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Creation/Progress

Illustration sans titre 19

Through margin notes and journalistic typography, this group of material explores the hidden art of in-progress ideas. These insights into the behind-the-scenes of scientific and creative thought processes help us connect with the past through our own quirks and methodologies.

Picture Post typography

Picture Post was an innovative, liberal, and anti-Fascist photojournalistic magazine published in the UK from 1938 to 1957. It was also an early source of modern typography, adorning its pages with a variety of creative typefaces to match its pioneering photojournalism.

In the image grid below, peruse some Picture Post word art paired with similar modern fonts. How alike are they, almost a century later?

  • Title: Picture Post 1939 font and 2022 equivalent: Camouflage
    Date 1939
    Object reference SCF 545

  • Title: Picture Post 1939 font and 2022 equivalent: Faith Healers
    Date 1939
    Object reference SCF 545

  • Title: Picture Post 1939 font and 2022 equivalent: Making
    Date 1939
    Object reference SCF 545

  • Title: Picture Post 1939 font and 2022 equivalent: Veterinary Surgeon
    Date 1939
    Object reference SCF 545

  • Title: Picture Post 1939 font and 2022 equivalent: Cricket
    Date 1939
    Object reference SCF 545

  • Title: Picture Post 1939 font and 2022 equivalent: Still
    Date 1939
    Object reference SCF 545

  • Title: Picture Post 1939 font and 2022 equivalent: Twi-light
    Date 1939
    Object reference SCF 545

  • Title: Picture Post 1939 font and 2022 equivalent: Sentic
    Date 1939
    Material SCF 545

  • Title: Picture Post 1939 font and 2022 equivalent: Free
    Date 1939
    Object reference SCF 545

"Steel" font

Date 1939
Object reference SCF 545

A collection of margin notes, 1797-1838

Are you a margin doodler? Have you jotted down a note between lines of a textbook? You are certainly not alone; Edinburgh students have done the same for hundreds of years.

Below are excerpts from David Pollock’s 1797 lecture notes on Natural History, A. B. Taylor’s 1894 lecture notes on Ancient Greek, and anonymous markings in Professor Peter Guthrie Tait’s Historical Sketch of the Dynamical Theory of Heat. Each is adorned with handwritten additions, personal shorthand, or flagged sections for further revision.

Click the excerpts to learn more about their authors.

  • David Pollock studied natural history at Edinburgh in the late 18th century. His notes on Professor John Walker’s Lectures on Natural History fill ten volumes, sections of which have been selected here to highlight the artistry of Pollock’s calligraphy and the humanity of his margin notes and doodles.

    Title: Pollock lecture notes marginalia detail
    Creator David Pollock
    Date 1797
    Place of creation Edinburgh
    Object reference Gen.703-12D

  • A. B. Taylor was a student at Edinburgh at the end of the 19th century. These are his 1894-1895 notes on Professor Samuel Henry Butcher’s Lectures on Greek Literature. Near the end of term Taylor’s handwriting becomes more erratic and messier – can you relate? Throughout his notes Taylor highlights with pencil or a blue crayon, seen here.

    Title: Samuel Henry Butcher, Lectures on Greek Literature taken down by A. B. Taylor
    Creator A. B. Taylor
    Date 1894-1895
    Place of creation Edinburgh
    Creator Samuel Henry Butcher
    Date 1894-1895
    Place of creation Edinburgh
    Object reference Gen 616

  • Tait was a physicist and pioneer in thermodynamics, the physics of heat energy, and he taught at Edinburgh from 1860 until his death in 1901. His Historical Sketch of the Dynamical Theory of Heat was a rare printed, unpublished work. Historical Sketch likely compiled Tait’s work in the form of a textbook for ease of access to his students; the pencil annotations and workings out of formulas suggest classroom use.

    Title: Historical Sketch of the Dynamical Theory of Heat
    Creator Peter Guthrie Tate
    Date 1867
    Place of creation Edinburgh
    Object reference RB.S.363