Virtual Exhibitions & Online Collections guide

Browse our virtual exhibitions and online collections by subject.

Please note that not everything on the following pages is to current accessibility standards.  Some of this content was developed in the 2000s and 2010s and has yet to be updated in a new, accessible format.  

 

Classics

English

  • Chaucer: Romaunt of the Rose MS Hunter 409: including a transcription of the text, along with a digitised version of the first printed edition of the poem from 1532 for comparison (University of Glasgow website)
  • The World of Chaucer Exploring the world of the late Middle Ages, focusing on the works of Chaucer and his contemporaries (added June 2009)
  • Ranulf Higden: Polychronicon  (translated by John of Trevisa) MS Hunter 367: digitised manuscript (Senshu University website: see project details)
  • Edwin Morgan scrapbooks A glimpse of the early creative work of one of our best loved contemporary Scottish poets (added May 2010)
  • Many digitised early printed books (including some examples supplied from the University of Glasgow) are available via Early English Books Online (EEBO) and Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) - both accessible through the Historical Texts

Film, Television and Theatre Studies

 

  • Musicke of sundrie kindes A selection from the Euing music collection (added 2004)
  • Scottish Theatre Archive Flickr slideshow of items from a wide ranging collection that helps to preserve Scotland's theatrical heritage (added April 2010. NB. links to main library exhibitions site)

 

History

Glasgow and Scotland

  • Allan and Ferguson's Views in Glasgow Depicting the buildings and landmarks of early 19th-century Glasgow, many of which have now been demolished (added 1998)
  • City of Glasgow Bank The bank is infamous as the scene of Glasgow's greatest financial disaster of the Victorian era. The directors reported that business was booming. Then newspapers reported that the directors had decided to close the bank.
  • Divine Write: The King James Bible and Scotland. An Exhibition to Celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible (added Sept 2011)
  • The Ephemera of John Smith Examples of ephemeral publications collected by John Smith of Crutherland during his career as bookseller, town councillor, estate owner and citizen of Glasgow; grouped around the themes of transport, politics, the Church, trade, entertainment, crime, education, medicine and city affairs, the exhibited items give us a broad picture of Glasgow life in the first half of the 19th Century (added 2004)
  • Glasgow Cathedral Windows A selection of images from books and manuscripts describing the history of the cathedral and its windows (added 2000)
  • From 'makaris' to Makars: Scots literature in Special Collections An exhibition focusing on the Scots language in print from the 16th century to the present day (added November 2011)
  • Maps for a Small Country A selection of maps from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries relating to Scotland (added 2006)
  • Scottish thought & letters in the 18th Century Highlights nearly 100 books illustrating the ideas & work of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th Century (added 2000)
  • Scottish Theatre Archive Flickr slideshow of items from a wide ranging collection that helps to preserve Scotland's theatrical heritage (added April 2010. NB. links to main library exhibitions site)
  • Seaside Entertainment A description of Scottish summers by the sea illustrated by postcards (added 2002)

Business & Industry

  • Barkers of Kensington The House of Fraser announced the closure of its Barkers department store in Kensington in January 2006 after more than a century of retail history. The store and the people will forever be remembered in the House of Fraser Group Archive.
  • Blueprint 2013 Heritage Trail Blueprints from the Scottish Business Archive
  • City of Glasgow Bank The bank is infamous as the scene of Glasgow's greatest financial disaster of the Victorian era. The directors reported that business was booming. Then newspapers reported that the directors had decided to close the bank.
  • Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) 40 years on Joint presentation from the National Archives of Scotland and the University of Glasgow, featuring photographs, many of which had not been seen for 40 years, on the building of the QE2.
  • Take Flight! This exhibition celebrated the Archive Awareness 2009 theme, 'Take Flight!'. Images from the William Beardmore & Co Ltd and the George Bennie Railplane collections are featured.‌

The Americas/Exploration

  • Americana An exhibition of books and manuscripts relating to the history of the Americas, drawn mainly from the Hunterian collection (added 2003)

The Medieval World

 

  • The World of Chaucer Exploring the world of the late Middle Ages, focusing on the works of Chaucer and his contemporaries (added June 2009)
  • Hunterian Psalter Images from the library's greatest treasure, a beautifully illuminated 12th century manuscript (added March 2010)

 

The Natural World

  • Birds, Bees and Blooms A selection of groundbreaking and wonderfully illustrated natural history books, from the 15th to 19th centuries (updated Oct 2011)
  • Perennial Pages Flower illustration in books since the Renaissance (added 1999)

Science and Medicine

  • The Body Revealed Illustrations and background details from the major anatomical works of the 16th and 17th Centuries (added 2002)
  • Cullen Papers Selection of papers relating to the foundation of the Chemistry Department (added 1997)
  • William Thomson, Lord Kelvin A selection of letters from the Kelvin collection, celebrating the pioneering Victorian scientist and Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow: highlights his correspondence with some of the leading scientists of the 19th Century - Boole, Darwin, Jenkin, Joule, Maxwell, Tait and Varley (added 2008)
  • Paracelsus A catalogue of works published 1529-1793 preserved in Special Collections (added 2000)
  • Revolutions in Astronomy A selection of historical texts and material relating to Professors of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow (added May 2010)

