Any views expressed within media held on this service are those of the contributors, should not be taken as approved or endorsed by the University, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University in respect of any particular issue.
The next week is your last chance to access trials to digital archives of The Sketch & The Bystander – trials close on 19 April. Information and access links for the trials are at E-Resources trials. If you like what you see, please give us feedback via the trial feedback link, to help to build a case for purchase.
The Sketch began publication in 1893 as a light-hearted sister paper to The Illustrated London News and described itself as ‘A Journal of Art and Actuality’. It was published weekly and was for ‘the cultivated people who in their leisure moments look for light reading and amusing pictures, imbued with a high artistic value’. The Sketch was the first newspaper to publish the short stories of Agatha Christie, who wrote 49 stories for the paper between 1923 and 1924.
Established in 1903, The Bystander joined a series of publications belonging to The Illustrated London News (ILN). In 1940 The Bystander merged with its sister title: The Tatler. It thus became known as The Tatler and Bystander. Much like its successor, The Bystander focused on British “high society”, thereby appealing to a conservative, affluent readership. Publishing articles on fashion, theatre, and sports, this publication reflected everyday life amongst Britain’s social elite, its coverage typically defined by a suitably whimsical, satirical tone. This collection includes over 136,000 images collated from nearly 2,000 issues of The Bystander, published between December 1903 and October 1940.
Following the retirement of my colleague, Jane Furness, I have now taken on Academic Support Librarian responsibilities for the Edinburgh School of Art. I’m looking forward to getting to know the staff and students of this large and diverse School. I have worked as an Academic Support Librarian within CAHSS for over twenty years now, and in recent years have had additional responsibilities as College Lead for Library Academic Support. I feel in some ways that I’ve come full circle – I began my library career working with exhibition catalogues and exhibition ephemera in the National Art Library at the V&A, and I still get a warm glow as I walk past the exhibition catalogues in ECA Library. I was also previously Liaison Librarian for the School of Arts, Culture and Environment before the ECA merger in 2011.
I have a regular office day at ECA Library on Mondays when I’m available for student appointments, and of course I’ll also be available throughout the week. I am currently recruiting for the new role of Library Academic Support Officer, who will also be coming to ECA Library to provide general support with collections and teaching tasks.
From 13th March 2026 there will be changes to academic library support staffing for ECA. If you need to contact the academic support librarian team regarding anything to do with the ECA or A&A libraries, their collections or services, please email library.academic.support@ed.ac.uk
Architecture’s most influential, innovative and beloved underground magazine, reissued for the first time in a handsome clamshell box!
Published by Designers & Books.
Inspired by comic-book culture, Pop art, psychedelia, the space race, sci-fi, Constructivism and Buckminster Fuller, the hugely influential British collective Archigram was the epitome of 1960s avant-garde architecture. Their self-published, lo-fi but materially ingenious magazine Archigram, begun in 1961, announced their ideas for such visionary concepts as “Walking City,” “Plug-In City” and “Instant City.” It also served to connect the international avant-garde of the 1960s. Archigram forged links with the Metabolists in Japan, Frei Otto, Utopie and Haus-Rucker-Co in Europe, and Buckminster Fuller in the US. They were also championed by critics such as Charles Jencks and Reyner Banham, who brought Archigram‘s famous fourth pop-up issue to the US in 1966.
You can consult our Reference Only boxed set at the ECA Library Helpdesk, it is listed on our catalogue DiscoverEd here.
Spring Dissertation and Thesis Festival 23-27 February 2026:
We have an exciting week of events planned for the Library’s Dissertation & Thesis Festival this February to highlight how the Library can help students succeed with their dissertation or thesis.
Our programme includes a Discovery Day on Monday 23 February, when the Main Library (at George Square) will feature stalls from digital resource publishers and our own library teams highlighting our huge range of library research resources.
New sessions include: Exploring social history: An introduction to Mass Observation Online & Mass Observation Project, 1981-2009 and How to reference social media, podcasts and online content
Enhancing Your Dissertation Literature Search With GenAI: our popular session will guide students to use Gen AI responsibly and effectively for your dissertation literature search
Library Visits: opportunities to discover the research resources of the National Library of Scotland.
Find full programme details and booking links here.
We were delighted to receive a beautiful Raksha Bandhan card from artist’s book maker Priya Pereira of Pixie Books, (Mumbai), this Christmas, and have added it to our collection of works by Priya, held in the ECA Library Artists’ Books collection.
You can find out more about the library’s collection of artists’ books and zines, at the subject guide here. All the books are listed on the library online catalogue DiscoverEd and there is an FAQ here to explain how to search for them!
All ECA students and staff can ask to see up to 3 artists’ books or zines at a time, at the ECA Library Helpdesk, at Evolution House level 1. Please note that all our artists’ books are Reference Only and cannot be borrowed or removed from ECA Library. If you are not sure what to ask for, ask library staff for our artists’ books Samples Box!
