Discover Our Special Collections & Archives

Posted on: 25 February 2019 by Jenny Higham in 2018 Posts

Where in the University can you find manuscripts and archives, medieval to modern; early and finely printed books, and Europe’s largest collection of science fiction?

The answer lies in the Sydney Jones Library, where the Special Collections & Archives (SCA) department houses and makes available the University’s unique and distinctive collections for research, teaching and public engagement activities.

Special Collections & Archives contains an eclectic mix of material, reflecting the research strengths of the University over time and the interests of its various benefactors, which include figures of local, national and international significance, as well as many former members of staff and students.

Our printed book collections date from 1465, and cover subjects as varied as architecture, anatomy, Ancient Greek, Basque language, literature and culture, dentistry, mathematics, tobacco, botany, and travel and discovery. SCA also contains a fine Medieval and Renaissance manuscript collection, and fifteen Oxyrhynchus papyri. Many of these collections contain material which speaks to the social, political and philanthropic life of Liverpool and its place in the world, linking the University both with broader society and with institutions such as National Museums Liverpool and the Bluecoat.

The archives of the University contain a wealth of records and personal papers relating to the history and function of the institution. They include the papers of key figures such as internationally important architects and town planners Baron William Graham Holford and Gordon Stephenson; renowned physicist Sir Oliver Lodge; and influential literary scholars Kenneth and Miriam Allott, as well as extensive material relating to student life and activities.

Literary papers range from a medieval English manuscript of Piers Plowman to acquisitions of 20th-century writers, most notably the Liverpool Poets. Other major collections include papers of Lord Owen, former Foreign Secretary, founder of the SDP and Chancellor of the University; and the Cunard Archive, which contains most of the surviving business and public relations records produced by the Cunard shipping company.

Not restricted to worldly topics, SCA’s science fiction collection includes the books, journals, fanzines and critical works which form the library of the Science Fiction Foundation, as well as literary papers of John Wyndham, Olaf Stapledon, Eric Frank Russell and Brian Aldiss. Heavily used in teaching, these collections are also a key resource for the recently launched School of the Arts research centre the Olaf Stapledon Centre for Speculative Futures, a joint enterprise between English, Philosophy and SCA.

SCA is also the first University in the North West to achieve Accredited status from the National Archives, which awards high standards in collection management, organisation and access. Within SCA there is a reading room, where students and researchers can consult material, and a teaching room, equipped with a computer and an overhead projector, which has space for classes of up to 12 students.

SCA also runs an exhibition programme, works with Museums & Galleries colleagues (such as on the current Eleanor Rathbone exhibition in the Victoria Gallery & Museum), hosts School of the Arts and Humanities & Social Sciences student placements, and lends material to exhibitions nationally and internationally. We support conferences and public events, such as the upcoming talk by Dr Bethan Roberts on nightingales in poetry and science.

With research partners in the University and externally, our collections reach an international audience. An enduring example of this is the research Prof Eve Rosenhaft has undertaken on SCA’s Romani collections as part of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies, which recently facilitated the loan of over 70 original photographs to the French National Museum of Immigration.  

Over future blogs we will be shining a spotlight onto some of the collections within SCA. In the meantime, please do contact us to find out more. We are happy to provide more information about our material and how to access it; support research and public engagement projects; and advise on material for research-led teaching activities.

Get in touch at scastaff@liverpool.ac.uk

Follow on twitter at @LivUniSCA