Quick Search
|
Search Results
6 items
items as
Guest treasure: Aberdeen Journals' Photographic Collections
2435 The photographic collections of Aberdeen Journal Ltd span over a century. The photographs were taken to support stories and features in The Press & Journal and Evening Express newspapers - a picture speaks a thousand words after all. However, the accumulated photography has created a historical resource documenting life in the north east and Highlands during a century of change and development. The collection covers everything from the changing landscapes of our towns and cities through to global news events. But it's personal, too. People and their images are at the heart of our stories, be it the children on their first day in a new school through to community events and individual achievements. Your image is probably in the archive somewhere if you look hard enough.
The collection is actively used by our journalists. It provides content for favourites like The Aberdonian and Past Lives features in the Evening Express and historical context and background to stories in The Press & Journal. The collection is also used by external researchers looking for copies of images in which they or their family featured, supporting charities and associations celebrating anniversaries and even to supplement content as featured in The Silver City Vault!
archives@ajl.co.uk
View all the Christmas images from the archive in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the library touchscreens. Treasure 86: Bon Accord Christmas Annuals
298 Aberdonians of yesteryear would have been delighted to receive this particular treasure as a Christmas gift. The Bon Accord Annual was produced just before Christmas each year for over 30 years. Linked to the well-known local newspaper the Bon Accord and Northern Pictorial, it was packed full of seasonal treats in the form of photographs, adverts, short stories, poems, recipes and articles.
The Bon Accord Annual provided a round-up of the year's happenings and included a multitude of striking photographs. We are given a revealing glimpse into all aspects of local life at the time. The annual was filled with photographs and text covering graduations, amateur drama events, the arts scene, visits from the Royal Family, council elections, personal achievements, obituaries of prominent citizens, the church, the cinema, clubs, societies and weddings. The impression gained from leafing through the annuals is that the coverage of local events was far ranging and no occurrence was too insignificant to be recorded.
Issues of the Bon Accord and Northern Pictorial from 1926-1952 are available to the public for searching on microfilm in the Central Library. Our Local Studies department also holds Bon-Accord and Northern Pictorial holiday numbers; Bon Accord Highland Show Souvenirs for 1928 and 1935 and the Bon Accord Silver Jubilee number from 1935.
Find out more about the annuals and the Bon Accord and Northern Pictorial in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreen. Treasure 87: His Majesty's Theatre Posters
299 December 2016 marks 110 years since His Majesty's Theatre (HMT) was built on Rosemount Viaduct. The venue was designed by the renowned English theatre architect Frank Matcham (22 November 1854 - 18 May 1920) and opened with a production of Red Riding Hood.
His Majesty's Theatre is now operated by Aberdeen Performing Arts and remains an important part of the cultural life of the city. On its construction HMT replaced The Tivoli as Aberdeen's leading venue for plays and pantomimes. The Tivoli was sold two days prior to the opening of His Majesty's with the stipulation that it would not programme competing productions.
His Majesty's is the largest theatre in the north east of Scotland and continues to be a popular venue on UK's touring circuit. The venue's varied programme includes shows from London's West End and productions by Scotland's national arts companies.
Over the last 110 years Aberdeen City Libraries have collected a number of posters, flyers and programmes from throughout the history of our theatrical neighbour, some of which are on display here.
Take a closer look at posters from HMT's history on our interactive exhibition on the touchscreen. Treasure 88: Polar Exploration
300 One of this month's treasures is a selection of our books about polar exploration. These mainly 19th century volumes were often written by those placed in command of a particular expedition, providing first-hand accounts of voyages through glacial seas and journeys to the frozen ends of the earth.
The many attempts to reach the North Pole are well documented in works such as Dr Fridtjof Nansen's Farthest North, 1898 and The Great Frozen Sea, 1894 by Rear-Admiral Albert Hastings Markham.
Similarly at the other end of the world the race was on to conquer the South Pole. Many countries mounted expeditions to the Antarctic in the early 1900's. One such undertaking has been chronicled in Ernest Shackleton's The Heart of the Antarctic, 1909 which is the story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909. The first successful attempt to reach the South Pole was made by Roald Amundsen who arrived there on 14 December 1911. It was a tight competition as the British Party with Captain Robert Falcon Scott as their leader arrived at the same spot only five weeks later.
Discover fascinating facts about the North and South Poles and the explorers who attempted to journey to the ends of the earth in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition. Treasure 89: Queen Mary's Dolls' House Books
301 Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a highly extravagant and detailed piece of miniature architecture and design built on a scale of 1:12 that comprises over 40 rooms, four elevations, two staircases, two working lifts, hot and cold running water in all five bathrooms, water closets that flushed, electric light, a cellar, a garage and a garden designed by the famous landscape gardener Gertrude Jekyll. It was commissioned by a friend of the Queen and cousin of King George V, Princess Marie Louise. The idea came about in Spring 1921, and at the private viewing of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Princess Marie Louise approached the noted architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, with the proposal to design and build a dolls' house fit for a queen. The house was to be a gift from the nation - recognising Queen Mary's charitable works throughout the Great War.
In our collections we hold a concise two-volume account of the dolls' house, gifted to the library by Queen Mary in 1930. The first volume, The Book of the Queen's Dolls' House, was edited by the poet A. C. Benson and noted architectural writer, Sir Lawrence Weaver. The second volume is focused entirely on one room of the dolls' house and its contents - the Library. The Queen's Dolls' House Library is edited by the essayist and biographer E.V. Lucas.
View our Treasures exhibition on the interactive screen to peek inside the dolls' house and find out more about the nation's gift to Queen Mary. Treasure 90: Torry and Ferryhill libraries
302 Both Torry and Ferryhill Branch Reading Rooms opened on 19 December 1903 as part of the General Extension Scheme to provide a library presence in what were regarded as outlying areas of the City.
In November 1901 the Council Finance Committee sanctioned the acquisition of a piece of ground at the corner of Victoria Road and Grampian Road where Torry Library would be built. A site was secured at the corner of Fonthill Road and the Hardgate in August 1901 for Ferryhill Library.
Both libraries were supported by Andrew Carnegie who, having previously donated money for the building of the Central Library, promised £1750 for each of the Branch reading rooms.
It was the aim of the Library Committee that the Branches should be "educative and attractive in every sense" and with this in mind the walls were hung with reproductions of works by artist such as Constable, Turner, Joseph Farquharson and others.
The success of the new branches was very apparent from the statistics. In the first nine months of opening, attendance at Torry numbered 31,567 with 63,711 at Ferryhill. Once the delivery stations were set up, book issues (including those for Old Aberdeen) totalled 13,530 volumes of which over 10,000 were fiction. By 1939, Torry and Ferryhill were well on their way to becoming fully established branch libraries.
Take a look at the early history of the libraries in the Treasures exhibition on the interactive screen. |