A Cabinet of Gems

No new Object this week – we’re slowing the pace a little because the last few entries are having to be researched and written from scratch.

Meanwhile you might like another of our online creations, A Cabinet of Gems.  I’m using this to highlight amazing images from the collections, like this beautiful 1920s design found among the photographs of Jacquetta Hawkes.

1920s girl with headscarf on photo wallet from Cambridge camera shop, HAW 18/2/5.

83. By Gum! Life were Sparse: Bill Mitchell’s Yorkshire Dales Scrapbooks

This week, we’re back in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, looking at the scrapbooks created by local author Dr W.R. (Bill) Mitchell.   Bill has put these volumes together over many years, using his own photographs plus ephemera and letters, to create unique and very personal records of Dales lives and landscapes.  Here we see a page featuring a campaign to protect a Dales feature very important to Bill: the Settle-Carlisle Railway.

William Reginald Mitchell was born in 1928 in Skipton, “gateway to the Dales”, to a family who worked in the textile industries and were strongly influenced by Methodism.   He began his writing career as a “cub reporter” on the Craven Herald in 1943.  After service in the Fleet Air Arm, he returned to the Herald in 1948; he was then asked by Harry J. Scott, editor of The Dalesman, to join the magazine’s staff.  Bill later became its editor.  He also edited a sister magazine, Cumbria, after The Dalesman took it on in 1951.  Bill retired from The Dalesman in 1988.

The Yorkshire Dales, from the first issue of the Dalesman magazine

Alongside writing for and editing the two regional magazines, Bill has written over 200 books and numerous articles, not to mention giving thousands of talks to local groups, radio and television.  He often refers to the advice given him by Harry Scott when he first joined The Dalesman: “We are more interested in people than things”.  Bill took this advice to heart: his works are full of the stories and voices of Dalesfolk, their tough working lives and their distinctive humour.

The titles of Bill’s books range from ABC of Lakeland to You’re Only Old Once!  Not to mention Summat and Nowt, and By Gum!  Life were Sparse!  They include folk tales, popular histories and biographies of famous people and local characters: J.B. Priestley, Alfred Wainwright, the Keartons, the Brontës,  Arthur Ransome, Beatrix Potter, Dales farmer Hannah Hauxwell, cheesemaker Kit Calvert, TV vet James Herriot, naturalist Reginald Farrer and many more.

Bill has written thirty books about the Settle-Carlisle Railway, exploring the legendary Ribblehead Viaduct, the building of the Railway, the lives of its workers and their families, and the stories of individual stations: Dent, Hellifield and Garsdale.

  Bill Mitchell is also a naturalist, hence many works about flora and fauna, especially bird-watching and the Sika deer of Bowland.  Alongside the stories of Yorkshire and the Lakes, there are also glimpses of the natural history of Scotland.

Music is also important to Bill: his research into the friendship of Elgar with Dr Buck of Settle led to the discovery of correspondence and new manuscript music written by the composer.

These wide interests are reflected in Bill’s scrapbooks and in his Archive at the University of Bradford. Our Bill Mitchell Archive came to the University of Bradford after Dr Mitchell was awarded an honorary degree in 1996.  The Archive includes the scrapbooks, letters relating to Bill’s work at The Dalesman, ephemera relating to the Keartons, and audiocassettes of interviews with Dalespeople.

These interviews on these audiocassettes are at the heart of an exciting project led by Settle Stories.  The project aims to make the interviews much more widely accessible, offering new knowledge about Dales lives and work and opportunities for learning and enjoyment for local people.  Find out more about Bill Mitchell and the project here.

While we’re away …

We’re taking a little break, to edit broken links in our older stories, do some technical tweaks and research the final twenty.  Back in March!

Meanwhile, if you’re interested in J.B. Priestley, the J.B. Priestley Society has plenty to offer you!

