As part of the Small Performances Project, we are digitising Baskerville’s 18th-century printing punches using Photometric Stereo Photography. This technique captures surface details by varying light angles, revealing tool marks and engraving depth to reconstruct the typographic process in 3D!

📺If you missed our Medieval Bodies event, don't fret! You can watch the whole thing on YouTube. 🔎Inspired by our Curious Cures exhibition, our panellists 'dissect’ the medieval body, revealing how our ancestors thought their bodies functioned. 🔗 https://loom.ly/I0tGA_k

A detour after a London meeting to visit St Etheldreda, Ely Place. The chapel is the main remnant of the former town palace of the bishops of Ely. The spectacular library of Bishop John Moore given to @theul.bsky.social by King George I in 1715 (and known as ‘the Royal Library’) was once kept here.

Copy that Floppy Cafe 💾 📅Thursday 9 October, 2-5pm Come have your floppy disk data transferred to a modern format at Cambridge University Library! For more info and to book: https://loom.ly/FRjMsM8

Struggling to find a reference in the enormous historic catalogues at @theul.bsky.social? Save time with Accio Classmark! #LibraryMagic

A pair of frolicking foxes for #NationalFoxDay 🦊 These foxes are from a richly illuminated 16th Century copy of the Persian version of Qazwini's ʻAjāʼib al-makhlūqāt wa-gharāʼib al-mawjūdāt (MS Nn.3.74) See it up close in the Cambridge Digital Library: https://loom.ly/9vanVC4

📸 Quiet on the set, please! This 1798 Deed of Exchange (MS UA D.XXVIII.6) is taking a ride on our XYZ table in the Cultural Heritage Imaging Laboratory. 🤝 Chief Photographic Technician Scott Maloney and Senior Conservator Emma Nichols ensured safe accessibility of the manuscript during imaging.

The Really Popular Book Club is back on 30 September! Join us to discuss Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility with our special guest, Dr Sarah Houghton-Walker from the Faculty of English. 📅30 SEPTEMBER 2025 ⏰7PM to 8PM 📍 Hosted online 🎟️ Book now: https://loom.ly/ojIR-9I

We are excited to support #OpenCambridge, which is part of the national #HeritageOpenDays. loom.ly/e-ttht0 Below are a few events taking place near the University Library this week that would pair beautifully with a visit to our FREE exhibition, Curious Cures. ⬇️

The RSL today marks the 200th anniversary of its incorporation with a Royal Charter ✒️ In celebration, Cambridge University Library @theul.bsky.social has digitised a selection of archive materials which they are making public today for the first time: cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/...

🟠 #RLUKICIL | Re-entangling the visual archive | 23 Sep Join us next Tues to hear reflections on @theul.bsky.social project with Zambian visual artists exploring new ways to engage with problematic archival material & collaborating outside library’s ‘traditional’ user base 🎟️ bit.ly/RLUKICIL

Que sais-je? Michel de Montaigne, French Renaissance philosopher, whose gentle scepticism shaped European thought; died #OTD 1592. Many books originally in his library at Tour Montaigne are now in the University of Cambridge Library @theUL.bsky.social

Friendly reminder for Cambridge and UCSD PhD students in Chinese Studies: my colleague Amelie Roper (Head of Research), Xi Shi from UCSD Library, and I will be giving two information sessions on the fully funded exchange program. It’s not too late to register and join!

Conserved c.20 years ago, and holding up pretty well 📚🧿 @theul.bsky.social Add. 1116, fragments of a Qur’an, 9th century #CULconservation #ParchmentConservation

Last week we welcomed visitors to our Historical Print Room as part of an English Faculty conference on letter forms. Examples from across our @theulspeccoll.bsky.social collections, were also on show as part of a special display to celebrate the study of lettering.

NEW! CRASSH Connections 💥 Want to find colleagues working on a related topic, plan a collaborative grant application, or start building an interdisciplinary network? Join us for informal events to connect. Apply by 12 Oct 2025 https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/crassh-connections

Windows from the University Library #Cambridge @theul.bsky.social for #WindowsOnWednesday

Wonderful afternoon talking about herbaria, nature printing, pigments and ‘the natural history of the book’ with colleagues at @theul.bsky.social. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social

Need help with your academic writing? Support sessions with our Royal Literary Fund Fellow, Alexander Masters, start on 15 Oct 2025 for all current Cambridge University students and staff. To book, email [email protected].

📣 Registration is open for 'The future of research in Bible Society collections' @biblesoccollfuture.bsky.social on 26&27 Sept Become part of a network of scholars and experts in Religious Studies, material culture, and Medieval to Modern collections https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/47443/

There's another good example of Oriental Hawthorn, Crataegus laciniata, on the approach to @theul.bsky.social #Trees #Crataegus #Hawthorn #Cambridge

The seasons are changing in Cambridge. Term starts on 7 October, and we’re so pleased to see lots of students returning to the city and visiting the University Library. 🍂📚 #AutumnInCambridge #CambridgeUniversity #CambridgeUniversityLibrary #Fall

The legendary black squirrel of @theul.bsky.social

Visiting Cambridge this September? Check out our free exhibition, Curious Cures, and then explore the nearby Museum of Classical Archaeology or the @cubotanicgarden.bsky.social‬. 🔗Book your FREE #Curious Cures ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY#Curious

