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Treasure 31: Hays' Isometrical View of Aberdeen 1850
2586 In September 1850 an advert appeared in the local papers of Aberdeen for "Hays' Isometrical View of Aberdeen, giving a Distinct and Correct View of the Whole City and Environs". We hold copy of the plan from 1850 in our Local Studies collection.
The plan was available to purchase for 3s. 6d. and measured 34 inches by 19 inches. Carvers and gilders, J. & J. Hays, had premises at 2 Market Street where they also sold prints and optical instruments. At the bottom left of the image we see the words George Wilson, Delt. (abbreviation of delineator, i.e. the artist). George Wilson was to find fame a few years later as George Washington Wilson when he became one of Scotland's premier photographers.
George Washington Wilson
George Washington Wilson was born in 1823 at Waulkmill of Carnousie in Banffshire and left school at 12 years of age to be an apprentice carpenter. He practised his artistic skills by drawing portraits of friends and neighbours and, after training at art schools in Edinburgh and London, he returned to Aberdeen to become an art teacher and portrait painter.
By the late 1840's Wilson was attracted by the work of Fox Talbot in the new art of photography and after initial experiments with a homemade camera, he advertised a business offering photographic portraits before eventually expanding into landscape photography.
A Bird's Eye View of History
Wilson created this panoramic view of the city by making numerous sketches from the roofs of high buildings and then merging them into one comprehensive drawing. We are looking north across the city from the harbour with Union Street running horizontally across the centre and Old Aberdeen in the far distance. We can see how small the city actually was at this time - open fields are visible just to the north of the west end of Union Street.
A key to the most prominent buildings was provided and it is interesting to see which buildings have survived until today, often with additions, and which had yet to be built. Robert Gordon's Hospital (now College), Marischal College, and various churches including the Triple Kirks and St Nicholas East and West are all still standing but the West Prison, Castlehill Barracks and the Poorhouse have been demolished.
Bird's Eye View 1889
In December 1889, the Aberdeen Free Press offered its readers an updated version of the Bird's Eye View as a supplement to their newspaper. Numerous changes to the landscape of the city had taken place since Wilson's view. Treasures 5: The Aberdeen Bon-Accord and Northern Pictorial Holidays Numbers
174 This Art Deco style cover from 1935 features a series of photographs depicting boating by the sea, the busy beach promenade and walking in the nearby hills. The lower half of the design is given over to details of the public transport available to holidaymakers with silhouettes of a tram and bus.
Come and visit our 125 Treasure exhibition in the Central Library during July 2015 to take a closer look at the full bound volumes of these remarkable newspapers. Treasure 29: The Snow Queen and Hans Christian Andersen
202 Hans Christian Andersen wrote 'The Snow Queen' in 1844. Aberdeen City Libraries hold a number of interesting resources relating to the author. Perhaps the most notable is a 1926 reprint of his autobiography 'The True Story of My Life' translated by Mary Howitt and published by George Routledge & Sons.
Born in Odense, Denmark in 1805, Andersen wrote three autobiographies during his lifetime. 'The Book of My Life', written in 1832 aged 27, was for close friends, the Collin family, and was not intended for publication. 'The True Story of My Life' in 1846 was to accompany a German edition of his collected works and his final autobiography, 'The Fairy Tale of My Life', was published in 1855.
Mary Howitt (1799-1888) was an English author who came to prominence as a translator of Scandinavian literature, in particular eighteen volumes of the Swedish novelist Frederika Bremer (1842-1863) and many translations of Hans Christian Andersen. In the 1926 preface to 'The True Story of My Life' Scottish author and poet, Violet Jacob, claims that Howitt's "precise and innocence English" is the ideal vehicle for conveying Andersen's writing. It was through Howitt's translations that the English speaking world first came to know Andersen's work.
