Scrap books
Object types in Special Collections
A scrap book is a book of blank pages in which various items, such as as newspaper clippings or pictures have been collected and preserved. Scrap books were created by individuals or organizations for many reasons, and the diversity of Special Collections holdings illustrates this.
There are scrap books created by Leeds University Union Theatre Group and the West Yorkshire Playhouse, which include press cuttings, theatre reviews and programmes. There are also the political scrap books of Edward Gardner, a Conservative politician, which record election campaigns in the nineteen-fifites, sixties and seventies. These mix campaign leaflets with personal letters, newspaper editorials, and articles on relevant constituencies. Different again is the personal scrap book of W.A. Lytle, a Private in the First World War.
Researchers many use a scrapbook to gain insight into the life or interests of the individual or organization who collated it. They keep for posterity the 'scraps' which might fall by the wayside of official histories or records.
Scrap books are collections in miniature. Like newspapers, the juxtaposition and positioning of items in the scrap book is of interest: we can ask whether the items a shared time-frame, or subject links the items.
Image credit Leeds University Library