Coming up in March, on Wednesday 4th, from 1.00pm to 7.00pm, will be the 10th annual ECA Bookmarks Bookfair at ECA Sculpture Court, another fantastic opportunity to buy artists’ books, zines and prints from ECA students and artists from further afield.
Above illustration by Luce Gutsche, third year BA (Hons) Illustration.
A view of the Sculpture Court during Bookmarks 2024. Photograph by Jane Furness.
Our new display at ECA Library, Evolution House, features bookworks by Barbara A. Morton of Entropie Books.
The discipline of the blue-ochre envelope explores poetry, book-making, drawing and design. The bookwork is accompanied by hand-made ceramic pieces, some with text imprinted, emphasising the importance of the haptic, and exploring a new site for poetry to reside.
The display continues at Evolution House, West Port, until Thursday 5 March 2026.
Asemic writing, an intriguing form of expression devoid of specific semantic content, offers a universal language that transcends linguistic barriers. Emerging in the late 20th century, it has captivated artists seeking to explore the boundaries between text and visual art. Asemic writing’s abstract, calligraphic strokes evoke the appearance of writing without conveying explicit meaning, inviting viewers to engage with the work in a purely intuitive and emotional manner. Artists like Tim Gaze and Mirtha Dermisache have pioneered this genre, using its open-ended nature to provoke imagination and personal interpretation. This form challenges the traditional purposes of writing, emphasizing aesthetic experience over literal comprehension.
In contrast, pansemic writing encompasses the notion of universal meaning, striving to convey concepts that resonate across languages and cultures. This approach often employs symbols and signs understood globally, emphasizing shared human experiences. Artists utilizing pansemic writing aim to create connections through universally recognizable elements, bridging gaps that language may otherwise leave. Both asemic and pansemic writings disrupt conventional communication, encouraging a fresh dialogue about how we perceive and interpret written forms. As these art forms continue to evolve, they underscore the rich potential for writing to engage on a visual and emotive level, transcending the confines of traditional reading and inviting a more inclusive, imaginative interaction.
Books in this display, from our lending collection:
Beginning in the late 1960s, the Argentinian conceptual artist Mirtha Dermisache (1940–2012) produced publications that consist of asemic writing: marks that resemble language but lack semantic content. Her artist’s books, letters and postcards challenge habitual responses to both art and literature, leading us to re-evaluate how language works, how we perceive it, and how it might be distinguished from drawing.
Mirtha Dermisache wrote dozens of books, hundreds of letters and postcards, and countless texts. Not a single one was legible, yet, in their promixity to language, they all resonate with a mysterious potential for meaning. Using ink on paper, Dermisache invented an array of graphic languages, each with their own unique lexical and syntactic structure.
Fluency: A Collection of Asemic Writing, Karla Van Vliet, Shanti Arts Publishing, 2021
In Fluency, we see a union of Karla Van Vliet’s lifelong practices of art and poetry, each dissolving into the other and resurfacing as asemic writing. In her words: “There are times when I do not have words. Yet I have the need and desire to write. It is to asemic writing that I turn in these moments. To the gesture of writing… In the branching tree limbs, in the waves, in my hand’s scratching across paper, we each read the feeling that rises in us.”
Asemic: The Art of Writing, Peter Schwenger, University of Minnesota, 2019
Codex Seraphinianus, Luigi Serafini, Rizzoli, 2013
An illustrated encyclopedia of an imaginary world, created by Luigi Serafini, and first published in 1981, using an invented asemic language to convey the way children look at books before they can understand the printed word.
Mountains and Triangles, Michael Dean, Forma Arts and Media, 2006
In this bookwork, Michael Dean uses the barest language and starkly minimal typography to create an almost physical linguistic space that becomes charged with an unexpected emotional impact.
The last vispo anthology: visual poetry 1988-2008, Crag Hill & Nico Vassilakis, Fantagraphics, 2012
Spotlights the intersection of art and language gathering the work of visual poets from around the world.
After words: visual and experimental poetry in little magazines and small presses, 1960-2025, Steven Clay and MC Kinniburgh, Granary Books, 2025
Artists’ Books:
Asemic sibyls, Marco Giovenale, C’est mon Dada series, number 80, Redfoxpress, 2013
Now leaves, Michael Dean, Bookworks, 2015
Little black book, Jenny Smith, Edinburgh, 2009
Untitled, Jenny Smith, Edinburgh, 2011
The display opens on 1st December 2025 and continues to 11th January 2026 at ECA Library, Evolution House.
Discover Box of Broadcasts: Your TV and radio library, totally free with your institutional login!
Access over 4 million programmes from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and more, with no need for a TV licence. Stream documentaries, news, films, and drama series anytime, anywhere.
Make playlists for study
Clip content for assignments or presentations
Get automatic citations for your written work
Log in now → learningonscreen.ac.uk/bob. You can also find BoB on DiscoverEd, and on our databases lists.
