Cambridge University Library

A fabulous couple of days @theul.bsky.social and @cuherb.bsky.social, with lots of archives and blossoms - two of my favourite things!

Always good to see this when I’m in Ely: the tomb of Bishop John Moore (1646-1714), whose great collection of rare books and manuscripts - perhaps the greatest English private library of the 17c - was purchased for George I and presented to @theul.bsky.social as The Royal Library.

Speak up for the chance to win prizes! Students could win an iPad Air and everyone could win one of ten £50 Love Cambridge gift vouchers. Survey is open to everyone who uses our libraries, resources and services, in-person or online. Survey open now: https://loom.ly/eK5MWvI

Poster for a Cambridge University Library event titled “Black British Voices x Black British Collections: Launch Event & Film Screening.” The poster has a dark blue background with the Cambridge University Library logo at the top. Red and white banners display the event title and note it will take place at Cambridge Central Library. At the bottom are two images: one of a person in a pink sweater browsing archival boxes in library shelves, and a film poster for How to Build a Library showing two women sitting on steps in front of a grand library building. A Heritage Fund logo appears in the lower corner.

📅 Saturday 21 March | 4:00–6:15pm
📍 Cambridge Central Library

Join Cambridge University Library & Cambridgeshire Libraries for a FREE screening of How to Build a Library (2025) and hear about CUL’s new project Black British Voices x Black British Collections.

Book now: https://loom.ly/eUSKonE

Very happy to be sharing the pages of Ghosts and Scholars 50 with @helengrantsays.bsky.social! My story The Trojan Revenge is inspired by a medieval book of recipes in @theul.bsky.social that also inspired M. R. James's 'The Experiment' - MS Dd.11.45, if you're feeling brave...

As part of the AI for Cultural Heritage Hub project (ArCH), @theul.bsky.social has been collaborating with @zoologymuseum.bsky.social to explore the use of AI to unlock its collections. Read more about this in our latest blog: specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk?p=31537

Sequel to a Reminiscence The archive of enigmatic 19th-century writer Amy Levy has a new home at Cambridge University Library

Today on #IWD we honour Amy Levy, Jewish poet, novelist, essayist, and Cambridge Alumna.

🔎Levy's Archive at the UL: https://loom.ly/RHh3bbc

With thanks to @thefnl.bsky.social, Arts Council England, Rothschild Foundation, T. S. Eliot Foundation.

Poster for Cambridge University Library announcing a new exhibition titled “Living Water: Poetry, Art and the Fight for Clean Rivers.” The design features layered blocks of dark green, olive, and teal with white and pale text. At the bottom is a golden-toned image resembling rippling water with tree reflections.

Join us for the launch event of our new exhibition, Living Water: Poetry, Art and the Fight for Clean Rivers! 🛶

📅THURSDAY 19 MARCH 2026
🕖 7.30PM to 9PM
📍the UL
🎟️Book your free ticket: https://loom.ly/FSLQWrg

Booking in advance is required. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult.

A photo of a patch of daffodils in the grass. In the background, we see Cambridge University Library set against a bright blue sky.

An old book illustration showing two women dressed as daffodils, with a pipe-playing angel hovering above. Decorative text reads: "Daffodils, That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty."

Daffodils on the lawn, and daffodils in the collections 🌼

Spring has sprung at the UL, inside and out. 🌸📚

From our shelves: Flowers from Shakespeare’s Garden, illustrated by Walter Crane (1906.9.385).

Fantastic! Such such books, thanks for sharing 📚✨

Vintage illustration of a young blond child sitting up in bed, tucked under a pink patterned duvet, reading a large book titled “Bed-Time Book.” The child looks down intently at the open pages, with a dark headboard behind them and a soft, warm-toned bedroom setting.

Happy #WorldBookDay! 📚

What books did you love as a child?

This #NationalYearofReading, pass that magic on and encourage a child you know to #GoAllIn with a book.

Image of a child reading is a book illustration by Jessie Willcox Smith, (1908.12.11).

A group of people study a display of old books and manuscripts.

New Special Collections blog: Endometriosis & Menstrual Health in Special Collections.

Ethan Sheard, Senior Library Assistant at the Seeley Library, takes a look at rare books and manuscripts that illustrate menstrual health throughout the ages.

🔗https://loom.ly/WC0LLAM

#WomensHistoryMonth

A close-up of a person wearing teal gloves holding a small metal type punch engraved with an ampersand symbol. In the background, part of the person’s face is softly out of focus.

A bearded man wearing teal gloves uses a green rubber air blower to clean a small metal type punch. He sits at a desk with an open wooden case filled with neatly arranged metal punches, while a computer monitor displaying a magnified image is visible in the background.

