Some wonderful side-eye from both Virgin and Child in this fifteenth-century woodcut. In the ‘De spiritualibus ascensionibus’ (Cologne, c. 1498), a work of mystical philosophy by the Dutch writer Gerard Zerbolt of Zutphen. Zerbold taught Thomas à Kempis. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social SSS.47.1[3].

A wistful but golden sun! From a binding made in Bologna in the 1530s by the so-called ‘Pflug & Ebeleben Binder’ (named after two of his customers, Damian Pflug & Nikolaus von Ebeleben). On a copy of Celsus ‘De Medicina’, printed at #Venice (Aldus) in 1528. Now @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Rel.c.52.6.

📣New exhibition alert!! 👀 We are excited to announce new exhibition 'Patient voices: power, truth, understanding' will be opening on 14 September 2026 at the RCP - exploring the lived experience of healthcare. 👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/exhibitions/... @rcphysicians.bsky.social #PatientVoices

Helophilus pendulus, ‘The footballer’, from Edward Donovan’s ‘The natural history of British insects’, vol. 1 (London, 1792). S391.c.79.1 @theulspeccoll.bsky.social #Hoverflies #Diptera

An engraved vignette showing a scholar in his study: books lining the walls & busts looking down. From the title page to Charles de Rochefort’s ‘Histoire naturelle des îles Antilles de l’Amérique’ (Lyon, 1667), on the geography & natural history of the Caribbean. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social S.5.65-66

Delighted to welcome ‘Global Plant Lives’ Global Humanities Summer School students to @theul.bsky.social today for a session co-hosted by @theulspeccoll.bsky.social and our Natural History Humanities initiative at @camglamresearch.bsky.social. Phones came out to snap this Brachystelma barberæ!

A twinky vignette from the title page of the vast ‘Annales Ecclesiastici’, a history of the first twelve centuries of Christianity begun by Cesare Baronio (Vatican Librarian). First published in 1588, this edition (in 34 volumes) was printed at Lucca 1738-59. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social 5.31.1-34.

An impression from a piece of fallen type - an error in the printing process captured forever. In a copy of Constantius Applanus’s ‘Soliloquiorum’, printed at Cremona in 1496 and given to @theulspeccoll.bsky.social by Stephen Gaselee in 1934. CUL Inc.5.B.20.5[4036]. #fallentype #incunabula

Two more weeks to see some of our lovely Historical Printing Room collections in the @rcpmuseum.bsky.social exhibition!

Katie Birkwood@girlinthe.bsky.social · 3w ago

BANGING loan of typesetting and printing equipment from @theulspeccoll.bsky.social historical printing room, facilitated by @liamsims.bsky.social.

The crest of St John’s College Cambridge, in John Scott’s ‘Foundation of the Universitie of Cambridge’ (1620s). The text (which exists in several copies) lists benefactors & gifts. Scott was an heraldic painter and a member of Clare College. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social MS Gg.5.21.

A scrapbook donated to our Royal Commonwealth Society collection - about schoolboys' tours into the British empire - tells us much about the interconnected themes of colonialism & public education, emigration, class, & gender in the empire. Learn more: specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk?p=32144

Happiness is when your illuminated Venetian Breviary is deliciously on-brand for the second week of Wimbledon. 🍓🎾🍓 This stunning page features little strawberries set against a gold-leaf background. It comes from a Breviary printed in Venice in 1490. Inc.6.B.3.47c[3693].

Just returning from a fantastic workshop with Cambridge University Library's Genizah Research Unit where I got to see a Hexapla palimpsest, Maimonides's autographs and many other treasures. The colleagues there are lovely too!

The gilt arms of Thomas Brudenell (1578-1663), first Earl of Cardigan. On a copy of the Chronicles of England printed at Westminster by William Caxton in October 1482. One of two copies given or bequeathed to @theulspeccoll.bsky.social by Samuel Sandars in the 1890s. CUL SSS.41.4.

For this month’s latest Council’s Choice, our Hononary Secretary Liam Sims highlights Baskerville’s punches on Cambridge’s Digital Library.

Charles Darwin changed how we see our place in nature – but how did he build his theories? 🗺️🌱 We’re currently cataloguing his personal library, full of annotations and notes that chart his transformation from a curious student to influential scientist. Find out more: https://loom.ly/xeloI8E

The woodcut device of Parisian printer Gilles de Gourmont, one of three brothers (Robert and Jean) engaged in the book trade. He was the first Parisian printer to produce books entirely in Greek. From a copy of his 1507 edition of Pomponius Mela, now @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Peterborough.C.6.3.

Happy centenary to Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. First published in June 1926, it’s a stone-cold classic that changed crime fiction forever. Have you read it? Let us know in the comments – but please, no spoilers for those lucky enough to be reading it for the first time 🤫

Gorgeous bronze & horn gift label, recording the donation of this volume to Bury Grammar School by one William Buckberd in the summer of 1565. It contains four works printed in Cologne & Antwerp in the 1560s, including Cato’s Distichs & Aesop’s Fables. Now @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Bury.48.7.

An exciting project to catalogue Charles #Darwin's personal library is underway! Learn about it in our latest blog: specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk?p=32108

SUN! 🌞 From Jacopo Caviceo’s ‘Libro del Peregrino’ (Parma, 1513), a tale of star-crossed lovers first published in 1508 and later translated into French and Spanish. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Tc.52.51.

May Balls: how fares thee the morrow after the eve afore? Which image do you most relate to? #MayBalls #YeOldeHangover #MedievalMemes #CambridgeUniversityLibrary

Happy Summer Solstice! ☀️ Here is an excellent personification of the great golden orb in the sky, complete with impressive side-eye 👀 Hand-coloured wood cut from Theoricarum novarum textus Georgii Purbachii cum... expositione Domini Francisci Capuani, 1515 (Norton.b.14).

400 years ago today, a codfish was gutted at Cambridge Market. 🐟   Inside it was a tiny book containing Protestant texts from the early years of the English Reformation.   Was this a providential message from God, a piece of political propaganda or an elaborate hoax? Music by Julius H. from Pixabay

Our latest blog is all about newly catalogued material in the Royal Greenwich Observatory archive. specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk?p=31753

The disarray of the books in this woodcut makes me anxious. From Cicero’s ‘Tusculanae quaestiones’, printed at #Venice in 1516. This copy came to England in the sixteenth century and was in @theulspeccoll.bsky.social by 1715. Shelfmark L.15.18.

Curiosity, history and community. That’s the Cambridge spirit behind our 2026 #LGBTQ+ #PrideMonth book display! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🫶 Find it in the South Reading Room throughout June.

We've recently added Coptic papyri from our Michaelides Collection to our Digital Library (@camdiglib.bsky.social)! Read all about it in our latest blog. specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk?p=31713

Right, next time we get @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Audubon out for visitors it will definitely be the heron plate rather than the flamingo!

EveryHeron 𓅣@everyheron.bsky.social · 2mo ago

So large is the Great White Heron that to fit it into Audubon's classic book the printers allowed this Heron, and only this one, to Escape the Frame. An approach to life these Herons have always followed. 2/2

The pineapple-themed bookplate of the excellently named Thomas Boultbee Parkyns (d. 1833). In a work by the German Jesuit and scientist Gaspar Schott, printed at Würtzburg in 1657-59 and part of the library of Cambridge astronomer John Couch Adams. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Adams.6.65.2-3.