Howitt dedicates her translation of 'The True Story of My Life' to the Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind (1820-1887). Lind was world famous for her immaculate voice, generosity and strong religious convictions. She and Andersen were good friends. When Lind rejected Andersen as a suitor she became the model for the Snow Queen with a heart of ice. Their friendship endured nonetheless and in 'The True Story of My Life' Andersen explains the central influence Lind had on his work: "Through Jenny Lind I first became sensible of the holiness there is in art; through her I learned that one must forget oneself in the service of the Supreme. No books, no men have had a better or a more ennobling influence on me as the poet, than Jenny Lind, and I therefore have spoken of her so long and so warmly here."
The autobiography also contains other glimpses into the inspiration behind 'The Snow Queen'. For example, Andersen's childhood surroundings are said to have inspired the roof top garden on which the story's heroes, Gerda and Kai, first meet and become friends: "Our little room, which was almost filled with the shoemaker's bench, the bed, and my crib, was the abode of my childhood; the walls, however, were covered with pictures, and over the work-bench was a cupboard containing books and songs; the little kitchen was full of shining plates and metal pans, and by means of a ladder it was possible to go out on the roof, where, in the gutters between and the neighbour's house, there stood a great chest filled with soil, my mother's sole garden, and where she grew her vegetables. In my story of the Snow Queen that garden still blooms." Treasure 44: Historic Children's Literature Collection
213 This month we feature beautifully illustrated children's literature from our historic collections to mark World Book Day on 3 March 2016.
World Book Day is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and - most importantly - it is a celebration of reading. It is designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world. The main aim of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.
Little Ann and Other Poems illustrated by Kate Greenaway is a first edition, published by George Routledge & Sons c. 1883. It contains 42 poems all illustrated in her charming style of dainty children dressed in typical Greenaway costume.
Catherine "Kate" Greenaway (17 March 1846 - 6 November 1901) was an English artist and children's book illustrator
Online resources Britannica Encyclopaedia provides a brief biography of Kate Greenaway:
"The daughter of John Greenaway, a draftsman and wood engraver, Kate Greenaway grew up in various residences, including a farmhouse in Nottinghamshire, and studied art in various places, including London. She began to exhibit drawings in 1868, and her first published illustrations appeared in such magazines as Little Folks. In 1879 she produced her first successful book, Under the Window, followed by The Birthday Book (1880), Mother Goose (1881), Little Ann (1883), and other books for children, which had an enormous success and became very highly valued".
Greenaway's work was praised by John Ruskin, a dear friend who said "her drawings are blissful just in the degree that they are natural; the fairyland that she creates for you is not beyond the sky nor beneath the sea but near to you, even at your doors. She does but show you how to see it and how to cherish".
In our collections we also hold a copy of 'Kate Greenaway Pictures: from originals presented by her to John Ruskin and other personal friends' from 1921.
"In 1890 Greenaway was elected to the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and in 1891, 1894, and 1898 she exhibited watercolour drawings, including illustrations for her books, at the gallery of the Fine Art Society (by which a representative selection was exhibited in 1902). From 1883 to 1897, with a break only in 1896, she issued a series of Kate Greenaway's Almanacs."
The Kate Greenaway Medal, established in her honour in 1955, is awarded annually by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the UK to an illustrator of children's books.
Treasure 50: Heroines of Shakspeare
221 Celebrating 400 years since the death of the literary great, one of our April treasures looks at an unusual publication concerning the works of William Shakespeare.
Published in the mid-19th Century, this wonderful volume was donated to Aberdeen Public Library by Miss Emily Jane Duthie, a retired teacher living on Skene Terrace.
Born in India in 1868 Miss Duthie was the daughter of Robert Duthie, Superintendent of the Scottish Orphanage in Bombay during the days of the British Empire. The school was founded in 1847 by Scottish Christian Missionaries to educate the daughters of Scottish Presbyterian Soldiers based in India. Since then, the school has continued to thrive and is now one of the most prestigious in Mumbai.