🔎 Rare 18th-century punches used to create the original Baskerville typeface have been digitised and released online.
Designers, historians and the wider public now have the opportunity to study the physical tools that shaped modern typography.
🔗https://loom.ly/1ulLaFI

“Endometriosis in the Workplace: Awareness and Sharing – an Open Panel”, is taking place on Tuesday 17 March, from 11.00am to 12.35pm, in the Ryle Meeting Room at the Institute of Astronomy. Register now: tinyurl.com/6b5vhynx

Have your say for the chance to win prizes – takes 10 minutes! The survey is open to anyone who uses our libraries and services. Students have the chance to win an iPad Air and everyone could win one of ten £50 Love Cambridge gift vouchers. Survey open now: https://loom.ly/eK5MWvI

The image shows a close-up of an old, engraved map cartouche. We see a polar bear leaning forward with its front paws resting on a draped cloth or banner.

It's #InternationalPolarBearDay 🐻‍❄️

This handsome bear decorates a 1649 map of the Arctic Pole and surrounding lands, engraved in Amsterdam by Dutch cartographer Johannes Janssonius (1588–1664).

Shelfmark: Maps.bb.17.F.20.

All my colleagues @theul.bsky.social are cool, obviously, but some are super cool 👇

Promotional poster for University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives’ “Research Skills Training Programme.” The poster features the university library's logo at the top, followed by the title of the programme. It describes the training as “a programme of events to teach essential skills and build confidence for every stage of the research journey.” Topics include reading and note-making, literature searching, academic writing, data management, referencing and copyright, thesis deposit, and publishing, fair attribution & metrics. The background image shows a student working at a desk with books, a laptop, and stationery.

📝 The Research Skills Training Programme from University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives is open for bookings!

👋 Designed primarily for PhD students and researchers, the sessions are open to all Cambridge staff and students.

🔎Learn more and book: https://loom.ly/RjU6dj4

A coloured book plate of snowdrops and crocuses

A coloured book plate showing delicate white narcissi flowers.

A coloured book plate showing a delicate bunch of violets tied with a pink ribbon.

Spring is on the horizon, with all its sweet promise.

💐Images of spring flowers are all coloured plates from "The romance of nature" written and illustrated by Louisa Anne Twamley (later Meredith). Published in London, 1836 (Eb.5.17).

Please join us online this evening to discuss Wuthering Heights!

This is fantastic, Sarah!

Bookends article in Literary Review magazine

Cover of Literary Review mag on a black and white cushion

My love letter to @theul.bsky.social pre-1978 Supplementary Catalogue in @litreview.bsky.social

literaryreview.co.uk/list-of-a-li...

Cairo Genizah : Genizah Fragment

✍️This letter is written in Judaeo-Arabic (Arabic written using the Hebrew alphabet). It was written in the 12th century by a Jewish scholar called Perahya to his wife. It is part of the Genizah Collection at Cambridge University Library.

📚 The Really Popular Book Club has two fantastic reads coming up!

📖 24 February
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

📖 31 March
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Join us online - everyone is welcome!

🎟️ FREE tickets are available now: https://loom.ly/PlR2sr0

Pencil drawing of a female Kestrel.

Five Kestrels seen today along the A10 from Ely to Denver, and two on the way back. 💚

Drawing by William Swainson (1789-1855), from four volumes of sketches, plates and other illustrations for his various ornithological projects. MS Add. 9901 @theul.bsky.social

A graphic with a black background featuring a colourful abstract logo in the top left corner and a large block of white text. The text is a testimonial about publishing an article with The Company of Biologists, discussing the benefits of the Read & Publish initiative and the planting of a tree in the Forest of Biologists. Beneath the text, there is a small portrait photo of a person with curly hair wearing a textured top. At the bottom, bright blue text reads: “Laura Machesky, University of Cambridge, UK.”

Thank you Laura Machesky @lmachesky.bsky.social for sharing your experience of fee-free #OA publishing in
@jcellsci.bsky.social via our #ReadAndPublish agreement with
@theul.bsky.social

Read Laura’s paper: bit.ly/4cucNGK

Is your institution participating too? bit.ly/3O7BxGi

Join one of our 45-minute taster tours of the University Library with a member of our friendly Library staff focusing on our collections, services and workspaces.

📍UL tours take place on the second Saturday of the month.
🔗Find out more and book your place: https://loom.ly/_W79-4A

Screenshot showing 557 downloads of the MORPHSS report

Our new report **Openness in the arts, humanities and social sciences: Documenting open research practices beyond STEM** has already had over 550 downloads!

If you haven't seen it yet but are interested in taking a look, you can find it here: doi.org/10.17613/jn1...

#morphss #OpenResearch #AHSS

Yunnan Jiamǎ (甲馬) are traditional woodblock prints used for protection and blessings in Yunnan province in China.

Yunnan Jiamǎ (甲馬) are traditional woodblock prints used for protection and blessings in Yunnan province in China. (FH.911.214)