Newcastle University

Special Collections (printed books and miscellanea)

Maurice Bell Collection (Maurice Bell Coll. - Online catalogue)
This collection includes items concerning industries in the North-East, such as railways and the coal trade.

Bell-White Collection (B/W - Online catalogue)
The collection comprises both manuscript and printed materials with a distinct leaning towards local ephemera, including election broadsides.

Bradshaw-Bewick Collection (Bradshaw-Bewick - Online catalogue)
Containing books by the celebrated Northumbrian engraver Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), and also containing books which feature wood cuts by both Thomas and his brother, John (1760-1795).

Burman Alnwick Collection (Burman Alnwick - Online catalogue)
Books and broadsheets which were printed in Alnwick (Northumberland).

Edwin Clarke Local Collection (Edwin Clarke Local - Online catalogue)
The collection contains miscellaneous local history items, covering such subjects as travel, topography, literature, and archaeology.

Catherine Cookson Collection (C. Cookson Coll. - Contact Special Collections)
Predominantly foreign editions of the novels by Catherine Cookson (1906-1998), which are firmly set in the rural and industrial environments of north-east England, depicting local life from the C19th onwards.

18th Century Collection (18th C. Coll. - Online catalogue)
Contains some material of local interest.

1801-1850 Collection (1801-1850 Coll. - Online catalogue)
Contains local histories.

Friends of the University Library (Friends - Online catalogue)
The collection is perhaps strongest on description, travel and history for the region but also contains items concerning mining, Tyneside songs, works by Robert Surtees (1805-1864) and works illustrated by Thomas Bewick (1753-1828), such as Aesop's Fables (1821) and A General History of Quadrupeds (1792, 1820).

Hartlepool Printer (Contact Special Collections for details)
Early C20th posters and miscellanea printed by F.W. Mason, High Street, Hartlepool. Unlisted (July 2004).

Hindson Reid (HR - Contact Special Collections for details)
These c.40 items comprise books and other items, especially local maps, printed by the University printer Hindson Reid. They date from the 1870s to the 1960s.

Hospital Archives (Hosp. Archives - Online catalogue)
Mostly administrative reports from the Newcastle and Royal Victoria Infirmaries, reports relating to the Newcastle Dispensary and C19th minutes of meetings by local medicinal societies.

Local Illustrations (Local Ill. - Card catalogue)
C18th and early C19th prints and engravings of local scenes.

Maps (Various colls. - Hand list)
Predominantly pre-C20th maps of north-east England, which are thought to include hand-coloured proofs by John Speed.

Otterburn Enquiry Reports (Hand list)
Documents relating to the 1997 public enquiry (reopened in 1999) into the Army's application to extend its use of National Park land near Otterburn, Northumberland. It was a non-statutory enquiry, held under the Department of Environment Circular 18/84, Pt.1V.

Playbills (Contact Special Collections for details)
A number of playbills are dispersed across several collections. They advertise entertainments in Newcastle and elsewhere in northern England. A significant proportion are playbills for the Theatre Royal, dating from its opening in 1788, but mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Post 1850 Collection (Post 1850 Coll. - Online catalogue)
Has most relevance to research in local history.

TBR (TBR - Online catalogue)
Books relating to the Library's manuscript collections, notably the Trevelyan, Bell and Runciman papers.

Rare Books (RB - Online catalogue)
The items in this collection which are pertinent to historical research mostly deal with local history, including that of Hadrian's Wall, but also political and social issues. Coal mining also features.

University Publications Archive (University Archive - Hand-list)
The collection includes University calendars, publications by departments, schools and individual members of staff, archival material concerning the history of the Library, Exploration Society reports, &c.

Robert White Collection (W - Online Catalogue)
A range of sources to support research in local history.