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This portrait of a smartly dressed young man was taken by G. W. Morgan (1855-1909). The photo features the ornate furniture and painted background that was the convention of the time. On the rear of the postcard photograph is printed "For further copies apply Elite Studios, 5 Market St, Aberdeen." This dates the image as between 1897 and 1907 when the business was trading under this name at the Market Street premises. Morgan and his brother William also operated photographic studios at 3 Bridge Place, 393 Union Street, and two in Aboyne and Ballater. Morgan was the son of a blacksmith from the village of Clatt, called John Morgan. Born in 1855, George trained as a druggist in Aberdeen before leaving for California where he worked as a photographer. He returned to the city in 1880 and became the principal photographic assistant to Mr Dinnie of Bridge Place. The premises in Market Street were his first studio after going into business with his brother. He lived at Westfield Terrace. In the coming years Morgan established a reputation in the city as an excellent photographer and businessman. He was described in his Aberdeen Daily Journal obituary as "A thorough artist in every sense of the word. Mr Morgan was remarkably successful in developing the very extensive business, and it was largely owning to his efforts that the firm attained its well deserved renown for the excellence of its portraiture and scenic work, all of which reach a high degree of artistic merit." In 1909, Morgan died aged 54 in quite unusual circumstances. On the night of 25th June he was travelling with Mr J. B. Davidson, a solicitor and business associate, to London on the Caledonian sleeper train. All was well up to Stirling when the two men went to sleep. Davidson was awoken in the night by the wind blowing into their compartment and with Morgan nowhere to be seen. After a thorough search of the train and much telegraphic inquiries it was determined that Morgan had fallen from the train and died just south of Carstairs. The exact conditions of his death are unknown but it was believed that he woke in the night and groggy with sleep used the wrong door. In addition to photography Morgan was a very accomplished violinist and acted as choirmaster for Ferryhill Parish Church for many years. He and his wife had 12 children.

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Although the union of the Parliaments between Scotland and England had taken place almost a hundred years before, as the 18th century was drawing to a close there was still much fascination regarding the differing cultures. In time, Victorian society would give this fascination a renewed vigour, helped by Queen Victoria's passion for Scotland - including the establishment of Balmoral Castle as her residence North of the border. Before that time though, in the late 1790s, books were produced offering English readers an insight into their neighbours' traditions. One such book was entitled 'A selection of original Scots songs' edited by Franz Haydn and published between 1790 and 1794. The book is designed to introduce the reader to the music and lyrics of traditional songs in Scotland. Haydn's book reproduced the songs along with corresponding music, and also offered a glossary to help with the more obscure language. Burns' song 'My Heart's In The Highlands' - more popularly regarded today as a poem - makes an appearance in the selected works by Franz Haydn. With the collected works produced between 1790 - 1794, this was at a time when Burns began to suffer from the illnesses which would eventually end his life just a couple of years later. Robert Burns Celebrated across Scotland every year, Robert Burns Day takes place on 25 January and is an opportunity to remember Scotland's Bard and his work. Known the world over as the National Poet of Scotland, Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) was born in Alloway, Ayrshire. Burns' early life was one of balance; he toiled on his family's farm by day, and was taught reading and writing by candlelight at night. He conversed in Scots, while learning passages from English texts to further his studies. Although regarded by history largely as a poet, Burns also composed many songs - perhaps his most famous work 'Auld Lang Syne' being one of the few traditionally remembered in song form. One of our treasures this month celebrates Robert Burns' work and that of many other traditional Scottish musicians.

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1. Bonnie Prince Charlie was half Polish. His mother was Maria Klementyna Sobieska. 2. Marie Curie was from Poland. She discovered the two elements - radium and polonium. These elements are used in treatment for Cancer. Curie is the ambassador for the 'Marie Curie Foundation' which provides aid for cancer patients. 3. A memorial for Jan Karski can be found in the Aberdeen University. Jan was a famous WW2 resistance hero. 4. Frederic Chopin (famous music composer) visited Scotland in 1849 and his short holiday in Edinburgh is marked by a plaque on the wall of a house in Warriston Crescent 5. Polish war veteran graves and memorials can be found all over Scotland 6. There was a Polish Medical School in Edinburgh University in February 1941; which trained soldiers to become doctors 7. Queen Mary's House in St. Andrews is made from timber from Gdansk The image on the left is a portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet, oil on canvas, 1738 (NPG 5517) © National Portrait Gallery, London. It is used here with their Creative Commons image licence (CC BY-NC-ND). The image is available to view on the National Portrait Gallery website here.

