephen Irish, Chris Jones, Professor Edmund King and Jenny King, Professor Jean-Michel Massing and Ann Massing, Professor Nigel Morgan, Professor Eric Nye and Professor Carol D. Frost, Cliff Webb, and those who wish to remain anonymous.
We greatly appreciate the ongoing support of the Friends of Cambridge University Library. Our Friends fund some of the most crucial activities in the library, securing new acquisitions, conserving and digitising our collections, and supporting our public programmes.
Our Friends enjoy a programme of special events, exhibition previews, copies of our annual Bulletin with news and stories from the library, and more.
Donations to the University Library collections
Special Collections
Archives and Modern Manuscripts
Stefanie Turkewicz-Lukianowicz, (Стефанія Туркевич-Лукіянович), music manuscripts. Bequest.
Papers of Nancy Lane. Donated by Nancy J. Lane (Nancy Lane Perham).
Manuscript and printed documents of and relating to the poet Frances Crofts Cornford and members of her family. Donated by Jane Firman.
Papers of the Paget family particularly relating to or collected by Sir George Edward Paget (physician) and his daughter Maud Gadow nee Paget. Donation.
Literary and academic papers of Andrew Crozier (a substantial and important additional transfer). Donated by Jean Crozier.
Correspondence of Neville Mott and Robert Street, and papers of Nevill Mott. Donated by Dr Robert Street.
Family papers and photographs of Horace and Ida Darwin. Donated by Martin Thomas Barlow.
Family papers relating to Ernest Rutherford and family papers of Ralph Fowler, Accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by H M Government from the Estate of Ruth Edwards.
Gardening diary kept by members of the Darwin family at the Mount, Shrewsbury and associated research materials created and kept by Susan Campbell. Donated by Susan Campbell.
Japanese
Around 600 thread-bound Japanese early printed books, many illustrated, mostly dating from between the 18th century and the early 20th century. Donated by David Harrison.
Maps
Robert Anthony Burgess: hunting map collection of approximately 400 mostly 19th-century maps, largely depicting the areas different hunts were allowed to use.
Rare Books
Twenty-two printed books donated from the Blavatnik Honresfield Library by the Friends of the National Libraries, ranging in date from the early 17th to the late 19th centuries. Among this varied selection are several fine bindings, including a 1785 Almanach de Versailles in scarlet morocco with the arms of Marie Antoinette and a clutch of books illustrated by George Cruikshank. One of the highlights is a group of nearly four hundred Cruikshank illustrations, assembled by an unknown 19th-century collector and pasted into a large album.
Two sets of 19th-century art catalogues published by Goupil and possibly uniquely still retained in the velvet and satin-covered wooden cases they were first presented in. Donated by Professor Paul Joannides.
A bound volume of 10 original Reformation pamphlets from the library of the late Donald William Nicolson.
Royal Commonweath Society Library
Wartime diaries of Thomas Taylor Russell, a judge in Malaya, who had been interned 1942–45 by the Japanese in Singapore as a civilian. Donated by Russell Pickering and his mother Joan Pickering (daughter of Thomas Taylor Russell).
Early 20th-century photograph albums, glass slides, and ephemera collected by William Joseph Ward (1887–1962) whilst he was working for Indian Customs in Bombay, Karachi and Calcutta in the 1920s and 1930s, also photographs of the WWI Mesopotamian campaign. Donated by his grandson Will Ward.
Nine manuscripts written by Henry Muoria, former editor of the Gikuyu National Bi-Weekly newspaper ‘MUMENYERERI’ (The Guardian) from 1945–1952, relating to the history and politics of Kenya, and the Mau Mau atrocities that he witnessed. Donated by his daughter Wangari Muoria-Sal.
Glass slides taken in India and Egypt, including 17 documenting Indian railways, donated by Christopher Williamson.
Modern Collections
27 modern art catalogues. Donated by Dr James Lander.
Some further additions to the Literature of the Liberation Collection. Donated by Sir Charles Chadwyck-Healey.
188 books donated by Professor Paul Joannides, chiefly in French: a mixture of 19th-century books with a focus on art history and 20th-century books about cinema (including a book signed by Alfred Hitchcock).
307 further books donated by Professor Jean Michel Massing, involving a wide range of subjects, languages, and publication dates.
154 Chinese titles in 263 volumes. Donated by the National Library of China.
A collection of Chinese epigraphical rubbings (22 titles in 50 sheets and two mounted scrolls) formed by the Rev Mr Albert French Lutley (1919–1975), a missionary of the China Inland Mission in Chefoo (Yantai) and Chengdu (1926–1945). Donated by Professor D. L. McMullen.
Around 330 volumes from the library of the former Kaetsu Centre, Murray Edwards College. The donation supplements the Library’s collection of contemporary Japanese fiction and adds Japanese scholarship about the history of the United Kingdom.
41 books related to Japanese studies. Donated by Professor Peter Kornicki.
