rare books – Borthwick Institute Blog

Gurning and the art of face pulling.

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 21 November 2025

Written by Simon Batchelor, BA (Hons), MA, MA (Res), Customer Services Assistant at the University of York Library. One item in the rare books collection has recently caught my attention; drawn in the corner of the an endpaper is the picture of a youth, standing on one leg, he is holding a horse collar up … Continue reading Gurning and the art of face pulling.

Judging a Book By Its Cover

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 24 February 2014

Written by Sarah Griffin, Rare Books Librarian at the University of York Nowadays many books are produced with a ‘perfect’ binding where the pages are stuck to the spine and invariably split open as soon as any pressure is applied. They are still the common book shape we are all familiar with but they are … Continue reading Judging a Book By Its Cover