David Murray Book Collecting Prize
The University Library is delighted to award the David Murray Book Collecting Prize. This prize seeks to encourage collecting of books and printed material - items centred on the written word - among current students of the University of Glasgow.
£500 will be awarded to a student with the best collection of books or printed materials.
Applications close on Monday, 17th March 2025 at 9am.
This prize is offered in honour of David Murray (1842-1928), a Glasgow lawyer and passionate book collector who had a long association with the University of Glasgow. He presented his personal library of some 15,000 printed books and 200 manuscripts to the University in 1927. Regarded as one of the most important of our Special Collections, many of the books he acquired relate to Glasgow and the West of Scotland.
The prize recognises collections formed by University of Glasgow students. Application is open to any current student who is developing a collection of books or printed materials around a central theme.
The prize consists of:
- £500 for the winning student
- £250 towards the purchase of an item for the Library to be chosen in collaboration with Library staff
Previous prize winners:
How to apply
Entries may be submitted through the application form from Monday 3rd February.
The closing date for entries is 9am, Monday 17th March 2025.
Applications must include:
- An annotated list of all the items in the collection
- A short essay (of no more than 2,500 words) setting out your interest in the collection and its development
- Your personal details: your name, email address, student number, year & course of study, and telephone number
Applications may include:
- Photographs of your collection. These can be included as part of the annotated list and/or the short essay.
The judges do not necessarily expect a substantial existing collection and are looking for originality, creativity, and a vision of how the collection might be developed in the future
From this application process, a shortlist of entrants will be invited to meet the judges and to make a brief presentation of their collection on Wednesday 26thMarch 2025. After all presentations, the judges will make their decision, and the awards ceremony will take place.
For any queries about the application process, please contact library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk.
Terms
- The prize is open to current students of the University of Glasgow; undergraduate and postgraduate students are welcome to apply.
- The collection must have been owned and put together entirely by the entrant. It may consist of printed books, printed ephemera, manuscripts, photographic material, or a combination of these, with a common theme.
- The prize will be awarded at the judges’ discretion and will be based on the interest, originality and creativity of the collection and the persistence of the collector. Age, size and monetary value of the collection will not be relevant criteria. The judges’ decision will be final.
- The judges reserve the right not to consider any application submitted after the closing date and any application which is incomplete.
- By submitting entry materials, the entrant agrees that the University Library may reproduce any party of the entry materials in connection with the prize or future prizes in any form it considers appropriate.
- The winner will automatically be entered for the national Student Book Collecting Prize, sponsored by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association. This prize is open only to the winners of individual university prizes. The winner may choose not to have their name put forward.
