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Item of the Month

Welcome to our 'Item of the Month'. Feel free to ask us questions about the item or arrange to drop in and see it for yourself.

We are no longer updating our 'Item of the Month' feature. Please check our new blog for 2014 'The University of Strathclyde in 50 items' celebrating the 50th anniversary of the granting of the royal charter of the University of Strathclyde.

December 2013 - Cinderella goes to the Students’ Union dance

'After the ball’ cartoon from the Royal Technical College Magazine, January 1913 Our Christmas and New Year highlight is a scientific spin on the traditional tale of ‘Cinderella,’ from the Royal Technical College Magazine for January 1913.

November 2013 - A letter from Sir Walter Scott

Sketch of bust of Walter Scott. From David Douglas (ed.), Familiar Letters of Sir Walter Scott, Volume 1. (Edinburgh 1894) To celebrate St Andrews Day, this month we are showcasing a letter from one of Scotland’s greatest literary figures, Sir Walter Scott.

October 2013 - ‘The Invisible Man’: A spooky tale by John Logie Baird

John Logie Baird (ref: OP/4/118/7) Our Hallowe’en highlight from the Archives is a spooky short story, set in Strathclyde’s antecedent institution, the Royal Technical College of Glasgow, and penned by none other than the inventor of television, John Logie Baird.

September 2013 - “A brain with a twist” – The Pseudodoxia Epidemica of Thomas Browne

Portrait of Sir Thomas Browne from a drawing attributed to the artist and engraver David Loggan (bap. 1634, d. 1692). Reproduced in The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, Faber & Faber, 1964. If we thought our 21st century world of novel information, unreliable sources, financial frauds, fragile economies, dubious politicians, insidious spin doctors, queasy tales about eating horse meat and debatable beliefs about badgers was a uniquely strange mix, then we’d be wrong. With its combination of learned observation and wit, Thomas Browne’s 17th century encyclopedia of error Pseudodoxia Epidemica set out to challenge and remedy the conventional wisdom and pervasive assumptions of his day. The aim of this physician and scholar was not merely to change what people think but how – why not read further to see if he succeeded or determine whether we are still as susceptible to popular delusions as we are to the common cold.

July 2013 - Daniel Defoe's History of the Union

The history of the act of union between England and Scotland by Daniel Defoe, 1786 Need some background history for the 2014 Scottish referendum? This work by Daniel Defoe is well worth a read.

June 2013 - The James Weir Building

James Weir building, 1958 (ref: OP 2/1/78) The James Weir Building was built as a response to the rapidly increasing number of students at the University after the second world war.

May 2013 - The McCance Building

McCance building, University of Strathclyde, 1964 (ref: OP/2/2/15)

Did you know that the University's McCance building was originally built to house the Library and the School of Arts and Social Studies?

April 2013 - The Anatomy of Melancholy

Democritus Junior Feeling blue? The Anatomy of Melancholy may cheer you up.

March 2013 - The Andersonian Museum

Did you know there was once a museum at the University? This month we take a look at a watercolour by John Alexander Gilfillan, Professor of Drawing and Painting (1830–1841) at Anderson’s Institution.

February 2013 - ‘A kiss is love in tabloid form’

Louisa Fletcher Roses are red, violets are blue . . . want a wittier way to say ‘I love you’? Read on for snippets from a trainee teacher’s autograph book of 1916 that could grace an ‘alternative’ Valentine’s Day card!