Public Engagement Events Calendar - highlights
The Really Popular Book Club, August 2021-July 2022
Our monthly, online book group continued, with special guests joining us to discuss titles including The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, The Mistletoe Murders by P.D. James, and Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell.
Heritage Open Days: Heritage Tours, 10-18 September
Hosted as part of Heritage Open Days, members of the public joined our guide on a special tour to learn about the University Library’s incredible 600-year history.
Open Cambridge: Champagne and Diets: A Musical Look at the World of Victorian Food and Drink, Tuesday 14 September
Margaret Jones from the University Library’s Music Department gave this online talk exclusively for Open Cambridge, offering a delicious insight into the Victorian obsession with food and drink.
Alumni Festival: Darwin, Hawking, Newton: Science Archives and Their Meaning, Friday 24 September
A panel made up of Dr Jessica Gardner, Professor Jim Secord, Dr Katrina Dean and Dr Sarah Dry came together to discuss how scientific archives help shape our understanding on science, progress and society. Broadcast from Lady Mitchel Hall to an online audience.
Alumni Festival: Treasures of the Stephen Hawking Archive, Monday 27 September
This show and tell from Dr Katrina Dean gave highlights of the Stephen Hawking archive, providing an insight into how this collection provides a unique insight into the life and work of one of the most extraordinary scientists of all time. Broadcast from the University Library to an online audience.
Isaac Newton: A newly-discovered notebook, Tuesday 26 October
Friends of Cambridge University Library joined us for an evening with Scott Mandelbrote to discuss the University Library’s acquisition of the Wickins notebook and a new text by Isaac Newton, followed by a drinks reception.
Sandars Lectures 2021
Professor Orietta Da Rold was the Sandars Reader for 2021, providing three lectures on the subject of ‘Paper Past and Paper Future’, delivered to an in-person audience at Robinson College and live streamed online around the world
Writing Disability: The Changeling Face of Disability, Wednesday 24 November
Award-winning young writer and Cambridge student Lottie Mills, and PhD candidate and children’s literature researcher Elizabeth Leung, came together to discuss disability representation in fiction. The first of two online talks hosted as part of UK Disability History Month.
Writing Disability: Shifting the Lens, Tuesday 14 December
Vici Wreford-Sinnott, a disabled theatre and screen writer/director, joined MPhil student Molli Carlson, to discuss the representation of disabled people on stage and screen. The second of two online talks hosted as part of UK Disability History Month.
Japanese Books in 17th-Century England, Thursday 3 February
Professor Peter Kornicki was joined online for this talk about how and why 17th-Century Japanese books reached England and what subsequently became of them.
Exhibition and Conservation Tour, Wednesday 9 February
Members of the Friends were invited on a guided tour of the Samurai exhibition, led by the Conservation Team who explained some of the technique used to prepare and present material for the exhibition.
British Sign Language Exhibition Tour, Saturday 19 February
Supported by the Cambridgeshire Deaf Association, we provided a BSL interpreted tour of the Samurai exhibition.
Cambridge Festival: 12 Bytes: Discussing Artificial Intelligence with Jeanette Winterson, Friday 1 April
Author Jeanette Winterson joined Dr Jessica Gardner online to discuss her new book 12 Bytes: How We Got Here. Where We Might Go Next (July 2021); a series of essays exploring her years of researching Artificial Intelligence and its implications.
Cambridge Festival: Mini Manga Workshops, Tuesday 5 April
Manga creator and artist educator, Irina Richards, came the University Library to teach 7-11 year olds the basics of drawing in manga style, helping them to create their own manga characters and short comics.
Cambridge Festival: The Unexpected Darwin: ‘I hate clover & I hate Bees’, Thursday 7 April
The Darwin Correspondence Project’s Dr Francis Neary, Dr Alison Pearn and Sally Stafford came together for this panel discussion, providing an insight into the lesser-known ways in which Darwin worked and lived.
Playing with Samurai, Tuesday 26 April
Dr Laura Moretti’s talk at the University Library explored how the adventures of two samurai, Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Benkei, were appropriated in early modern Japan to enable play.
Manga Skills Workshops, Saturday 28 May
Irina Richards returned to the University Library to deliver a workshop for 12-16 year olds, which focused more deeply on aspects of manga character creation and development.
Guided Tours of Darwin in Conservation, July-Present
The first of our guided tours of Darwin in Conversation, led by members of the Darwin Correspondence Project, commence in the opening month of the exhibition.
Finance
Notes:
- Chest Funding - annual funding that is allocated by the University to its departments is known as Chest funding
- Journal Co-ordination Scheme - The Journal Co-Ordination Scheme is a fund that is managed on a day-to-day basis by Cambridge University Libraries on behalf of the University.
- Research & Other Grants - Includes block grants for Open Access from UKRI and charity research funders
- Donations and Investment Income - Investment incomes included transfer from capital of £0.5m in 20/21 to support emergency expenditure on digital resources
- Trading - Trading income impacted by the pandemic
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