Exhibitions

Past

Present

Future

Leaflet for the Picturing China exhibition

Detail from the Picturing China exhibition leaflet

Picturing China 1870–1950 exhibition - photographs from British collections

The Picturing China exhibition, which ran at the Grant Bradley Gallery in Bedminster from 17 January to 21 February 2009, showcased some 180 photographs of life in China before 1950. The photos belonged to Chinese and British families (or their descendants) who lived in China between 1840 and 1950.

The photographs featured in the exhibition can be viewed on the Historical Photographs of China website.

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A Cabinet of Curiosities

The University’s museum and archive collections selected 100 gems to showcase in an online exhibition entitled the Cabinet of Curiosities.

Highlights included the skeleton of Daniel, the first gorilla to be successfully raised in captivity in Great Britain; the silver trowel used by Winston Churchill to lay the foundation stone for Engineering in 1951; and Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s notebooks.

Each exhibit was accompanied by text that tells the story of its acquisition, identity, history or use.

William Poel's drawing for model of Globe Playhouse, 1897 Lantern slide: Detail from Map of London from Civitates Orbis Terrarum, published 1572

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100 treasures from Special Collections

100 Treasures offered unique and unprecedented access to the rare and valuable items housed in the University Library's Special Collections. Each week, new images of the rarest and most interesting books, manuscripts and other archival items in the Collections were added to the virtual gallery.

Highlights included the beautifully illustrated 15th-century Cobden Book of Hours, Charles I's death speech and an illustration of a mouse named after Darwin. Zoom in to see each item in fine detail.

Watercolour by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm of Tichfield Abbey, Hampshire Portrait of John Reskemeer, engraved by C. Knight Francesco Bartolozzi's engraving of Holbein's drawing, Promotional electioneering card from the late-nineteenth-century Bristol Map of Italy from the 1574 edition of the great atlas compiled by Abraham Ortelius 1878 Conservative by-election poster is critical of the Liberal Fry

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University College, Bristol, founded in 1876

University College, Bristol, founded in 1876

The University of Bristol’s buildings: past, present and future

From 1 July to 31 August 2009, the Architecture Centre hosted an exhibition of the University's buildings. It featured new and recently restored buildings, as well as those planned for the future through images (drawings, sketches and photos), text, scale models and film footage.

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Penguin exhibition

To mark the centenary in 2009 and to herald in, in 2011, the 75th anniversary of Penguin Books and the 70th anniversary of Puffin Books, the University Library Special Collections and the Arts and Humanities Research Council Penguin Archive Project will stage an exhibition of the Archive of Penguin Books, arguably the most important publisher in the 20th century.

Material on show from the collection will include the evolution of design over 75 years, correspondence with world-renowned authors and the transformation of the role of women in the world of publishing. Subject areas covered will range from literature through history, politics and education, to cookery and knitting.

Read an in-depth feature about the Archive on the Telegraph website.

Penguin logo graphic Penguin book cover Penguin logo graphic Penguin logo graphic

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