The Society’s spring event explores the relatively unknown links between Priestley and another great British author.  Clockwork Orange author Anthony Burgess liked J.B. Priestley’s Image Men so much he read it ten times!   Dr Andrew Biswall, Director of the Burgess Foundation, explains, at this free event in Manchester on 16 March.  Full details on the Society website or see our Facebook event.

Taking a Movember break

Objects are taking a short break – join us again on 15 November for lots more. Meanwhile, here’s a look back at some of the stories of previous Objects, with a Movember theme!

Group photograph from the Bradford Technical College era.  Who are they?  We don’t know: do you have any idea?

Joseph Riley, a Bradford wool merchant who travelled on the Orient Express.

Joseph Riley

His son, Willie Riley, who became a writer late in life, creating Windyridge and other much-loved Yorkshire tales,

Willie Riley

John Hartley, Yorkshire comic writer, of Clock Almanack fame,

John Hartley

And stories of Sir Isaac Holden, Bradford entrepeneur and politician: courtship of Sarah Sugden, his quarrel with Lister, his lost mansion – and there’s more to follow!

Taking a Summer Break

The Objects are taking a break for  summer holidays.  Here’s a look back at summer 2010 at the University … the feet are leading to the Wellbeing Week fete, which was on a beautiful sunny day (hope we get some of those this year!).  We wish all our colleagues and readers a lovely summer!

Painted feet leading to the Wellbeing fete, University of Bradford 2010

We’re back in August with lots more stories and pictures to share, including historic Yorkshire maps, feuding Bradford industrialists, a 1930s theatrical triumph, and, yes, J.B. Priestley’s pipes …

60. Bones, Bodies and Disease: the Rare Medical Books of Dr Calvin Wells

These striking images are from a collection of historic medical books gathered by Dr Calvin Wells.  This unfortunate child has “measels”: he appears in the frontispiece of Domestic Medicine, by William Buchan. New ed. 1782, along with illustrations of smallpox, ring worms, scald head and various intestinal worms.  Buchan’s work was aimed at the general public and proved very popular, running into many editions (this interesting article from Boston Medical Library explains his appeal to British and American readers).

Dr Wells (1908-1978) was a fascinating individual, a doctor turned archaeologist.  He began his career in medicine in London, training at University College London and University College Hospital and specialising in obstetrics.  He also became interested in anthropology. Later, when he had moved to Norfolk, Dr Wells began to combine these two strands, using his medical knowledge to interpret archaeological finds and so shed light on the diseases and injuries suffered by ancient people and sometimes also on modern health problems. His best-known work was Bones, Bodies and Disease (1964). His widow, Winifred “Freddie” Wells, donated his books and archive to the University of Bradford in 1984.

This beautiful engraving shows emblems of immortality (caterpillar to butterfly, acorn to oak tree).  It is from volume 2 of Thornton’s Philosophy of medicine (1799-1800) which is full of intriguing illustrations and interesting anecdotes.  This illustration accompanies an article about the brain in which the author defends ideas of the soul and immortality.

Both Calvin and Winifred Wells collected historic medical books.  Their book collection is particularly rich in 17th and 18th century volumes on gynaecology and obstetrics, by authors such as Thomas Sydenham, Francois Mauriceau and William Smellie.  There are also 20th century works on archaeology and anthropology, practical medical and nursing works, and books on exotic travels, ear, nose and throat medicine, and the archaeology of Norfolk.

More on Dr Wells’ archaeological interests in a later Object!

59. Brilliant, Ruby, Sapphire: The Cabinet of Gems, by Samuel Batchelor

This week, meet one of my favourite items in Special Collections: The Cabinet of Gems, by Samuel Batchelor.

Its magnificent subtitle is: Vocabulary of Precious Stones, arranged according to their comparative value : together with a description of the largest known diamonds and coloured gems in the world; the commercial history of rough diamonds; an account of the pearl fishery and the regalias of England, Scotland &c.  Ours is the revised edition, printed in 1840 by W. Langdale of Knaresborough.

