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theul.bsky.social
Cambridge University Library
@theul.bsky.social
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Cambridge University Library @theul.bsky.social · Mar 3
Fascinated by health and wellbeing? So were our medieval ancestors.

Our new exhibition, Curious Cures, takes us back hundreds of years to a world of ritual healing and herbal recipes, stargazing, and surgery.

🔗Book your FREE ticket loom.ly/kVqsPRY

#CuriousCures
Social media graphic with information for the forthcoming Curious Cures exhibition at Cambridge University Library. We see the event logo and a medieval image of a ill man being examined by a doctor.
theul.bsky.social
Write an essay to win £500 📝

The Gordon Duff Prize is now accepting proposals on the science of books and manuscripts and the arts relating to them.

Find out more and how to enter: https://loom.ly/xZZOdOc
Previous Gordon Duff Prize winner Dr Ruth Abbott standing outside Cambridge University Library. Dr Abbott is holding up her prize-winning essay.
November 20, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Cambridge University Library
richardfallon.bsky.social
Just witnessed the ceremonial unrolling of some beautiful and often rather intriguing geological wall posters at the @theul.bsky.social. Here's a selection.
Detail of a German wall chart depicting fossil amphibia. Detail of a painted wall chart depicting trilobites. Painted wall chart depicting Darwin's theory of coral reef formation.
November 20, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Cambridge University Library
sgollance.bsky.social
Delighted to hear that Victorian Jewish writer Amy Levy's papers will now be more accessible.

You can read more here: www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...

I've also written about her writing on dance in my @stanfordpress.bsky.social book and @jofvictculture.bsky.social: jvc.oup.com/tag/ballroom/
November 19, 2025 at 12:07 PM
theul.bsky.social
#OnThisDay in 1600, Charles I was born.

This highly symbolic image of Charles holding the martyr’s crown of thorns is the frontispiece to the Eikon Basilike (The Royal Portrait). Published soon after his execution in 1649, it claimed to be Charles's spiritual autobiography.

London: 1649 – CCD.8.9
A woodcut of Charles I, which forms the heavily symbolic frontispiece to Eikon Basilike. We see Charles I kneeling, with light appearing to shine from his head. The crown in the upper right corner is inscribed with the words ‘beatam & aeternam’ (blessed & eternal), which is to be contrasted with the temporal crown at the King’s foot, ‘splendidam & gravem’ (splendid & heavy). He holds the martyr’s crown of thorns, ‘asperam & levem’ (bitter & light).
November 19, 2025 at 8:52 AM
theul.bsky.social
📚 The Really Popular Book Club has two fantastic reads coming up!

📖 25 November
The Tap Dancer by Andrew Barrow

📖 16 December
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

🎟️ FREE tickets — register here to join us online: https://loom.ly/PlR2sr0
A promotional graphic for ‘The Really Popular Book Club,’ hosted by Cambridge University Libraries. The top half has a bright pink background with the title in bold yellow text and a yellow vertical banner reading ‘Book Club.’ Below, two upcoming book selections are shown. On the left, under the date ‘25 November,’ is the cover of The Tap Dancer by Andrew Barrow, featuring the silhouette of a tap dancer against a large yellow circle. On the right, under the date ‘16 December,’ is the cover of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, showing illustrated children and a lion in motion. The bottom background is yellow.
November 18, 2025 at 11:16 AM
theul.bsky.social
Cambridge students, researchers, and staff can access free skills sessions with the University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives Research Skills programme. Explore a range of skills sessions on topics including academic writing, reading, note-making and publishing. https://loom.ly/sBak5xw
A promotional poster from the University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives advertising ‘Research Skills Training.’ The poster features a stylised tree-like graphic with circular icons labeling different training topics: Open research practices, Managing research data, Publishing and fair attribution, Literature searching and note-taking, and Academic writing and referencing. Text at the bottom says ‘Webinars and workshops to boost your research and information skills.’ Booking information includes a shortened link and an email address, with a QR code on the right.
November 17, 2025 at 5:04 PM
theul.bsky.social
🧪Hold on to your urine flasks, there are only a few weeks left to visit Curious Cures!

