I Struck Gold!

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

Since January, I have leafed through thousands of cc’d letters concerning the publishing activities of the former Edinburgh publisher, Thomas Nelson & Son Ltd.  Their four Scots Song Books were published 1948-54, so I focused on those years, a little before and a little after.  You might struggle to imagine just how many boxes and file books were filled in such a comparatively short timescale – yards of them – but it was a big, commercially active firm.

And I have indeed found documents about the song books, but I’ve still harboured a sneaky suspicion that there had to be more.  I made further lists of files I ought probably to check, just in case.

Today, I captured my prey! Two whole folders dedicated to these books,  spanning several years but sitting quietly in the middle of one single year  … with a handwritten note saying where they should be filed.  (The ultimate, unattained destination is immaterial, considering the books and boxes now live in an archive rather than the demolished Parkside Works.)

These two grey folders are packed with letters and memos, and – unusually – there are quite a lot of incoming  letters as well as the expected carbon copied outgoing mail. Very nice indeed. (I wanted to hug them, but that might have looked a bit weird!)

There’s nothing for it – I’m listing every sheet of paper, in chronological oder (thanks, Microsoft), with sender, addressee  and a summary of content. Or a transcription, if appropriate.  Data protection means no photos of anything from 1950 onwards, but photos aren’t a very good way of remembering the content in detail, so I don’t really mind.

Unexpected Treasure

“The Basic Material is not the Word but the Letter” – Nathan Coley, for CAHSS

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

So says the striking, illuminated art piece in the entrance hall of Edinburgh University Library.  The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences’ website explains that it is the work of Nathan Coley:-

The illuminated sculpture was created by Turner Prize-nominated artist Nathan Coley. […] The Basic Material is not the Word but the Letter [is] also the name of the piece.  19 Jan 2018 CAHSS

The words come from a manuscript in the archives.  Make your own interpretation, says the website.

Well, after my frequent sojourns in the Heritage Collections reading room, consulting thousands of letters in the Thomas Nelson archives, as far as I’m concerned it definitely means letters of correspondence, as opposed to alphabet letters! 

And what a lot I’m learning about the former Edinburgh publishing company.  One of the nicest things is observing the warm rapport established between the editors and their authors. The ones they had most contact with, clearly became friends, over and above their close working relationship. (Although, sometimes I get so caught up in their conversations that I forget they’re talking about books that don’t strictly concern me. Today, I caught them discussing a nursery school expert at Moray House.  But I couldn’t track down the song-book she was said to have written!)

Seminar, Weds 26 March, 1pm:- Perusing the Papers from Thomas Nelson and Sons’ Parkside Works (Research into Nelson’s Scots Song Book – Work in Progress)

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
Through the archway into the courtyard at IASH

As I’ve mentioned, I’m currently Heritage Collections Research Fellow at IASH, the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, at the University of Edinburgh. All guest fellows are invited to give a work-in-progress seminar, and it’s my turn on Wednesday 26 March at 1 pm. You can attend in person, or online – more details on the link below. The abstract tells you what my talk is about.

Abstract and Zoom link

I’ll explain what I’m looking for, and introduce you to some of the individuals I’ve been finding out about.  The one thing I can’t predict, is whether I shall by then have found the answer to my prime question!

Nelson's Parkside Works - old engraving
Hope Park Square, home of IASH
The ArchivesHub entry for the collection

Seeking Solace in the Library

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay
Archive book 'snake' weight

I’ve had a run of things going wrong!

  • Awaiting dishwasher parts for 2 months
  • Needing a stonemason
  • Storage heater malfunction
  • MOT cancelled on April Fool’s Day; it really was …

I took myself off on a library visit, looking for a peaceful, fruitful day. (Yes, yes, I know – I’m a librarian, and I already work in a library 3.5 days a week. However, researching in a different library is an entirely different experience.)

It was peaceful, though I could have done without the six miles’ walking in the rain! But –

I found nothing related to my research question!

The trouble was, I had to read a lot of stuff, to eliminate it. Having researched music for so long, however, I was enchanted to read about paper pulp, factories, shipping and personnel in Nairobi, Cape Town, India, Toronto … yes, it was 1946-7, and the links were strong.

Then there were paper and bookbinding cloth shortages. Lots of allusions to both.

But was it a wasted journey? On the face of it, I made no progress, but – as you see – I gathered contextual information. From now on, I won’t be parroting those facts, but alluding to situations I’ve witnessed through perusal of correspondence.  That does count for something.  And I learned a handful of names that I might one day encounter in a musical context.

Oh, and apart from getting drookit  (drenched) and walking six miles (thanks, Fitbit), I did get my peaceful day in a library.