Our Collections comprise over two million documents, maps, photographs, paintings, periodicals, artefacts and books, and span 500 years of geography, travel and exploration.
News
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A new addition to the Archives collection
We are pleased to announce the donation of a fascinating original typescript to the Society’s Archives. The volume comprises the account of a lady traveller in Iceland at the turn of the 20th century.
Entitled "Through Iceland on a side saddle: the adventures of two ladies in Ultima Thule. With a short sketch of the Faroe Islands", this original work has been kindly donated to the Society’s Collections by Mrs Brenda Stevenson on behalf of her sister-in-law, Mrs Gladys Lilian Slane.
In addition to the typescript text, author Mrs Louisa Frances Kate von Thiele includes photographs and original artworks by fellow travellers. Pasted-in photographs show Icelandic scenery, local inhabitants, vernacular architecture and dress.
Entertaining and very readable, this volume gives an insight into the world of the lady traveller at the very start of the 20th century – and the contemporary reactions of friends and acquaintances to such travel plans! This work should prove of interest to serious researchers and lay readers alike. |
Significant donation to the Library collection
Mrs Catherine Miller has generously made a substantial donation of classic works of the 19th and 20th centuries, relating to the polar regions, Everest and general travel.
More than 100 volumes have been received and include titles such as "Narrative of a second voyage in search of a North-west Passage…" (Sir John Ross, 1835) and "In Siberia" (Colin Thubron, paperback edition, 2001).
The volumes originate from the private collection of Mrs Miller’s late husband, Professor Keith Miller, and will enhance the Library’s existing holdings in these subject areas.
Ralph Bagnold: Western Desert explorer online
We have also added to our Picture Library website
over 100 images taken by explorer Ralph Bagnold during his travels in Libya and Egypt in the early 1930s.
Bagnold, one of the greatest desert explorers (and founder of the Long Range Desert Group) was posted to Egypt in 1926 by the Army and took with him his Morris two-seater. This was soon replaced by a Model T Ford which he used in several expeditions before being posted to India.
He returned to Egypt in 1931, determined to push the limits of desert exploration. This culminated in his 1932 Libyan Desert expedition. He crossed the Selima Sand Sheet, passed Uweinat and reached as far as the Tibesti Mountains; the first east-west crossing of the Western Desert.
Exhibition loans
You do not always need to come to the Society to see items from the Collections. We have an active loans programme, with materials from our stock borrowed by institutions around the world for their own exhibitions. This gives new audiences access to Society holdings and also allows our items to be viewed in a fresh context.
Sell-out
British Museum exhibition ‘Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam’, (26 January 2012 to 15 April 2012) borrowed maps, a monograph and artefacts from the Society's Collections. Society highlights included a manuscript chart of Arabian coastline and the brooms and cloth used by Harry St John Philby in the ceremonial cleaning of the Kaaba – heart of Mecca – in 1933.
From October 2012 to February 2013, Lima’s Museo Raimondi exhibition "Terra Nostra. Antonio Raimondi y la cartografia del progreso de la republica" will include two Society-held maps from the 1860s by Antonio Raimondi, showing the courses of Peruvian rivers Mantaro and Inambari. The museum was opened in 1981 as part of an effort to preserve the Peruvian legacy of naturalist and traveller, Antonio Raimondi.
And look out for a David Livingstone exhibition at the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh (November 2012 to April 2013). ‘Dr Livingstone I presume?’ will include Society artefacts such as Livingstone’s Consul cap and prismatic compass, Stanley’s pith helmet and oil paintings by Livingstone’s expedition artist Thomas Baines.
Collections events
The Collections staff run a programme of talks and workshops every term. Alongside our 'How to use the Foyle Reading Room' half-day, hands-on workshops, staff also offer showcases illustrated with original materials from the Collections. On a larger scale, we also host talks by external experts on a variety of topics. All events are intended to inspire attendees to visit again and use the Collections for themselves.
Details of all Collections events
Additional Foyle Reading Room opening hours for Fellows and Members
Our established Fellows' and Members' late openings continue (before Monday Night Lectures until 6.30pm). We are additionally opening from 7.30pm until 8.30pm after selected Monday Night Lecture evenings. Consult latest members' Bulletin for information.
Collections lecture-related displays in the Foyle Reading Room
Pre-/post-Monday night lecture why not visit the Foyle Reading Room to see lecture-themed Collections displays, pre-lecture from 5.30pm to 6.30pm and post-lecture from 7.30pm to 8.30pm. These events take place periodically; see the members' Bulletin for dates.
Collections On View... displays in the Foyle Reading Room
Complementing selected pavilion exhibitions at the Society. These browsing displays give access to a wide variety of Collections materials; from unique manuscripts and artefacts to rare maps, monographs and images. These events take place periodically; see the members' Bulletin for dates.
On View... displays are available in the Foyle Reading Room from 2.30pm to 4pm on the above dates. Free to Fellows and Members: £5 fee for non-members, payable in advance.
Contact us
- For general Collections enquiries and bookings, telephone +44 (0)20 7591 3044
- For commercial Picture Library enquiries, telephone +44 (0)20 7591 3060
- Or email our Collections or Picture Library team