Written by Erika Delbecque, UMASCS Librarian

We are delighted to announce the purchase of a collection of twenty-two rare agricultural pamphlets from the mid-19^th century. These works, which relate to the agricultural innovations and economics of this period, will enhance our existing collection strengths in British agricultural history.

A report of the discussion on drainage, 1848

The collection includes rare works on early applications of agricultural chemistry, studies of production and demand, and farmers’ reports on the use of new agricultural equipment. They provide a unique insight into the economic and technological developments in British agriculture in the mid-19th century, a pivotal period that marked the final stages of the British Agricultural Revolution.

Key innovations of this period that are represented include the improvement of agricultural drainage systems and the development of new fertilisers beside manure, such as guano (seabird excrement), sodium nitrates and potash. Another pamphlet promotes George Dollond’s “atmospheric recorder”, a type of weather station that records variations in air pressure, temperature, and humidity, for which he was awarded the council medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851.

An engraved plate showing Dollond’s atmospheric recorder, 1845

Not all innovations were as successful. One pamphlet deals with the promotion of the alpaca as a profitable alternative to other breeding stock in England, claiming that the alpaca is “as fat as any sheep I ever saw” and that the animals “never ramble from their hill pasture”. In case alpacas are not of interest, the advertisers add that they also sell “turtle alive, or ready cooked and securely packed in jars”…

The Alpaca, with a wood-engraved illustration, 1844

Most of the pamphlets were written by enthusiastic farmers or promoters of new farming methods and agricultural equipment. It was through cheap, often locally printed pamphlets such as these that farmers could keep on top of these developments. Therefore, pamphlets from this period are an important historical source for studying the dissemination of agricultural innovations.

These pamphlets were part of the collection of Sir Walter Gilbey (1831–1914), who was the president of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in the late nineteenth century. He donated his collection to the Society in 1896, where they remained until they were sold along with the rest of the RASE collections in 2014.

The pamphlets will now be processed and catalogued, and then join the rest of our extensive MERL book collections. The library and archives at the Museum of English Rural Life are recognised as one of the most important collections in the country for the study of the history of British agriculture, the countryside and rural society. All items can be consulted in our reading room.

This purchase was generously funded by the Arts Council England/Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and the Friends of the National Libraries.

The University of Reading has an eclectic Art Collection. Artistic works are held within the University’s Special Collections, and within the University’s museums – including the Museum of English Rural Life.

History of the Art Collections

The Art Collections exist in parallel to the development of the University. Artworks reflect the University’s institutional history and act as a reference to its teaching practices. The collection includes work by previous staff and students, providing tangible links to the earlier School of Art and the University Extension College. More recently, artworks represent the interests of individuals and departments who have contributed to the collection – acquisition was often the result of idiosyncratic benefaction.

Notable Works

A number of significant artists are represented. This includes: Camden Town Group member Walter Sickert, printmaker Stephen Buckley, painter Patrick Caulfield, surrealist and poet Julian Trevelyan, figurative painter Leon Kossoff, Isotype pictogram designer Gerd Arntz, master of the woodcut Allen W. Seaby, cubist Max Weber, engraver Stanley Anderson, abstract photographer Alvin Langdon Coburn, renowned naturalist painter Charles Tunnicliffe, 17^th century Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens, and many others.

The Art Collections comprise a series of distinct collections, each with its own focus and trajectory:

• Historic Picture Loan Scheme

Now defunct, the Picture Loan Scheme was administered by the Fine Art Department. It lent artworks to University patrons on an annual basis, for a nominal fee. The collection includes paintings and works on paper. The scope of the collection is impressive; it contains examples of printmaking practice from important artists – including numerous signed artist proofs.

Historic Picture Loan Scheme label

• Betts Collection: Sickert Drawings

Professor Anthony Betts was the University’s first Professor of Fine Art. Betts was instrumental in the establishment of an Honours Degree course in Fine Art in 1937. The Betts collection was amassed by Betts himself and later expanded through the acquisition of work from his estate. It contains a collection of works on paper of international importance by Walter Sickert.

Walter Sickert, The Little Bed, 1902

• Betts Collection: Master Drawings

A small but noteworthy collection of drawings by artists including Peter Paul Rubens, James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Frederick Spencer Gore.

Max Weber, Dancing Figures, 1912

• Betts Archive

The archive contains artworks, preparatory work and teaching aids produced by Professor Betts and his colleague Cyril Pearce, a lecturer in Design & Composition.

Betts Archive: woodcut prints by Prof Betts

• Minnie Jane Hardman (nee Shubrook) Collection

Minnie Hardman (nee Shubrook) was a female student at the Royal Academy in the late 19^th century. Unrivalled in its ability to document her experience, the collection records the work she undertook as a young adult.  It includes examinations on perspective, anatomical and life drawings, as well as examples of her superb sketches and stippling – many of which were awarded prizes by the Academy.

Shubrook/Hardman Archive

• Paintings

The collection contains commissioned portraits of Chancellors and people of merit associated with the University. This includes portraits of members of the Palmer family, who continue to support the University.  There are a number of historic and contemporary views of Whiteknights Park, including 19^th century landscapes by Thomas Christopher Hofland. Attributed as being America’s first cubist painter, the collection includes 15 canvases by Max Weber.  Among others, the collection contains work by 20^th century painters Alan Lowndes, John Randall Bratby and Leon Kossoff.