It is highly likely that Miss Duthie's early years based at the institution, followed by her own studies and subsequent career would have introduced her to the world of Shakespeare and perhaps piqued an interest in the many female characters depicted therein. The kind donation clearly demonstrates her continuing desire and passion to educate others in later life, once her career as a teacher had come to an end.
"The heroines of Shakspeare" is chiefly an art book; a means to showcase the forty-eight imagined portraits of the Bard's fictional characters. The attempt to capture a visual representation of the prominent female characters provides a neat bridge between Shakespeare's contemporary audiences (who would have seen female roles assigned to young boys), and our modern age of television and film which is frequently dominated by physical appearance.
Although educated Victorian audiences would have been familiar with the written words, the illustrations attempt to capture a definitive image of each character, including approximate age, costume, physical features and demeanour as revealed by the playwright.
The images are portraits of Hamlet's Ophelia, Othello's Desdemona, Romeo and Juliet's Juliet and of course - Lady Macbeth (from the Scottish play!)
The illustrations are printed on thick paper from original engravings by portrait artists including Augustus Egg, John Hayter and John William Wright. The book is bound with gilt edges and also contains sturdy decorated endboards.
The curious spelling of Shakespeare in the title reflects the fact that during the Bard's own lifetime there was no single accepted form - the man himself spelling his own name differently in various editions of his work. Although this may seem strange to modern readers the tradition harks back to an era when language was much more fluid, and established forms of spelling simply did not exist in the way that we know today.
Treasure 54: On the Planting of Trees in Towns
229 Aberdeen was something of a pioneer when it came to the planting of street trees in Scotland. An article on the subject in the Aberdeen Journal from 1905 states: "As is constantly remarked by visitors, Aberdeen has great reason to be proud of its trees. In some respects, it can, in this direction, show the way to other Scottish cities."
Alongside St. Andrews, Aberdeen led the way in the extensive and effective planting of trees on city streets. This was largely due to the work of Aberdeen's first park superintendent, Robert Walker. The 1905 article states: "To those who know Mr Walker only as the busy man in charge of Victoria and Westburn Parks, the Union Terrace Gardens, the Links, and the grounds of Robert Gordon's College, the fact of his being an author may be new, but it is something to which Mr Walker can look back with pride, because the publication of 'On the Planting of Trees in Towns' was the means of stimulating the movement for tree-planting, not only in Aberdeen, but also in a good many more places in Scotland."
Walker's book, printed in 1890 at the University of Aberdeen, consists of two papers read before The North of Scotland Horticultural Association in 1889. The volume was issued by the two Aberdeen members of Mr Ruskin's Guild of Saint George after a strong request to publish was made by those unable to attend Walker's lectures. The book argues that trees should be planted not just in parks, but in city streets too: "The slight good effected by fine parks placed here or there towards the outskirts of a city is as nothing to what might be carried out by so planning and planting streets and roads, that the air might be comparatively pure and free, and the eye refreshed with green at almost every point."
The Aberdeen Journal states that the value of the book is "very much materially enhanced by illustrations of a number of our best-known trees from drawings from Sir George Reid, lithographed by Messrs Thomson and Duncan." George Reid (1841-1913) was a nationally renowned Aberdeen-born painter. A year after the publication of the book, in 1891, he was elected as the president of the Royal Scottish Academy and knighted by Queen Victoria. In 1905 he played a significant role in the extension of Aberdeen Art Gallery, determining the layout and contents of the building. He died at his home in Somerset in 1913 and was buried in St Peter's Cemetery, Aberdeen.
On the publication of Walker's book a copy was send to keen arboriculturist and habitual Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. The 1905 Aberdeen Journal article reports that, in his acknowledgement of the gift, Gladstone wrote that "he would read the book with the greatest pleasure, the subject being one in which he took a special interest." At the time, the post card with acknowledgment could still be seen framed in Mr Walker's house. The Journal article also states that the book has been unobtainable for a long time but that a copy is available to view at the Reference Department of the Public Library. Over a hundred years later this is still correct and the item now sits in our Local Studies collection.
