The Special Collections team have put together a couple of new exhibitions featuring materials in the University’s collections.

In the glass cabinets on the Ground Floor of the Library is an exhibition featuring marks of ownership in rare books. Rare books often contain a variety of features which make them important and interesting historical artefacts beyond their texts. This exhibition invites the viewer to explore the private relationship between readers and their books, and the variety of different ways in which book owners (both famous and long forgotten) from the seventeenth to the twentieth century have indicated ownership of their books through the use of bookplates, decorated bindings, inscriptions and annotations. Catch this display until 30 September.

On display at the Special Collections Service until 16 September is a collection of materials relating to the University’s 90th anniversary. The exhibition looks back to the University’s origins as a technical college for the people of Reading, and its journey towards independence. Find out about the men and women from 90 years of Reading’s history who made the University what it is today. The display features items from the University’s own archive, including the Royal Charter itself.

Fiona Melhuish, UMASCS Librarian