'Morning Smile’, affectionately known as Asbo, was the wonderful creation of three inmates of His Majesty's Young Offender Institution Brinsford. Recently, Asbo began to show signs of deterioration, with the paint on the mouth area lifting and peeling. 🦛 #CULConservation

2nd September 2025 Straightening the rotating books at Cambridge University Library. @theul.bsky.social

Booking is open for our Illuminated Lettering workshop! 📅Saturday 11 October ⏰10:30am-4pm 📍Cambridge University Library 🎟️Tickets cost £85 inclusive of all materials. Spaces are limited! 🔗Book now: https://loom.ly/q1VKpbo

📣 Opportunity for University of Cambridge and UC San Diego postgrads Apply for scholarship to spend 4-6 weeks at the partner institution researching its Chinese Collections. Details for Cambridge students: https://loom.ly/rxIAcq8 Details for UCSD students: https://loom.ly/hwdVy9s

In honour of #GingerCatAppreciationDay (which we're tempted to re-name #OdysseusAppreciationDay), here's our favourite marmalade-hued boy on a visit to the UL last week.

Splendid to see these yesterday - nineteenth-century receipts for exceptional loans of manuscripts from @theul.bsky.social. Of course we don’t lend MSS any more (except of course for exhibitions) - but I’m intrigued here that where most borrowers had to pay a deposit, the Bishop of Durham didn’t!

#FlowersOnFriday from Jane Loudon, ‘British wild flowers’ (London, 1846). S370.b.84.12 @theul.bsky.social @theulspeccoll.bsky.social

Admit it, your favourite part of an exhibition is the gift shop. 😉 The UL's gift shop is an ode to the #CuriousCures of the medieval period. Books, flower presses, seed collections, coffee cups and the *essential* tote bag are the remedies you need to satisfy your self-gifting desires.

Applications are open for the post of Conservator (Book and Paper) at Cambridge University Library! For full details and to apply, click here: https://loom.ly/VUgy3Uo The closing date for applications is Sunday 7 September 2025.

Come and join in research in the Bible Society collections @theul.bsky.social 26-27 Sept 2025.

Congratulations @samuelmoore.org!

The thrill of the chase? Or perhaps just chasing our tails after a long bank holiday weekend? At this point, it could go either way. This image of handsome collies for #InternationalDogDay is from the cover of 'Lad of Sunnybank' by Albert Payson Terhune (1929).

There's one week left to enjoy #SummerAtTheMuseums in Cambridge! 🌞

There’s not a walnut tree in @theul.bsky.social Dye Garden (yet) so this year’s walnut ink production is thanks to a harvest in Norfolk. #NaturalDyes #PracticeBasedResearch #MedievalPalette

The Reading Room at Cambridge University Library in 1934 and 2025. Which era do you prefer? #CambridgeUniversityLibrary #OldPhotos Images: 1. Photograph of the Reading Room in 1934 (Cam.bb.934.7) 2. Photograph of the Reading Room taken in 2025

#OnThisDay in 1485, Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth. Portrait of Richard III from "The historie and lives of the kings of England" (1638) CUL Syn.4.63.64

Delulu, skibidi and snackable are just some of the new words to enter the Cambridge Dictionary in 2025! 😎SKIBIDI has different meanings such as cool or bad, or can be used with no real meaning as a joke. Image from Le Roman de la Rose (MS Gg.4.6),c. 1330-1340.

🟠 #RLUKICIL | Re-entangling the visual archive | 23 Sep Join us to hear reflections on @theul.bsky.social project with Zambian visual artists exploring new ways to engage with archival material inc. problematic colonial-era & collaborating outside library’s ‘traditional’ user base bit.ly/RLUKICIL

Research opportunity in California ☀️ The WongAvery Visiting Scholar Exchange Programme is now accepting applications to spend 4-6 weeks researching the Chinese Collection at ‪UC San Diego Library. How to apply: https://loom.ly/rxIAcq8 @ucsandiego.bsky.social‬

Last week we welcomed 18 students to the Faculty for our Sutton Trust Summer School. Thank you to @chuarchives.bsky.social, @theul.bsky.social, the Fitzwilliam Museum, our PhD students, and our student ambassadors for all their help and hard work throughout the week!

Today is the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender and the end of the Second World War. The Royal Commonwealth Society Collection at Cambridge University Library holds the archives of Changi and Sime Road, the civilian internment camps established by the Japanese at Singapore.

A curious object has appeared in the North Corridor. ❓It's time to test your medical knowledge and take the interactive Curious Cures quiz! Touch the screen to get started and see how much you know. Book your FREE #CuriousCures exhibition tickets now: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY

Did you see the inspiring Cambridge Stormzy Scholars on The One Show last night? Watch the interview (featuring a cameo from the UL!) here: 📺https://loom.ly/v_lgyXo Picture: Destiny Charles, #StormzyScholar and 2025 Human, Social, and Political Sciences graduate.

Your free #CuriousCures exhibition ticket gives you access to our north and south corridors, where the second part of the exhibition is located. Enjoy seeing our iconic art deco building, and finish with a visit to our tea room! Book your FREE ticket: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY#CuriousCures

In his diary in 1896, member of @theul.bsky.social staff Charles Sayle called this portrait ‘quite the most marvellous piece of engraving of the period that … I have seen’.

Join us this evening for an online discussion inspired by our Curious Cures exhibition! 🔗Register: loom.ly/ck4iTmI