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A portrait by photographer F. G. Main of a young man and his horses at an Aberdeenshire farm. This was one of three photographs lent to Aberdeen City Libraries by Mr William Finney of Banchory so that we could create and preserve a digital copy for public use. These three photographs were kept by Mr Finney's family and he hopes to find out more about the people shown in them. If you can shed any light on these images please get in touch using the comment button on the left. Mr Finney was born in Turriff and the images likely relate to that area of Aberdeenshire. Mr Finney believes the figure in the middle of this image may have been called Stephen Lorimer. This is uncertain however, as is any detail of the location shown. The image may relate to a local ploughing competition or event of this nature. The figure in the background on the right of the image looks a lot like one of the five workers from Pitglassie shown in another of Mr Finney's images. This strongly suggests this image too is taken at, or connected to, the area and farms of Pitglassie in the Parish of Auchterless. F. G. Main was an Aberdeen based photographer. Searches in old newspapers do not reveal a great deal about his career, however. As indicated on this card, he had premises in the New Market in Aberdeen town centre. Post office directories suggest this was numbers 39 and 40 in the gallery of the New Market. Main also appears to have been active as the Electric Studio at 66 St. Nicholas Street. Additionally, searches indicate he operated studios at Aberdeen Sea Beach and at 47 Wellgate in Dundee. Richard D. Torrance in his Photographers in North-Eastern Scotland to 1914 (2001) has entries for both a F. G. Main and a Frank Main. These are likely one and the same photographer. A newspaper notice for the birth of a son in 1914 indicates that F. G. Main lived at 245 Great Western Road at one time. We can find no obituary for the photographer. A cursory search of statutory records reveals that a Frank G. Main died in Aberdeen aged 65 in 1946. This may be the photographer in question.

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An L. S. and S. postcard image looking north along a walkway, past a park bench, towards the Watson Street Lodge of Victoria Park. The rear of the postcard features an Aberdeen postage stamp dated 23rd July 1927. Someone called Stanley sent the card to a Dr. A. B. Burns of Glasgow. The handwriting suggests Stanley may have been a young person. His message states that he is "Having a rare holiday here."

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We hold a number of original vinyl records in our collections, including those of Mary Garden, a local girl who found global fame as an opera singer in the early 20th Century. Born at 35 Charlotte Street on 20 February 1874, Mary Garden left her native Aberdeen around the age of nine when the family moved to America in search of better opportunities and a new life. After a period of uncertainty and several moves, a young Mary accepted a role as a childminder in Chicago, with payment taking the form of singing lessons to further her obvious interest. By 1896, Mary had shown sufficient progress that she accompanied her tutor to Paris in a quest to pursue a career in opera. Mary's first big break came in 1900, when she performed in the new opera, Louise after the main star became unwell. A series of leading roles followed in 1901, including Thaïs, Manon and Madame Chrysanthème. For the next decade, Mary courted both limelight and controversy as she portrayed leading characters on stage, while being romantically linked to various composers and directors off-stage. Adding fuel to these fires of speculation, Claude Debussy chose Garden to create the title role of his new play, Mélisande, overruling the preference of his own librettist. At the outbreak of the First World War, Mary attempted to enlist in the French army - but with her identity discovered, she instead turned to nursing at a hospital in Versailles. When she returned to America, she continued to raise funds for the French Red Cross. Her efforts during both war and peacetime generated awards from Serbia and France. Mary appeared in two silent films - the first released in 1918 - but she found difficulty adapting to the new medium and this separate career never took off. She returned to her first passion and continued to perform in opera until the mid-1930s. In 1921, Mary was offered the role of director of the Chicago Opera Association, and as she was still performing - undertook both roles with fervour. Under her tenure, the Association took on many new and exciting artists and works. At the outbreak of war in 1939, Mary chose to remain in Paris, until the German invasion forced her to escape, leaving all of her possessions behind. In June 1940, she returned to Aberdeen but the lure of teaching the next operatic generation proved too strong and she once again travelled to America to coach young stars and give lectures in 1949-1950. By this time, it appears that Mary's memory had started to suffer - evidenced by the 1951 autobiographical publication Mary Garden's Story which was riddled with factual errors. The book received disastrous reviews and possibly led to her decision to reside permanently in Aberdeen from 1954. Mary died in 1967 in the House of Daviot, a country hospital near Inverurie, aged 92. Fifty friends attended a small ceremony. A small commemorative plaque is located at 41 Dee Street where the Garden family lived, and a small garden is dedicated to her memory in Craigie Loanings. Although she remains relatively little known in her native Aberdeen, Mary's legacy is considerable in the United States - particularly in Chicago where her stewardship of the Opera Association is still remembered fondly.

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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.

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An engraved reproduction of a James Giles (1801-1870) painted portrait of his friend, the architect, Archibald Simpson (1790-1847). The original painting is one of two Giles portraits of Simpson held by the University of Aberdeen. Search their catalogue here for more details.

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An engraved reproduction of a portrait of the architect Archibald Simpson (1790-1847) by his friend James Giles (1801-1870). The engraving was made by Edward McInnes. The original portrait was funded by public subscription and painted in memory of Simpson after his death. It is one of two Giles portraits of Archibald Simpson held by the University of Aberdeen. Search their catalogue here for more details. This reproduction was published by Gilford & Mair of Aberdeen on 1st August 1849.

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