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Introduction

The collection numbers in excess of 300,000 images, and is still being increased by acquisition.

The images exists in a wide variety of formats: negative (on glass and film of varying sizes), lantern slides, prints (from salt paper to modern photographic), postcards and modern transparencies.

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Main Collections

The collections reflect St Andrews' importance in the history of photography: there are many examples of the pioneering work of Dr John Adamson, D O Hill and Robert Adamson, and Thomas Rodger. Building upon these eminent beginnings, the collection has been developed over the last several decades to include large collections such as

• the photographic archive of Valentines of Dundee, the well-known photographic company which produced albums of Scottish views from the 1870s, and later became famous as the producer of picture postcards;
• the complete archive of Robert M Adam, the well-known Scottish landscape photographer whose work spans the first half of this century and numbers some 15,000 negatives;
• the work of George Cowie, a local press photographer from 1930 to 1982, which covers all aspects of life in and around St Andrews and the East Neuk of Fife, with a considerable section on the subject of golf.

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• Lady Henrietta Gilmour (animals, West Highlands, family and estate life, 1890-1914)
• J E A Steggall (Scottish, English and continental journeys, 1887-1925)
• J H Wilson (botany, St Andrews, 1890-1910)
• David Jack (Scottish, architectural survey of St Andrews, 1914-60)
• Donald McCulloch (west highlands, 1934-60)
• G Alan Little (Fife, Tayside + general Scottish, c.1960-1995)
• Alan Reiach (Scottish and international architecture, 1930s-1950s)
• James B Milne (international - tourist sites, 1970s, 1980s)
• Hamish M Brown (primarily Scottish topography, c. 1960-1990s)
• Janet M Sykes (Scottish and international: topography and folk culture, 1950s-1980s)

As well as other smaller groups, there are many thousands of photographs contained within collections of archival papers, covering a wide range of subject matters from Byzantine archaeology, through seal studies in the Behring Sea, to plant specimens.

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Access

The collection, in common with most of the University's manuscript and muniment collections, is open to public use. Researchers are welcome to visit the library to use the collections but it is important that appointments are made in advance with the Special Collections office.

The photographic collections are currently the subject of an ongoing digitisation project. It is the intention to have the entire archive captured in electronic form, and available (with sophisticated searching facilities) on screen to researchers in St Andrews and elsewhere. Researchers are welcome to visit the library to use it but, as mentioned in the paragraph above, it is important that appointments are made in advance with the Special Collections office.

The Library Photographic Archive is now available online. More detailed descriptions of each of the major collections, as well as search access to all of the photographs, will gradually become available as the digitisation project proceeds. Although the website is updated daily, it is important to remember that there are many more images still to be loaded.

For further details of this project, and other related projects, see the PROJECTS page.

We also offer a photographic print service (for academic, private and commercial use). Further details of commercial activities related to the collections and information about obtaining copies, reproduction rights etc , are on the Commercial Activities page.

We attempt to answer, as efficiently as possible, the many postal and telephone enquiries which we receive.

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Catalogues & Indices

The primary finding aid is still the extensive series of hard-copy indices, which offers a limited place-name, personal name and subject access to most of the collections. These indices are sometimes complex, and members of the public will frequently require the assistance of a member of staff to use them effectively.

The photographic collections, however, are currently the subject of a major digitisation project. It is the intention to have the entire archive captured in electronic form, and available (with sophisticated searching facilities) on screen to researchers in St Andrews and elsewhere. Researchers are welcome to visit the library to use it but it is essential that appointments are made in advance with the Special Collections office. The Library Photographic Archive is now available online.

More detailed descriptions of each of the major collections, as well as search access to all of the photographs, will gradually become available as the digitisation project proceeds.

Further details of this project are in the photographic digitisation section of the project page which also contains information on other projects.

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Publications

The Photographic Collections have been the subject of many publications, a few of which are listed below:

University of St Andrews, Valentine Collection. [Compiled by Cilla Jackson.] [St Andrews.] St Andrews University Library, 1999.

N H Reid, 'Photographic archives: Aberdeen, Dundee and St Andrews', Making information available in digital format: Perspectives from practitioners, ed T Coppock, Edinburgh, The Stationery Office, 1999, pp 106-119.

N H Reid, 'The Valentine Collection, St Andrews University', talk given to the Tay Valley Family History Society, Tay Valley Family Historian, January 2000 (no. 55), pp23-26.

N H Reid, 'The photographic collections in St Andrews University Library', Scottish Archives, 1999 (vol. 5), pp83-90

R N Smart, 'Famous throughout the world: Valentine & Sons Ltd., Dundee', Review of Scottish Culture, 1988 (4) pp 75-87.

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Further information

Please contact the Senior Assistant Curator (Photographic Collections) Cilla Jackson for information on any aspect of the photographic collections.

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