Leon Kossoff, Wilesden Junction Early Morning, 1962

Due to the nature of artistic works and their inability to be defined effectively by a single collection, artistic works appear across UMASCS.  Noteworthy bodies of artworks include:

• Ladybird Artwork Archive (Special Collections)

The University of Reading cares for over 700 boxes of original artwork used to illustrate Ladybird children’s books. The iconic paintings contributed to the success of the books in raising literacy levels among British children in the 1950s-1970s. The collection includes iconic artwork such as Harry Wingfield’s Shopping with Mother.

Ladybird pop-up display © Ladybird Books Ltd

• Livestock Portraiture (Museum of English Rural Life)

A collection of 18^th and19^th century Livestock Portraiture, including prints and oil paintings. The images are a historical record, which document the process of English livestock improvement. Artworks capture the physiological changes that are the result of early attempts at selective breeding by pioneering farmers.

MERL Livestock Portraiture 64/104

2016 Project

This year, and moving forwards, the University is committed to the development of the Art Collections.  The University is addressing numerous collections management issues and hoping to build the profile of the Art Collections for a wider community of users, through a series of engagement activities.  The project aims to achieve a number of things, the work involves:

• Auditing the collection and retrospectively cataloguing individual artworks on the Adlib collections database

• Digitising artworks and making the collection accessible online,  via the University’s Enterprise catalogue and the ARTUK website

• Improving the physical care of artworks through a programme of remedial conservation and preventative conservation, such as re-framing and improving storage conditions

• Providing access to the collections through a series of pop-up displays, a programme of lunch-time talks ‘Art Collections in Conversation’, and taking part in University events such as the Collections Fair and Engagement Week. Inviting students and researchers to access material in the Reading Room and encouraging the use of the collections within teaching & learning. Using the Art Collections to enhance Artist Residency programmes.

• Displaying artworks within the new galleries at MERL as part of the Our Country Lives redevelopment project (opening October 2016), displaying artworks within the new Ladybird Gallery (opening October 2016) and displaying artworks in temporary display spaces around campus such as the 2016 Christmas Display in the Staircase Hall. Improving and installing permanent interpretation of artworks around the University campus.

• The project also supports the training and development of three young volunteers.

If you have any questions about the Art Collections please contact Jacqueline Winston-Silk j.winston-silk@reading.ac.uk and follow our progress on Twitter @UniRdg_ArtCol

Written by Clare Plascow, Collections Officer

How do you catalogue an artwork? That is the question I’ve been trying to solve over the last few days. Usually the answer would be simple…it would be added to the Art Collection area of the University of Reading’s Collections Management System (CMS). Complicating the matter, however, is the fact that this artwork is not just a ‘normal’ painting instead it is part of the Ladybird Artwork Archive which includes 700 boxes of original art used to illustrate hundreds of books.

A few boxes in storage … with many more out of shot

Individually painted and beautifully detailed, by commercial artists who specialised in different styles, these artworks were instrumental in depicting the clear message of the Ladybird books and partially the reason for their continued popularity. Ironically the familiar pocket-sized books only started to be produced around 25 years after Wills & Hepworth first started printing the inexpensive Ladybird books in 1914 in runs between their main commercial jobs. It was also by necessity rather than design, with paper shortages during the Second World War creating a rethink in the formatting which allowed a book of 56 pages to be printed on a single sheet of 40 by 30 inch paper.

One of the printing presses used to print Ladybird books. Illustration from The Story of Printing, A Ladybird ‘Achievement’ book by David Carey, illustrated by Robert Ayton.

Covering a huge variety of subjects with educational and informative content, Ladybird books offered young readers the opportunity to pursue knowledge themselves. Ladybird capitalised on their user-friendly layout with full page illustrations to develop literary, publishing both the Key Words Reading Scheme and Learning to Read series, which were often used to teach children how to read in the 1950s to 1970s.

How many milk bottles? Illustration from Numbers, A Ladybird ‘Learning to Read’ Book by Margaret Gagg, illustrated by G. Robinson.

Adding to the complexity involved in cataloguing this artwork, Ladybird did not reproduce new versions of the art required for updated publications instead the original paintings would either be reused or if necessary be carefully modified. This means that a single work could have appeared in several different versions of a book which can create problems in hierarchies used by Archives. The method of revising paintings can be seen in this print from Exploring Space where a close-up shows an earlier outline of the lunar module from before the 1969 Moon landing.

Astronauts exploring craters on the Moon. Illustration from the revised edition of Exploring Space, A Ladybird ‘Achievements’ Book by Roy Worvill, illustrated by Brian Knight and Bernard H. Robinson.

Held by the University of Reading on behalf of Penguin Random House, the Ladybird Artwork Archive has actually been catalogued previously…but only to box level. This gives us a really good overview of what is held in the collection but we now want to delve deeper to record individual works.

A bank vole. Illustration from What to look for in Spring, A Ladybird ‘Nature’ Book by E.L. Grant Watson, illustrated by Charles Tunnicliffe.

So why catalogue them now? With the redevelopment of the Museum of English Rural Life, a space to display some of this artwork has been created so we are now able to share objects from this amazing archive. Several prints from this collection have also been sent to other museums and galleries on loan to temporary exhibitions. This means that we have needed to record more information about the original artworks as they have been sent out, but this has been as needed and it makes sense to us that we catalogue the entire collection. With each work being recorded, links will need to be made to the original book and any revised editions, as well as to the different publication series.

The black-headed gull. Illustration from British Birds and their Nests, A Ladybird ‘Nature’ Book by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald, illustrated by Allen W. Seaby.

Considering that each box holds anywhere from 20 to 50 items it’s a lot of catalogue so I want to make sure that I get it right first time. Which leads me right back to my original dilemma … Object or Archive?