Emily Burgoyne, Angus Librarian, introduces us to the Angus Libary and Archive, a hidden treasure-trove in the basements of our college.
Well, working from home and above ground certainly makes a difference to working underground in the Angus. For a start, I can see daylight and I can see sunshine! Although, frustratingly , I can’t physically be in the archive, I did manage to take some files before lockdown which I’ve been perusing at home (not something I would ever usually have the time to do…)and I’ve discovered some amazing things !
For example, we’re supposed to have a crocodile’s egg in the archive. I have never yet come across this , though I know there are many extraordinary things in there and Julian Lock, the College Archivist, suggested that it may already have hatched…. But then again when I think of all the other fabulous and unlikely things that we have in the Angus, why would I be surprised about a crocodile’s egg? The richness and general all-round fabulousness of the Angus lies in the fact that we have such a fantastic mix of things that span over 500 years – not just books, but letters, journals, photographs and so many artefacts from China, India, the Congo and the West Indies.
So, one day I may be looking at the 15th century Nuremberg Chronicle- a kind of beautifully illustrated late medieval world history and the next I might be getting out a necklace made from leopard’s teeth (no you can’t borrow it for Formal Hall). Or, I’ll be showing someone William Carey’s teapot in the morning, and in the afternoon the first edition of Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women. Sometimes I’ll be sorting through Victorian photographs of missionaries taking tea in the rainforests of the Congo and sometimes I’ll be using George Grenfell’s sextant to navigate my way upstairs to the SCR at coffee time. Ok, that last bit may not be true, but we do have his sextant, complete with its beautiful wooden case.
The Angus truly is a treasure trove of precious and amazing things and after lockdown is lifted, I hope you will come and visit to discover some of its fabulous resources for yourselves. Just please watch out for the crocodile ….And in the meantime, I’ll be sharing some other unusual items that we have in the Angus in future newsletters.
