Illustrating insectsThe short-horned grasshopper
A hand-coloured copper plate illustration depicting a short-horned grasshopper from British Entomology . . . By John Curtis (1862).
Coalminer's TypewriterThe coalminer's typewriter
The Olympia typewriter which belonged to one of the North East’s most important literary figures, Sid Chaplin. Many of the papers in the Chaplin (Sid) Archive were written on this typewriter.
King's VisitMartin Luther King’s visit to Newcastle
Photograph of Martin Luther King signing Newcastle University's Visitor Book after receiving his honarary doctorate on 13 November 1967.
Medieval manuscriptIlluminated guide to Christian prayer
An illuminated medieval devotional book.
Woolf's EssaysVirginia Woolf’s Hogarth essays
Title page from a collection of first edition essays in three volumes, printed between 1924 and 1926 by Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s Hogarth Press.
Book of DemonsA poet's 'Book of Demons'
Page from a typescript of Barry MacSweeney's 'Book of Demons' as published by Bloodaxe Books in 1997 including annotations.
Suffragist's BannerThe suffragist’s marching banner
The banner from the archive of Dr Ethel Mary Nucella Williams (1869–1948), Newcastle’s first female doctor and a suffragist.
Children's bookPeg dolls go to work
One from a series of children's books featuring two Dutch peg dolls, Maria and Catharine Susan, by Kathleen Ainslie. In this story, they try a variety of jobs.
Circus actMr. Cooke walks the tightrope
A handbill advertising the coming of a circus and its prime act. It is an example of ephemera: cheaply printed transient documents that are rare suvivals today.
Novelist's CorrespondenceMary Shelley’s correspondence
Image of letter from Mary Shelley, famed author of Frankenstein, to Rose Stewart dated 1844.
Letter from BaghdadThe archaeologist’s letters
Letter from Gertrude Bell to her stepmother Florence Bell dated 1920.
Newcastle's architectureGeorgian re-development of Newcastle's town centre
A nineteenth-century engraving depicting Eldon Square as it was after Newcastle was redeveloped by John Dobson, Richard Grainger and John Clayton. It is one of many prints held in our collection of Local Illustrations.
Evidence from trialA murderer’s socks, allegedly
A photograph of a pair of socks that were allegedly used as evidence in the trial for murder of Alfred John Monson in 1893.
Public health A cholera outbreak satirized
A cartoon commenting on a cholera outbreak that was one of a series called 'Random Shots' by George Cruikshank, c.1832.
A naturalist's artHow to classify a field mouse?
An engraving depicting a long-tailed field mouse by local naturalist and artist, Thomas Bewick from his book, A General History of Quadrupeds (1790).
Controversial literary periodicalA yellow book that was not yellow at all
Aubrey Beardsley's front cover for the first issue of The Yellow Book, a literary and artistic periodical that supposedly took its name from the illicit French novels that came wrapped in yellow paper.
Coal mining in artThe art in coal mining
An etching by Thomas Harrison Hair depicting the pit-head structures and railways of Wallsend's Church Pit.