Pressed flowers, doodles and dog-eared pages - the Glasgow event celebrating second-hand books

Copyright scotsman

The legacy of pressed flowers, doodles in the margins, scribbled thoughts and dog-eared pages found in second-hand books is to be celebrated in a series of talks by Glasgow academics. Book Tales: Storytelling Between Text and Object, held by the University of Glasgow and The Mitchell Library, celebrates books not just as texts, but as “cherished objects that carry the marks of their readers”. A botany book owned and written in by the first ever Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh is to feature in a series of talks which looks at the "rich and historical life of books", alongside Edwin Morgan's annotated copy of Beowulf. The programme, part of the national Being Human Festival, will also include a Books "Antiques Roadshow”, which invites attendees to bring a book that holds personal meaning and share its story. Subscribe today to the Scotsman’s Arts newsletter Dr Graheli, who is based at the University of Glasgow’s School of Modern Languages and Cultures, and whose research focuses on the marks readers leave behind including annotations, gift inscriptions, multilingual notes, and even doodles, said: “The value of a book doesn’t stop with the text. “Books continue to live on through the people who read them. These marks tell us about the lives of readers past and present and they’re also a bridge to the future.” She added: “Notes and writing in books are not just a bridge to the past, they are also a bridge to the future. I think that's a really crucial thing for me, that it is a way for a book to live forward and for our thoughts recorded in that book to live forward.” The book owned by former Regius Keeper James Sutherland, who held the role from 1639 to 1719, is a botanical picture collection from Antwerp, Belgium. The book includes illustrations and the names of the plants given in different languages. It also features notes written by Mr Sutherland about how the behaviour of his own plants, grown in Edinburgh, differ from those documented in the book. Dr Graheli said: “It is very special because it's a botanical picture book from Antwerp, with illustrations and the names of the plants given in different languages. It was made for multilingual readers. “Sutherland used it to write about the plants in his garden, for example which ones blossomed in March or April. The keen gardener of a hardy garden in the heart of Edinburgh, he knew that his plants might not behave quite in the same way as his continental books described. So he observes what is around him and records it in the book. Lots of other readers used their books as a way to look at the world and record what they saw and felt.” Susan Taylor, librarian at The Mitchell Library, Glasgow Life, said: “Books are more than just stories, they’re vessels of memory, emotion and connection. We’re proud to be part of this initiative and share some of our books which help highlight the invisible threads that bind readers across time.”