"Trees not only afford shade and shelter," states Walker's book "but adorn the landscape and purify the air. They improve the heart as well as the taste; they refresh the body and enlighten the spirit. And the more refined the taste is, the more exquisite is the gratification that may be enjoyed from every leaf-building tree." Treasure 55: Punch
230 The first edition of the satirical magazine Punch was published on 17 July 1841. The title being derived from a conversation between the founders who claimed that - just as the alcoholic drink of the same name - the magazine would be nothing without Lemon (Punch's first editor was named Mark Lemon).
Despite a difficult start of low circulation figures, the success of the magazine was ensured with the decision to publish an annual edition, or Almanack. Copies of these soared and shortly after the magazine was taken over by the printing firm of Bradbury and Evans whereupon it entered its golden age.
Modern satirical magazines - such as Private Eye or the French publication Charlie Hebdo - often purposefully push the boundaries of good taste in order to land a searing political blow of maximum impact. In the Victorian age, Punch attempted to capture the mood of the public in tasteful, yet no-less provocative terms.
Punch frequently used illustrations to highlight contemporary problems in a stark visual manner. So much so in fact, that it can claim to have changed the English language in the process. The original definition of the word cartoon meant simply a preliminary drawing for a work of art - similar to "sketch" - with no additional meaning. However, the word took on the additional connotation of being applied to humour with the publication of Punch's 'Cartoon No.1 - Substance and Shadow'.
The enduring popularity of the magazine is in many ways, inextricably linked to its own downfall. With changing appetites for publications and satire, Punch desperately needed to keep re-inventing itself, but seen by many as a national institution, change was far from easy. Eventually the magazine succumbed to the pressure of low circulation and finally ceased publication in 2002, leaving behind 160 years of humour and wit.
Punch's lasting legacy is a snapshot of opinion on some key historic events from the preceding decades - notably including coronations, scandals, wars, budgets, coalitions and many other subjects high on the political agenda. Guest treasure - Central Library Spiral Staircase
237 Did you know there was once a spiral staircase which ran from the Information Centre down to the basement of Central Library?
The spiral staircase allowed staff to move between public departments and the reserve stock area in the basement without being seen. It can be seen on a plan of the Reference Library (now the Information Centre) from when the building opened in July 1892.
It was dismantled during the extensive modernisation programme of 1978-1982 and acquired by Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums (AAGM). The staircase has been in store since then but this month AAGM are helping us celebrate the history of the Central Library by providing a sectional tread of the staircase as a guest treasure.
View the touchscreen in the Information Desk to find out more about the Victorian staircase and library staff's experiences of the "rickety and creaky" stairs. Treasure 74: Kelly's Cats
276 One of this month's treasures showcases some of the most famous felines in the Silver City. Cast-iron and proud in their stance, despite their small stature, the cats silently stand watch over the citizens of Aberdeen as they sit atop the parapet of Union Bridge. These silent sentinels are known as 'Kelly's Cats', named after noted Aberdeen architect William Kelly (1861-1944).
Although some cats remain at their post on Union Bridge, others were removed in the 1960s when shops were added to one side of the bridge (where the Trinity Centre stands). Today, some of the cats can be found in Duthie Park and three were gifted to Aberdeen City Libraries where they have spent many years watching over the staff of the Central Library.
This September sees the launch of The Cat Parade in Aberdeen, a civic art project centred around our Union Bridge cats.
Up to 100 concrete replicas of 'Kelly's Cats' have been decorated by sponsoring organisations, and are being exhibited in the window of Waterstones throughout the month. At Aberdeen City Libraries, we have sponsored our very own cat - decorated by three of our talented members of staff, Meghan, Sarah, and Rhys.
The design of the cat is inspired by the history of Aberdeen Central Library ahead of its 125th Anniversary in July 2017 and is named Valentine after one of our most influential past employees, Miss Emma Valentine, who became the first female Assistant in Charge of the Reference Department between 1892 and 1915. You can view Valentine in Waterstones this month and in the Central Library from October.