📍 Open until 6 December 2025 at the University Library
🔗Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY

Music by Vlad Bakutov from Pixabay
November 17, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Cambridge University Library
cobralingus.bsky.social
Bookings just opened for December's Really Popular Book Club @theul.bsky.social . Come listen to me ruin all your fond childhood memories of Narnia.
The Really Popular Book Club: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by
TUESDAY 16 DECEMBER 2025 7PM to 8PM Open to all. Hosted online using Zoom Meetings. TICKETS: Free, booking required. ACCESSIBILITY: Live subtitles are available using Zoom's Live Transcript function.
www.lib.cam.ac.uk
November 13, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Cambridge University Library
jillwhitelock.bsky.social
Insects on the engraved title-page of August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof’s ‘Der monatlich-herausgegebenen Insecten-Belustigung’ (Nuremberg, 1746-61), vol. 2. S391.c.74.1-4 @theul.bsky.social
Engraved title-page of vol. 2 of August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof’s ‘Der monatlich-herausgegebenen Insecten-Belustigung’, with coloured illustrations of various insects.
November 15, 2025 at 11:46 AM
theul.bsky.social
The archive of enigmatic 19th-century writer Amy Levy has a new home at Cambridge University Library.

Find out more: https://loom.ly/RHh3bbc

Thank you to our supporters, including: @thefnl.bsky.social, Arts Council England, Rothschild Foundation, The Polonsky Foundation, T. S. Eliot Foundation.
November 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
theul.bsky.social
In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

John McCrae, In Flanders' Field.

Image: Fuch's herbal (Sel.2.81)

#ArmisticeDay #RemembranceDay
An image of a poppy from a sixteenth century herbal book. The petals of the poppy are a soft red. There are multiple green stems with unopened buds.
November 11, 2025 at 9:04 AM
theul.bsky.social
Laugh out loud at the library! Comedy improv inspired by our latest Curious Cures exhibition 🎭😆

Thursday 20 November. 5.30-7pm. Tickets £5. More info and to book: https://loom.ly/ctOh268

#CuriousCures #CambridgeUniversityLibrary #ImprovNight #CambridgeEvents #ComedyNight
Poster for "Comedy Improv at the UL!" featuring a collaboration between Medieval Manuscripts and The Cambridge Impronauts. Includes images of a medieval illustration and an improv performance. University of Cambridge Libraries and Archives logo at the bottom.
November 10, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Cambridge University Library
parkerlibcccc.bsky.social
We're delighted to digitally contribute to @theul.bsky.social Curious Cures project

Curator James Freeman highlights some of way Middle English medical writings have survived to us:
specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk?p=30906

One more month to catch the physcial exhibition, do not miss it!
In their own words: medical writings in Middle English – Cambridge University Library Special Collections
specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk
November 7, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Reposted by Cambridge University Library
jillwhitelock.bsky.social
Excellent afternoon with second-year History students at @theul.bsky.social today to look at sources for their ‘Women in Cambridge c.1900-1950’ Research Project. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social
Montage showing items from Cambridge University Library’s Special Collections, set out for a class.
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by Cambridge University Library
oewordhord.bsky.social
atel, adj: dire, terrible. (AH-tell / ˈa-tɛl)
Image: Bestiary from a didactic miscellany; England, 1220-1240; @theul.bsky.social Kk.4.25, f. 67v.
#OldEnglish #WOTD
Medieval manuscript illustration of a salmon-coloured griffin grasping a man’s entire torso in its beak, gripping a leg with its forefeet; the man is bleeding a lot but appears to be alive.
November 8, 2025 at 8:00 AM
theul.bsky.social
For #DigitalPreservationDay we spoke to Caylin Smith, Head of Digital Preservation, about her team's efforts to foster a culture of digital stewardship that protects our digital heritage for future generations.
#WDPD2025

Read more: https://loom.ly/UFJLE40

💾🖥️
A photo of Caylin Smith in the Catalogue Hall at Cambridge University Library
November 6, 2025 at 1:11 PM
theul.bsky.social
Look no further than John Babington’s Pyrotechnia (London, 1635) for inspiration for your #fireworks display. There are 'fizgigs' and fire-breathing dragons galore!🎆

