New accessions
Recent accessions to the Special Collections Department
This section offers information about some of the new material which has been received by the department - books, manuscripts and photographs.
We receive new accessions regularly by gift, deposit and purchase, and whilst we cannot advertise them all here, we will attempt to bring to your notice the most important.
Photographs
The Valentine Collection. This continues to grow, both by purchase and gift. Such materials come in a variety of formats, including original negatives and prints as well as the ever popular picture postcards. Amongst these accessions is a historically important presentation album of superb photographs taken between 1886 and 1887 chronicling aspects of the engineering and construction of the new Tay Railway Bridge, built to replace the first one, which collapsed during a storm in December 1879.
University of St Andrews group photographs. These holdings are regularly supplemented by donations of Class and Athletic Union photographs of the 19th and 20th centuries from relatives of former graduates and members of staff.
Early photography.The Library has recently been able to acquire, from a private collection, a further nine original prints by D.O. Hill and Robert Adamson. Purchased with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions and the National Art Collections Fund, these images represent a major addition to our early photographic collections.A gift of two ambrotypes has been received, provenance unknown, but of interest as examples of early techniques and popular artefacts of their era.