Find out more about the history of the cats and the mystery surrounding their true designer in the Treasures from our Collections exhibition on the touchscreen in Central, Airyhall, Tillydrone and Mastrick libraries. Treasure 80: The Great Wizard of the North's Hand-Book of Natural Magic by John Henry Anderson
291 Ninety years since the Aberdeen Magical Society was founded, we feature a rare edition of the Hand-book of Natural Magic written and published by the famous 'Wizard of the North', John Henry Anderson, one of the best magicians of the 19th Century.
The book reveals 128 experiments "adapted for performance at the parlour or drawing-room table or fire-side? practicable without expensive chemical or mechanical apparatus".
The book features tricks such as The Conjuror's Table, The Gun Trick, and The Self-Balancing Pail, in addition to a number of card tricks and ruses.
For nearly forty years of his life, John Henry Anderson baffled appreciative audiences with his popular performances, which often featured advanced and intricate props. The 'Wizard of the North' travelled around the world delighting audiences in many countries, including Australia and America.
John Henry Anderson died in February 1874 and was buried alongside his mother Mary Robertson, in Mither Kirk graveyard in Aberdeen. He had many imitators and the great Houdini himself said he was one of his mentors. Houdini paid his respects to John Henry Anderson when he visited the Granite City in 1909.
In 1930, the Aberdeen Magical Society arranged to have the gravestone of Professor Anderson restored "as a mark of respect to this past-master in the art of conjuring entertainment" (Press and Journal, 8 August 1930).
Explore the life and work of the great wizard, and find out more about Aberdeen Magical Society in our interactive exhibition on the touchscreens in Central, Airyhall, Tillydrone and Mastrick libraries. Treasure 83: Aberdeen Roll of Honour
295 Following the end of hostilities in the conflict which became known as 'The Great War', numerous efforts were made up and down the country to pay heartfelt thanks and ensure future generations would never forget the terrible losses suffered.
A National Roll of Honour was created by the War Office in 1922. This was an enormous work, and took information from official casualty lists. The work was produced to meet the demand for information to be used on many public memorials.
Aberdeen's public memorial involved the construction of the Memorial Court in the Art Gallery. The city's Roll of Honour was to be placed upon a marble pedestal within.
The Roll drew together many separate lists provided by Churches, the University of Aberdeen, schools, guilds and businesses. The final copy of the Roll contained five thousand and forty names.
During the dedication of the War Memorial in September 1925, the ceremonial copy of the Roll of Honour was placed under glass by Mr Peter Tocher, an ex-serviceman who lost five sons during the conflict.
Duplicate copies were made to ensure that the public could view them. Our Treasure for November 2016 is the copy of the Roll of Honour presented to Aberdeen Central Library by Mr James Davidson, the Town Clerk.
View our interactive exhibition on the touchscreen to find out more about how Aberdeen's Roll of Honour was compiled and what makes it unique to those from others cities. 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 97: Aberdeen Grammar School Art Club
316 The work of the Aberdeen Grammar School Art Club can be seen in the collection of sketch books held in Local Studies for the years 1920 - 1923 and 1926 & 1928, and as supplements in some of the school magazines which also describe the early activities of the club.
The Art Club was started by the enthusiastic Art Master, C.R. Leslie Millar, in 1917. There was an initial membership of 25 boys with H. Morgan acting as Secretary, who was later complemented for his delightful posters and sketches on the notice boards. The club would go out sketching on Saturdays from mid-May and throughout June, working in pencil, oils, water-colours and pastels.
The first sketch book was produced for Christmas 1919 with introductory club notes. It's a tribute to the art masters that they did much to develop the appreciation of art and encourage individual talent among the pupils. The work of the club was favourably commented on by His Majesty's Inspectors and at the Aberdeen Artists Society Exhibition in December 1921 two club members were successful in having pictures accepted.