Photographs

University of Glasgow

  • In Aedibus Academicis: the Glasgow University Press Books produced by the printers of the University of Glasgow from 1638 until 1982 (added 2008)
  • Adam Smith in Glasgow Adam Smith (1723-1790) the moral philosopher and economist, was one of the most widely-read and influential thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment. Illustrates his time at the University of Glasgow
  • Cullen Papers Selection of papers relating to the foundation of the Chemistry Department (added 1997)
  • William Jacks A brief biography of the 19th-century businessman, author and translator, who endowed the University of Glasgow with the William Jacks Chair of German Language and Literature (added 2007)
  • The University of Glasgow and Japan The University of Glasgow has had strong connections with Japan since the 19th century.  This exhibition consists of a series of posters (in pdf format) that tell of past and present associations.
  • William Thomson, Lord Kelvin A selection of letters from the Kelvin collection, celebrating the pioneering Victorian scientist and Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow: highlights his correspondence with some of the leading scientists of the 19th Century - Boole, Darwin, Jenkin, Joule, Maxwell, Tait and Varley (added 2008)
  • Old Library Catalogue An introduction to the manuscript of the University Library's catalogue dating from 1691 (added 2007)
  • University of Glasgow Library Timeline Charts the history of the library from 1451 to 2008 (added 2001; last updated 2008)

History of Art

  • Hannah Frank The 'Hannah Frank: A Glasgow Artist - Drawing and Sculptures 100th Birthday Exhibition' was held in the University Chapel in 2008. Hannah was awarded a posthumous honorary degree from the University in June 2009.
  • Ernest Arthur Binstead was a keen amateur artist who produced pencil drawings and watercolour sketches of the activities that went on around him in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Images from two sketchbooks are exhibited.

Information Studies

History of the Book

  • British Bookbindings A selection of bindings from the 16th - 19th Century (added 1999)
  • Charles A. Hepburn Bequest English & Scottish Literature; private press books; fine bindings (added 2000)
  • Foulis Press Examples of the work from the press founded in Glasgow in the 18th Century by Robert & Andrew Foulis, and their legacy (added 2001)
  • In Aedibus Academicis: the Glasgow University Press Books produced by the printers of the University of Glasgow from 1638 until 1982 (added 2008)
  • Old Library Catalogue An introduction to the manuscript of the University Library's catalogue dating from 1691 (added 2007)
  • Printing in England A survey of books by early printers from William Caxton to Christopher Barker (added 2000)
  • Provenance - The ownership history of books A selection showcasing some volumes previously belonging to famous figures of the past (added April 2011)
  • University of Glasgow Library Timeline Charts the history of the library from 1451 to 2008 (added 2001; last updated 2008)
  • Women and Books: from the 16th Century to the suffragettes  Examines women and the written word through the centurie, ranging from 16th century material, such as early printed guidebooks on childbirth and manuscript collections of recipes, to later examples of material on the women's suffrage movement (added 2002)

 

Medical humanities

Personal papers of individuals

Malcolm Ferguson-Smith: Professor of Medical Genetics at Glasgow, 1973-1987, papers available through the Wellcome Library's Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics

Guido Pontecorvo: first Professor of Genetics at Glasgow, 1955-1968, papers available through the Wellcome Library's Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics

James Renwick: Titular Professor of Genetics at Glasgow, 1967-1968, papers available through the Wellcome Library's Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics

Cullen Papers Selection of papers relating to the foundation of the Chemistry Department (added 1997)

 

Medical manuscripts

University of Malaga website. NB. you need to register to use this website, then click on the appropriately numbered volume on the image of the bookshelf.

 

19th century medical books

Around 5,000 of our 19th century medical texts (where 'medical' also includes subjects such as surgery, anatomy, physiology, hydrotherapy, phrenology, sanitation, cooking/diet, exercise/fitness, and alchemy) have been digitised and are available through the UK Medical Heritage Library

Modern European Languages & Cultures

  • French Emblems at Glasgow website for links to 27 digitised 16th century French emblem books (25 of which are from the Stirling Maxwell Collection) in both transcribed and facsimile versions, with introduction and extensive search functionality (University of Glasgow website)
  • Alciato at Glasgow website for links to 22 editions of the emblems of Andrea Alciato (1492-1550), dating from 1531 to 1621, in the original Latin, and in French, German, Italian, and Spanish versions (NB. four of the Alciato editions also feature on the French Emblems at Glasgow site, above) (University of Glasgow website)
  • The Study and Digitisation of Italian Emblem Books for links to 7 digitised 16th century Italian emblem books (University of Glasgow website)
  • Hispanica Rare Spanish books from several collections (added 2003)
  • William Jacks A brief biography of the 19th-century businessman, author and translator, who endowed the University of Glasgow with the William Jacks Chair of German Language and Literature (added 2007)
  • Récréations postales Exhibition of 25 of Stéphane Mallarmé’s poems from the handwritten copies held.

Music

Theology & Religious Studies

Religious texts: