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Treasure 91: Aberdeen Art Gallery Ephemera
310 As the refurbishment of Aberdeen Art Gallery continues this is an opportunity to feature a selection of ephemera held in the Library collections reflecting some aspects of its history. The full history of the Gallery is documented in Jennifer Melville's book, Aberdeen Art Gallery - A History, published in 2010. The Aberdeen Daily Journal of 10 April 1905 described the opening of the handsome new Sculpture Gallery and the enlarged art galleries by distinguished artist Sir George Reid as "an important stage in an epoch-making period in the history of Aberdeen's connection with art". Sketches of the proposed new Sculpture Gallery appeared in the Aberdeen Daily Journal on 27 January 1903 but it was not until 8 April 1905 that the official opening took place. In the Library collections we hold a number of items which describe the events of that day. The Programme of Proceedings with its beautifully illustrated front cover gives the order of speeches and music selections for the occasion.
Find out more about the Art Gallery in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreen. Treasure 92: Diary of Samuel Pepys
311 A New Year's resolution for many this year will be to keep a diary and with this in mind we have decided to highlight what is perhaps one of the most famous journals in the world - the diary of Samuel Pepys.
Samuel Pepys was born at the family home at Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London on 23 February 1633. He was a talented and hardworking individual who worked as a naval administrator eventually rising to become Secretary of the Admiralty but it is the diary that he kept during the years 1660-1669 that has earned him his rightful place in history. His diary provides detailed and personal accounts of major happenings from this period such as the restoration of the monarchy (1660), the second Anglo-Dutch war (1665-67), the great plague of London (1665) and the great fire of London (1666). We also learn about everyday life in the seventeenth century through his stories about his family, the servants that were part of his household and his general observations as he went about his daily business.
The edition of Samuel Pepys' diary that is in our collection is:
The Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, Esq., F. R. S. Secretary to the Admiralty in the reigns of Charles II and James II, 1659 to 1703 (1871).
Get a first hand account of explosive moments in history such as the Fire of London in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreen. Treasure 93: George Sim's Journals
312 The Minutes and Proceedings of the Public Library Committee of 1910-11 provide us with the first reference to the collection of journals written by the naturalist and taxidermist George Sim which are held in the Local Studies collections.
The solicitors administering Sim's estate contacted the City Librarian in September 1910 to inform him that Sim's natural history journals covering the period 1862 - 1900 had been bequeathed to the Public Library.
George Sim was born in 1835 at Craigellachie in Banffshire where his father James was a general merchant who also worked on farms. George received little formal education since he was needed to help in the household and at the age of 13 he was apprenticed as a tailor in Auchterless.
He eventually became a journeyman tailor moving around Scotland, England and Ireland before returning to work with his brother in a druggists' business. However, his long interest in natural history and a desire to be a taxidermist encouraged him to undertake training in Edinburgh.
He came to Aberdeen in 1862 and set up in business in King Street where he is listed in the Aberdeen Directory as a "bird stuffer". His successful business allowed him to move to larger premises at 52 Castle Street about 1897 when he is listed as naturalist, furrier and antiquarian, living at 40 Constitution Street.
Learn more about this interesting Aberdeen character - and the confusion that surrounds his name and profession - in our interactive exhibition on the touchscreen. Treasure 94: William Beattie's Scotland Illustrated (1838)
313 To celebrate the anniversary of Scotland's National Bard Robert Burns on 25 January, we are showcasing a beautifully illustrated work in two volumes on the history and landscape of Scotland by the physician, poet and writer William Beattie (1793-1875).
Volume I includes descriptions and illustrations of Berwickshire, District of Lothian, Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Stirlingshire, Ayrshire, the Counties of Dumfries and Roxburgh, and Roxburghshire.
Volume II describes the regions of Perthshire, Inverness-shire, Argyllshire, Dunbartonshire, or, The Lennox, Lanarkshire, the Counties of Fife, Aberdeen, and Moray, and Sutherland.
The work includes 121 engravings on steel, from original drawings, chiefly by the architect and artist Thomas Allom (1804-1872) and the topographical artist William Henry Bartlett (1809-1854). Poetry is interspersed throughout the volume is by the author.
The whole work is reflective of the romantic ideology of the power of nature to inspire the poet or artist with ideas of the beautiful, sublime and picturesque.
In his introduction to Scotland Illustrated, Beattie presents to us a poet's Scotland - a land steeped in its mysterious folkloric past and claimed by Beattie as the "Fairy Land of modern times" - influenced in no small part by the great romantic works of Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns.
To see more beautiful examples of 'picturesque' landscape engravings of Scotland, have a browse in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition. Treasure 95: Todd Family Album, 1858-1865
314 This treasure is a family photograph album of the Todd family covering the years 1858 to 1865. The photographs were taken by James Joseph Todd (1834-1904) and the album was donated to the library by Lorna L. Todd, née Lawrence, (1886-1971).
Lorna was the wife of Reginald Todd (1868-1948), the second child of James Joseph Todd and Ann Hogarth (1845-1882).
During the years covered in the album the Todd family lived at Maryculter House on the banks of the River Dee. The head of the family was Thomas Todd (1803-1868). He came to Aberdeen in 1849 and became one of the principal partners in the firm of Alexander Hadden & Sons, manufacturers in the Green, with his brother in law James F. Hadden.
Thomas was born in London in 1803. His father, Joseph Todd Snr., began his working life as a haberdasher and silk mercer and steadily became one of the wealthiest men in the country.
The Todd family owned Twickenham Park estate and had architect L. W. Lloyd design a large mansion there by the side of the River Thames that was completed in 1828.
The album documents not just the Todd family, and connected families like the Haddens and Hogarths, but also includes other prominent Aberdonians such as Sir Andrew Leith Hay and Hugh Leslie of Powis. They appear to have been photographed during visits to Maryculter House.
View our Treasures exhibition on the interactive screen to find out more about this early example of portrait photography |