Have a look at some fine examples of the art club's sketches in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreens.
Treasure 98: Kissing postcards
317 To celebrate Valentine's Day, we have chosen to display four historic postcards from our collections conveying messages of love and friendship.
The postcards are slightly smaller than those in circulation nowadays and they all have a different title, written in capital letters and in colour on the top of the cards. Up until the end of the 19th century, most postcards presented an undivided back; England was the first country to divide the back of the postcards in 1902, before France in 1904, Germany in 1905 and the United States in 1907. It allowed people to write both the message and the address of their recipient on the same side. The front side was then mainly used for the picture or artwork. Postcards can be a useful tool for learning more about society and people's interests and sense of humour.
The text on the postcard entitled 'The Science of Kissing' is from a publication called The People. It first appeared in British newspapers in 1866 and has been republished many times since. Amusingly, the author of the text gives some tips to improve a kissing performance and describes in detail what a proper kiss on the lips should feel like: "People will kiss, yet not one in a hudred [sic] knows how to extract bliss from lovely lips, any more than he knows how to make diamonds from charcoal. And yet it is easy, at least for us. First know whom you are going to kiss. Don't make a mistake, although a mistake may be good."
Want to find out more about the art of kissing in time for St. Val's Day? Check out our interactive exhibition on the touchscreen! Treasure 100: Pugin books and the Gothic Revival
319 The Gothic Revival is a term used to describe a movement in art, architecture and design from the mid-18th century to the late 19th century that was heavily influenced by medieval gothic style. In its beginnings it was an architectural style adopted largely by the rich and powerful for their grand houses and follies, and coincided with the rise in gothic literature such as Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto (1764), and M.G. Lewis's The Monk (1796). However, towards the middle of the 19th century, the gothic style was beginning to filter into all aspects of private and public life, and one of the leading figures in this trend was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, son of the French born architect Auguste Pugin. In our collection we have two books by A.W.N. Pugin, and they are on display until the end of February. The first is a volume published in Edinburgh in the late 19th century that includes a number of publications by Pugin from the 1830s:
· Details of Antient Timber Houses of the 15th & 16th Centuries Selected from those existing at Rouen, Caen, Beauvais, Gisors, Abbeville, Strasbourg, etc. drawn on the spot [London, 1836]
· Gothic Furniture in the Style of the 15th Century designed and etched by A.W.N. Pugin [London 1835]
· Designs for Gold and Silversmiths [London 1836]
· Designs for Iron and Brass Work in the style of XV and XVI Centuries [London 1836]
The second is a very rare and highly detailed 1875 edition of floral designs intended for stencilling that was originally published in 1849; Floriated Ornament: A Series of Thirty-One Designs. Both books are rich in design and detail, and perfectly demonstrate the Victorian fervour for the application of gothic design in all aspects of their decoration, from architecture to interiors, tableware to jewellery.
View our Treasure exhibition on the interactive screen to see some more beautiful engravings from these unique publications. Treasure 111: Aberdeen Artists' Society
332 The celebration of art in Aberdeen can be traced through the collection of exhibition catalogues held in our Local Studies department, including those of the Aberdeen Artists' Society from its early years to the present, through to those produced by modern galleries, local art groups and societies, Gray's School of Art and more recently the directory produced for the North East Open Studios.
The origins of Aberdeen Artists' Society date back to 1827 when a group of artists resident in Aberdeen "resolved to associate themselves for the purpose of mutual improvement in Painting and the furtherance of the Art generally, in Aberdeen" and hold "An Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures and Designs". The artists in question included James Giles who was President, Alexander Fraser, Vice-President and James Troup, Secretary. Other members included Archibald Simpson.
The Aberdeen Artists' Society are working with Aberdeen Art Gallery on a new program of exhibitions after the Gallery re-opens in 2017 and the annual exhibition will return in 2018/19.
Check out our Treasures from our Collections interactive display to find out more about the history of Aberdeen Artists' Society. |