Founded in 1819, the Cambridge Philosophical Society provided an open forum for Cambridge graduates to discuss current scientific ideas and present new research. Over the last 200 years, the Cambridge Philosophical Society has played a key role in raising the profile of Cambridge’s most significant developments in natural science.

Darwin’s theory of evolution; Newton’s laws of motion; Cambridge’s first Nobel Prizewinner, Lord Rayleigh’s seminal work on wave propagation, interference and diffraction; all can be traced through the archives of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. This exhibition shows us how the activity of the Cambridge Philosophical Society underpins 200 years of discovery.

Find out more here

Open during normal hours. Free admission.

Curated by members of Cambridge’s Korean community this exhibition tells the story of the earliest translations of the Bible into Korean. The exhibition explored the work of early missionaries from the UK was unique but very influential since most of their work was accomplished while the Korean border was closed to foreigners. The translations were the result of collaborative efforts involving Scottish missionaries, a British philanthropist, and Korean helpers. The extraordinary dedication of the missionaries came to fruition with the publication of the first Gospels in Korean: ‘St. Luke’ and ‘St. John’, in 1882 and the publication of the entire New Testament in 1887.

 초창기영국선교사들의1870-1880년대조선어성경번역

2019년4월29일부터5월말

본전시는1870-1880년대영국선교사들이영어로작성한조선어교본과한국사그리고최초의성경책들을포함하고있다.  스코틀랜드선교사인존로스와멕킨타이어는아직조선에기독교포교가금지된시기, 중국국경지역에서(심양) 조선어로성경을번역하였으며, 이러한조선어성경번역은한글발전과초창기기독교발전에지대한영향을주었다.  이러한초창기조선어성경번역은존로스만의헌신의결과물이아니라, 런던선교회파송선교사Alexander Williamson, 잉글랜드자선사업가Robert Arthington 외  수많은영국의무명소액기부자들의헌신을통해이루어졌다. 이러한헌신이1882년예슈셩교누가복음젼셔, 예슈셩교요안늬복음젼셔, 그리고나아가1887년예슈셩교젼셔로까지이어지게되었다.

Cambridge University is delighted to be working with the BBC and First Story in the Young Writers’ Award for 2019. If you are aged 14 to 18 and love writing, why not enter your story of up to 1000 words? This virtual exhibition offers a treasure trove of potential inspiration…

At its height the satirical puppet show Spitting Image was watched by 15, 000, 000 people. Created by Roger Law and Peter Fluck, the programme undermined the established order – no one from the Royal Family to politicians to celbraties was safe from its biting wit.

Cambridge University Library has recently taken deposit of the Spitting Image archive. See a small selection of this remarkable collection on display in the Library’s Entrance Hall.

100 years ago the Russian Exodus started. Following the revolutions of 1917, as many as three million people fled their native land, among them many of the best representatives of early 20th-century Russian culture.  Most of the émigrés, including the writers Ivan Bunin, Aleksei Tolstoi and Nadezhda Teffi fled to Western Europe, where their determination to preserve their cultural heritage saw the effective creation of a Russia Abroad.  The University Library books which feature in this exhibition and which have never been shown before have original autographs by Bunin, Teffi, and Tolstoi.

This portrait exhibition tells the stories of black students in Cambridge, from the forgotten pioneers to the celebrated successes of today. On display until 22 December. Read More

Collecting the stories of your UL.

To coincide with the opening of our latest exhibition Tall Tales: Secrets of the Tower, Cambridge University Library is crowd sourcing the memories, stories and favourite extracts of readers past and present. The University Library building reverberates with the history of things read, knowledge created, and people met. We want to capture those moments.

In the seventeenth century, the womb was regarded as a troublesome and unpredictable organ which afflicted women with numerous ailments. To pacify the wild womb, marriage was usually prescribed, but a favoured short-term remedy was fumigation. Like a second nose, the womb was considered to be attracted to pleasant perfumes and repulsed by stench. A womb could therefore be coaxed back to its ‘rightful place’ by wafting fragrant ingredients beneath it. Smelly Remedy shows examples of this procedure from the University Library collection and examines how the remedy was visually represented to a wide readership.

Landscapes Below celebrates a period of experimental geological map-making in the 19th century, focusing on the use of colour in geological maps and on the development of a visual vocabulary for the new science.

This exhibition looks at the events of the October Revolution and the year that followed, using a wide range of material from the University Library’s collections to illustrate the dramatic timeline.  Undergraduates from the University will share in the curatorial work.