The Cabinet is an interesting book packed with quirky information, as the subtitle suggests.  I particularly like the fact it is printed in Yorkshire.  What I really love about this little volume though are the plates, especially the colourful illustration of gemstones, above.  I’ve re-used this many times (here and here, for example), to illustrate the point that Special Collections are themselves gems or treasures.  Sometimes they are hidden gems, uncatalogued and unknown; it is so rewarding to bring such collections to people’s knowledge, as we’re doing with this exhibition.

Objects taking a Break

No new Object in the week of 4 June because Special Collections is closed for the bank holidays.  Objects are back next week with more interesting stories to tell …

51. “The Story of My Trip to Russia”: Notebook from an Independent Labour Party Visit to the Soviet Union, 1932

This week’s Object tells the story of a trip to the Soviet Union in 1932.  The visit was organised by the Independent Labour Party and included “doctors, economists, technicians.  French professor – a Bolton mill girl – an army officer and his wife and an MP”.  They travelled out on the Cooperitza, “one of the six ships of the Five Year Plan”: their packed itinerary covered Leningrad, Kiev and Moscow and incorporated visits to museums, a prison, a workers’ club, a pioneer camp and factories.

The trip is brought to life for us thanks to a notebook put together by one of the party.  It contains  jottings, photographs, press cuttings and postcards.  Here we see the ship and life on board.

Cooperitza at Hay’s Wharf, book stall, talks on board (ref RUS p.2)

The writer is fascinated both by the communist regime and by the region’s history, experiencing for example Catherine the Great’s palace, where they see the famous Amber Room, “One room was all amber – priceless walls, floors, ornaments – casecaskets – all amber – like a huge jewelled casket turned inside out … I have never seen such wealth”.

Tsarskoe Seloe (Catherine the Great’s palace) (RUS p.15)

The writer frequently compares old and new uses of buildings, as here with the Smolny, boarding school turned government building.

The Smolny and Lenin statue (RUS p. 17 detail)

Much of the notebook is concerned with the practicalities of travel (“Bugs!”) and food e.g. on the train to Kiev, “Our supplies of food went with us.  We were told to drink no water on the way & were given 28 bottles of soda water, 14 long loaves of black bread, 14 tins fish, 14 tins meat – no butter”.   The author carefully records details of the new Soviet systems e.g. the prison regime, or how marriages and divorces worked. They also note problems such as poverty, their guide’s fear of photography and the danger of bandits on the Kiev train.

Wayside station, Moscow travel, station Leningrad (RUS p.18)

The notebook’s creator acknowledges that “One cannot presume to tell the truth about Russia after seeing 3 of its great cities and from long train journeys across its flat surfaces”.  However, “I can record certain things which I saw and tell the story of my trip to Russia”: the notebook with its rich detail and visual appeal certainly does that very effectively.

Tantalisingly, we do not know the identity of the writer.  The notebook was given to the University long ago by Bradford Libraries (who had it from someone who had it from someone who was a friend of the author, but the letter we have does not include that crucial detail).   Parts of the text read formally as if intended for public consumption and there is evidence of editing; others are purely notes.  It would be a fascinating task for a researcher to try to work out the writer’s identity and to find out more about the journey.  Please contact Special Collections if you already have ideas about the writer’s identity or are interested in exploring this further.

Happy Easter!

The Objects are taking an Easter break: back on 18 April!  We’re half-way through the 100.  Hope you’re enjoying getting to know some of the fantastic stories in Special Collections.  We’ll have another 50 for you over the coming year …

I recently found this delightful programme cover in the Archive of Willie Riley.  It advertises a Grand Bazaar, which took place 28-30 March, 1901.  Whether you’re going to a Bazaar or not, we wish you a very happy Easter.

Cover of programme for Grand Bazaar, Manningham, 28-30 March 1901 (Ref RIL 10/3)