Adams.4.63.1. #bonfirenight
An illustration from a seventeenth-century book on fireworks showing a fire-breathing dragon on wheels The illustrated title page from a seventeenth-century book on fireworks An illustration from a seventeenth-century book on fireworks
November 5, 2025 at 8:52 AM
theul.bsky.social
A week to go until the Sandars Lectures 2025 📚
Join us in celebrating archival collections in Cambridge and beyond, on 11 & 12 November 2025, 5-6pm. Online spaces still available.
Book your free tickets: https://loom.ly/Du7jSUs
November 4, 2025 at 1:11 PM
theul.bsky.social
How did medieval people treat an anal abscess?

🌹 John Arderne, a 15th-century English surgeon, relieved the pain with a suppository of oil of roses and raw egg yolk.

This manuscript (@trincolllibcam.bsky.social , MS O.2.49) is on display at our Curious Cures exhibition.

Tickets: loom.ly/kVqsPRY
A medieval manuscript featuring handwritten text and hand-drawn anatomical illustrations. There are sketches of human figures and medical instruments related to surgery on the anus. The ink is dark brown, and the pages are aged and yellowed, giving the book a well-used appearance. A medieval manuscript featuring handwritten text and hand-drawn anatomical illustrations. There are sketches of human figures and medical instruments related to surgery on the anus. The ink is dark brown, and the pages are aged and yellowed, giving the book a well-used appearance.
November 3, 2025 at 12:12 PM
theul.bsky.social
A Visit to a Witch!

Giving an account of the hovel she resides in, the fear she occasions in the neighbourhood of it, and the curious charges brought against her before a justice of the peace.

London: J. Evans and Sons, [1814?] (CCD.7.50.28)

#Folklore #Witchcraft #History #Superstition
An old printed woodcut illustration of a witch riding a broomstick over clouds. An old printed pamphlet titled A Visit to a Witch! with a woodcut illustration of a witch riding a broomstick over clouds. The text reads: "A Visit to a Witch! Giving an account of the Hovel she resides in, the Fear she occasions in the Neighbourhood of it, And the curious charges brought against her before a Justice of the Peace." Below the illustration, it says: "London: Printed and sold by J. Evans and Sons, Long Lane, West Smithfield. Price One Penny." The paper is aged and slightly tattered around the edges, with handwritten library markings at the top.
October 31, 2025 at 10:06 AM
theul.bsky.social
Listen to two new choral works from the Timeline Choir inspired by our #CuriousCures exhibition! 🐀

‘A Charm Against Rats’ by composer Charlotte Baskerville is inspired by a 15th-century manuscript (@caiuscollege.bsky.social, MS 457/395, f. 1v).

Hear the full version: https://loom.ly/2fJO_xs
October 29, 2025 at 9:57 AM
theul.bsky.social
Don't forget to join us for this spine-chilling event!
theul.bsky.social Cambridge University Library @theul.bsky.social · Oct 18
🎃Join us on 30 October for some spine-chilling real-life data horror stories! Open to all research staff, students, and anyone supporting research activities.

📍Thu 30 Oct 2025, 9:30am-2pm at the School of Clinical Medicine

🔗Find out more and book a place: https://loom.ly/QPCAFGk
October 28, 2025 at 10:31 AM
theul.bsky.social
Half-term planning got you hot under the collar?

Fear not, our FREE exhibition on medieval medicine is here to keep you amused with all the leeches, urine flasks and weasel testicles you could ever wish for.

🔗Book now: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY

Image: MS O.1.20 @trincolllibcam.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Reposted by Cambridge University Library
forrestpass.bsky.social
This kitty was not a great mouser, but did catch a pear! (Still my favourite design from my days as a herald). #heraldry #catsofbsky

Arms of Diane Marie Cecile Perry, Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada, vol. 6, p. 55.

www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/...
October 24, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Cambridge University Library
trincolllibcam.bsky.social
Could this be him as a kitten?
B.11.4 13th c Psalter written in a 'large and noble hand' according to M.R. James. mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/B...
A cat in a medieval manuscript holding a mouse in its mouth.
October 24, 2025 at 10:06 AM