In my previous blog post about cataloguing Fred Smith, I had got as far as a huge database of information about all of the papers in the collection. In this post I will describe the next stage of the process – archival arrangement. An archivist’s job, when making historic material more accessible to researchers, is […]
I am delighted to say that thanks to the generosity of members of the Central Veterinary Society we have been able to have some conservation work carried out on Bracy Clark’s pasteboard model hoof. At the same time the surface dirt was removed which means that you can now read the labels much more clearly as you can see […]
1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, is a day remembered as one of the worst in British military history. The attack commenced at 7.30am; by the end of the day, 19,240 British soldiers had been killed and three times that number injured. The battle lasted 140 days, and amongst […]
Now that over seven months have passed since I started this project – it is time for another update! Most of my time so far has involved looking closely at all of the archive material relating to Major General Sir Frederick Smith, which is the first stage of cataloguing the collection. I needed to look […]
I have previously blogged about the almost 400 illustrations by Edward Mayhew that we have in our archives. We also have a number of other smaller collections of illustrations, one of which is the illustrated notebooks belonging to John Roalfe Cox. John Roalfe Cox MRCS FRCVS (?-1903) graduated from London Veterinary School in 1849 after which […]
As you will have gathered from the previous blog by our Archivist Lorna, the Archives Project here at RCVS Knowledge is well under way. Whilst Lorna is currently getting to grips with the collections (and Fred Smith’s handwriting) I have been recruited to work on the digital side of things. My name is Adele and since the […]
This month marks the 75th anniversary of ‘Operation Compass’ which took place in the North African desert, in western Egypt during World War 2. It was here, on 11 December 1940, that a member of the veterinary profession was recognised for gallantry of the highest order. Dr Thomas Somerville was born in March 1887 in […]
In June this year, RCVS Knowledge were thrilled to announce that the Alborada Trust had provided funding for a five year project to catalogue, preserve and digitise the Historic Collection and Archive of the Royal College. Now, five months later, it is time to update you with the progress that has been made so far! […]
In the Historical Collection there are numerous bound volumes that simply say ‘Pamphlets various’ on the spine. They don’t look that interesting but I always have a sense of anticipation when opening one for the first time as they usually contain an eclectic mix of material – prospectuses for vet schools, unpublished correspondence, reprints on […]
In our collection of watercolours by Edward Mayhew there is only one featuring dogs. The top image is captioned ‘Dog with retracted eye – near the termination(?) of distemper’ and the bottom ‘The lasting effect left by nitrate of silver when applied to an ulcer on the eye of the dog.’ The fact that there […]
At our recent Summer Reception, guest speaker Kirsten Rausing announced £387,275 in funding from The ALBORADA Trust for a five year project to catalogue, properly store and digitise priority pieces from our historic collections and make them available for free online. Amongst the documents we plan to digitise is a manuscript ledger recording the work […]
The addition of the Coat of Arms of the University of Nottingham to the display of stained glass in the reception at Belgravia House, the RCVS HQ, has awakened interest in the history of the glass in this display and elsewhere in the building. As a result I spent several days pouring over 170 years of […]
