The History of the Whittaker Library in 3 images

Here we show you our library history in three images!  

• Editor William Gillies Whittaker - early Principal of the Scottish National Academy of Music.  And now namesake of the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland!
• Shelfmark XVI B.263 - literally, the number of the book in the box on the shelf in the old Athenaeum building.
• Shelfmark M HAN 8:18 - the next way of arranging the music was by composer and then category. 8:18 must have been the 18th piece of operatic music in the Handel section!
• M1508 H - we now use Library of Congress classification - an international arrangement.  All the separate arias are shelved together (M1508) and then subdivided by composer (Handel)
• We've had several names: Athenaeum, Scottish National Academy of Music (stamped appropriately beside Whittaker's name, because this was our name when he was Principal!), Royal Scottish Academy of Music (see the date-label), then Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) and now Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
• It appears this music was first borrowed in 1968, and most recently, in 2014.  But bear in mind there could have been an earlier date-label before the score got its brown card cover!
• Sadly, the music now seems to be falling apart, card cover or not.  RIP - Rest in Pieces.

On This Day, 18 June 1815 Battle of Waterloo. Also Musical Anniversaries!

The historic Battle of Waterloo is obviously on everyone's minds today.  For example, St Andrews University Library Special Collections have pulled together an excellent, historical blogpost:

A Complete Victory Gained with great Bloodshed

In our own library stock here at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, we have our own take on the Battle of Waterloo - here are some highlights:-

• Waterloo (DVD) / Sergei Bondarchuck production (in Whittaker Library Stock)
• Song, 'The Plains of Waterloo' (in Francisman & Kidson's Traditional Tunes)
• 'Waterloo Hornpipe' - tune in Songs and Dances of Scotland
• 'Blar Bhaterloo' - pibroch in Piobaireachd Book 11
  What else was happening on 18th June? If you're a musician, visit This Day in Music, for significant and insignificant milestones!
  http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/

Visit The Human Library, 2-6 February 2015 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

The Whittaker Library has a "human library" this week - it's one of the events organised by our students during Bridge Week.  If you are passing by, do come and "borrow" a human for a conversation as part of LGBT History Month.  There are 6-8 people available to chat with.
No date stamps will be used, and we ask you to treat the human books with the same respect you'd show our conventional book stock!

Musical Life Outside London - Historically Speaking

CONFERENCE ALERT!

Musical Life Outside London, 1500-1800: Networks, Circulation, Sources

This is a last-minute reminder that you can still sign up to this one-day conference online - but be quick!  It takes place this Saturday.

Saturday 25 October 2014, 9.30 - 17.00
The Black Gate Learning Suite
Newcastle Castle, Newcastle upon Tyne

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.

Awesome! How Teens Learned to Dance

Times Digital Archive Available to Scottish Performing Arts Students

 We've just subscribed to a great new e-resource - the whole Times newspaper archive from 1785-2008.  What's it useful for?  It's only limited by your imagination!

For example, you could read a book review to see if a book's worth reading!  We don't have "Renaissance Theatre Costume" in stock, but we could always try to obtain it ...
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You could find historical info, like the story of the Scottish National Theatre.  Or read concert reviews - maybe trace the first performance of a piece. Or find out how your ancestors learned social dancing.  In 1801, your mum might've contacted these guys via the small ads!

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We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  Here to help our performing artists source information for their teaching and learning needs.

Union? Scottish Independence?

No, Whittaker is not entering the debate!  Just sharing with you some historical facts about the Union in 1707, thanks to the National Library of Scotland Rare Books blog!

"Documenting the Union of Parliaments

"The Treaty of Union united the Scottish and English Parliaments in 1707. Pamphlets, poems and proclamations show it was welcomed by some and loathed by others, as this essay explains."  Click here

History of Early Recorded Sound: Emile Berliner

There's a fascinating talk about one of the earliest record producers, back in the 19th century - Emile Berliner.

You'll find it on the British Library Sounds website, and the expert talking about Berliner is Peter Adamson from St Andrews.  (Once you've heard the first podcast, there are more to pursue if you're interested.) 

This recording requires you to use your academic login.

Scottish Cultural History as illustrated by Musical Song Collections

'Whittaker' (aka Music and Academic Services Librarian Karen McAulay) gave an illustrated talk to visiting librarians from the Library and Information History Group, a couple of weeks ago.  There was no PowerPoint, but the talk is available via Karen's Academia.edu pages. Click here.

The Songs of Scotland by Allan Cunningham

Allan Cunningham (7 December 1784 – 30 October 1842)*

Fraud, Forger and Poet

Although we ordered one of those cheap modern digital reprints of Allan Cunningham's Songs of Scotland, I didn't think it would matter much. After all, what matters is that we can read his introduction, as much as the poetry his once-famous anthology contains.

I didn't bargain on the cheap modern reprint containing only the introduction.  Ah, well!  You win some, you lose some.  Here's where to find it in the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  (Catalogue entry.)

Cunningham was a bit of a fraud - he made up poems as well as including genuine old Scottish poems.  Still, although in the 1820s his peers thought he was a fraud, within a few years of his death, he was revered as a poet in his own right. 

The wording of his introduction shows us his poetic interpretation of the history of Scotland's poetry.  Interesting!

* Whilst we wouldn't recommend Wikipedia as a trusty source for an essay, the basic details of Cunningham's life and output are here for a start.

Alain Badiou - The Century (required reading)

 It's a must! - Alain Badiou's The Century

Christina Guillaumier asked the Whittaker Library to buy this book as required reading for her 3rd year BMus class (Music in History 3 Russian Modernism course).  It will be useful for a forthcoming essay.

It's here, and it'll be living in the Library until the beginning of February.  Don't all rush at once ...!

Historian Eric Hobsbawm dies aged 95

If you're interested in the history of national musical traditions, you may have read one of Eric Hobsbawm's classic texts, The Invention of Tradition.   We have it in the Whittaker Library, along with another book for which he wrote the introduction.

Hobsbawm died on 1st October 2012, aged 95.  Here's the BBC obituary, with a podcast of Hobsbawm talking about history.

One of a generation of Marxist historians, Hobsbawm's take on history was markedly different to the more conventional historical approach, because of the Marxist attitude to class distinctions.