x
Okay, I skipped the library introduction in first year. It was Fresher's week, okay. I was tired and didn't fancy getting up and getting to uni for 9am for a tour around the library. I hold my hands up. I had no idea the sheer wealth of stuff we have in our archives.
470Please respect copyright.PENANAWt01qHWddg
But my absences during fresher's week are neither here nor there (besides, I can count on one hand how many lectures I've missed this entire academic year, so I've made up for it!), what this blog post is about is what I discovered in the archives today.470Please respect copyright.PENANAekTbF7KIMP
We are making a documentary about the Suffragettes and so went in search of primary evidence regarding the issue. We asked the woman at the desk, who immediately said they had a large number of issues of the Suffragette paper. I expected her to lead us to a glass case with the newspapers behind them, or to just show us some pictures... I never expected to be able to handle them myself.470Please respect copyright.PENANAnSHBI2ivnE
She told us to sit down, and so we did. The chairs were a bit lumpy and the desk a bit too high, but we waited and after a couple of minutes she returned, bearing a large blue box. Inside the box were several yellowed issues of the Suffragette newspaper.
We are making a documentary about the Suffragettes and so went in search of primary evidence regarding the issue. We asked the woman at the desk, who immediately said they had a large number of issues of the Suffragette paper. I expected her to lead us to a glass case with the newspapers behind them, or to just show us some pictures... I never expected to be able to handle them myself.470Please respect copyright.PENANAnSHBI2ivnE
She told us to sit down, and so we did. The chairs were a bit lumpy and the desk a bit too high, but we waited and after a couple of minutes she returned, bearing a large blue box. Inside the box were several yellowed issues of the Suffragette newspaper.
I was terrified of handling them with bare hands, but the woman simply said to handle with care and they would be fine.
470Please respect copyright.PENANAQwa0yhJfeT
Some issues were incredibly delicate. Some of the pages were held together by the barest sliver of paper that had survived through the years. Some had fallen apart completely.470Please respect copyright.PENANAnu8EpPmi4y
The years of publication varied, but the ones that were most useful to us were from (or near abouts) the year 1911. A hundred and five years old.470Please respect copyright.PENANA8dtpvs9uIk
Perhaps its just my ultimate geekiness, but to hold something that is over 100 years old? To feel the paper between your fingers, and smell the aroma of the aged material... it is an incredible feeling.470Please respect copyright.PENANA4lb9dQhJba
To look at the list of subscribers and see surnames that I recognise is a feeling I cannot describe. I can have no real way of knowing if the 'Mrs D Bowker' mentioned in one list is really a long-lost relative of my mother, but who knows?
The years of publication varied, but the ones that were most useful to us were from (or near abouts) the year 1911. A hundred and five years old.470Please respect copyright.PENANA8dtpvs9uIk
Perhaps its just my ultimate geekiness, but to hold something that is over 100 years old? To feel the paper between your fingers, and smell the aroma of the aged material... it is an incredible feeling.470Please respect copyright.PENANA4lb9dQhJba
To look at the list of subscribers and see surnames that I recognise is a feeling I cannot describe. I can have no real way of knowing if the 'Mrs D Bowker' mentioned in one list is really a long-lost relative of my mother, but who knows?
470Please respect copyright.PENANAZ8htiQgBph
I guess to some people this seems just...boring. Average. Dusty, silent archives can seem like the least appealing place in the world. But to those who have this insatiable need for knowledge and a craving for history that will never quite be satisfied, looking at something that has survived the ages will always be magical. Seeing the Magna Carta behind bullet-proof glass last Spring was simply mind blowing... but to hold a document? To touch it and smell it and feel it? There is nothing like it. It truly is like looking through a window into the past.470Please respect copyright.PENANAGrqTKvxXbI
470Please respect copyright.PENANAs7Gp1IOLsj
Maybe I'm just the biggest geek there is, but being able to touch a living piece of history made my day.
ns 172.70.126.165da2 470Please respect copyright.PENANAs7Gp1IOLsj
Maybe I'm just the biggest geek there is, but being able to touch a living piece of history made my day.