Special Collections items currently on exhibition

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In the showcase of the foyer of Special Collections on level 12 of the University of Glasgow Library

April - July 2012

A Cabinet of Curiosities

Our current display focuses on the conchological writings of the 18th century naturalist, Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717-1791). Three shell books by Da Costa are displayed alongside shells from Dr William Hunter’s original shell collection (on loan from the University’s Hunterian Museum).

Following Cook’s voyages of discovery when many specimens were brought to Britain for the first time, the study of shells (conchology) was an emerging field. The classification and naming of shells began to signal a shift in their treatment from ‘curiosities’ to something akin to scientific study and a growing interest from wealthy collectors, wishing to amass large cabinets full of rare and exotic specimens, was mirrored by a rise in publications describing shells. Da Costa was one of the most influential authors on this topic in Britain, and his three conchological publications on display would have been sought after by many shell-collectors.

Da Costa corresponded with many of the leading scientific men of the day, including Dr William Hunter (1718-83), who had created his own museum and was a keen collector of Natural History specimens and related books. Hunter’s original library is now here in Special Collections and his collection of shells may be found in the Hunterian Museum. Although his collection includes a number of rare and important shell books, Hunter did not purchase da Costa’s writing on the subject. Subsequent acquisitions however, have now filled this gap.

The da Costa works featured in the display are only an indication of the wealth of shell books written by various European authors found throughout our collections, making Special Collections a significant resource for researchers wishing to explore the history of conchology further.

On display in the Hunterian Museum as part of the William Hunter: man, medic and collector exhibition

A selection of two books from William Hunter's library is swapped over every four months as part of this permanent exhibition.

May - August 2012

Manuscript of Medical Writings
Southern Italy: 10th Century
MS Hunter 404

A compilation of medical works, the main text in the volume is the Commentary on the Aphorisms of Hippocrates. Born in about 460 BC, Hippocrates was a Greek philosopher who is regarded by many to be the father of modern medicine. Over seventy medical works have been attributed to him. The manuscript on display dates from the early 10th Century; its text is written in the characteristic Beneventan script of South Italy and is enlivened by a number of penwork initials ornamented with heads, birds and fish.

Robert Adam: Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia
London: 1764
Hunterian Ax.1.4: Plate 20 (View of the Peristylium of the Palace)

Robert Adam (1728-1792) was one of the most successful architects of the 18th century. During a Grand Tour of France and Italy, he organised an expedition to visit the remains of the fortified city palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian at Spalato (now Split in Croatia). Accompanied by the French artist Charles Louis Clérisseau and two draughtsmen, he surveyed the entire palace in a five week period during the summer of 1757. He aimed to produce a prestigious work that would both satisfy a growing interest in antiquities and enhance his reputation as a neo-classical architect. The plate on display comes from a magnificent folio volume of 61 engraved copper plates. It took several years to complete; Clérisseau made the original sketches and the plates were then engraved by a team of artists in Venice before being sent to London to be finished.

Items currently on loan to exhibitions elsewhere

Booked!West Dunbartonshire Festival of Words, Dumbarton Heritage Centre, Dumbarton Library
1 May - 1 June 2012
We have loaned a copy of the first edition of Burns's 'Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect' (Kilmarnock: 1786) and Burns's own excise book from his time as an exciseman.

Brains: The mind as matter, Wellcome Trust, London
29 March - 17 June 2012
MS Hunter 364 (V.1.1) table 5: a 16th century anatomical painting showing the human nervous system

Robert Burns Birthplace Museum Ayrshire, Scotland until 2012
We have loaned the poet's own copy of his Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect (published 1787), together with his copy of Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments (1790).

The Renaissance in Astronomy Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
11 May - 9 September 2012
Gerard Mercator’s copy of Nicolaus Copernicus: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (Nuremberg, 1543): Sp Coll Hunterian Cz.1.13.