books

Topic description and stories

The Lost Words: a ‘spell book’ that closes the gap between childhood and nature

01 Jan 2022

The Lost Words is a book by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris that summons the magic of nature to help children find, love and protect the natural...

Reinterpreting Newton and religion

21 Dec 2021

Rediscovered notebook adds new depth to our understanding of Isaac Newton's relationship with theology.

Oldest Scottish manuscript to go on display in Aberdeen

24 Nov 2021

The Book of Deer, possibly Scotland’s oldest surviving manuscript, is set to return to the north-east of Scotland for the first time in 1,000 years...

HeLa: the cells that changed science

25 Feb 2021

Discover the incredible story of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cells enabled a scientific revolution and contributed to numerous...

One million and counting

04 Feb 2020

A children’s book by Sandi Toksvig is the one millionth item to take its place in the University Library’s Ely storage facility.

The Fetcher who became keeper to millions of books

22 Nov 2019

Robin James has worked at Cambridge University Library for 26 years. Today, he leads the team responsible for the Library’s ‘Cathedral of Books’ – a...

Annotating history: thoughts of an Elizabethan scholar revealed

21 Sep 2019

Previously unrecorded book from Gabriel Harvey’s collection extends our knowledge of one of the most conspicuous and fascinating early modern...

Ely’s new cathedral (of books) opens for business

27 Jun 2018

Visitors to Ely may spot a new landmark on the city’s horizon aside from its famous 1,000-year-old cathedral – a vast, new state-of-the-art storage...