Conferences, and other activities
| 100 years of the Old Edinburgh Club (OEC) | ||
| The centenary of one of the oldest and most distinguished of Scottish local history societies is being marked by a number of events throughout 2008. The most important is a major conference to be held in the Royal College of Physicians, Queen Street, Edinburgh, on Saturday 4 October. Eight distinguished speakers, all leading scholars in their fields, will talk on development and change in aspects of the life of the city during the century of the Club’s existence. Social history, law, science and medicine will make up the morning session (Professors R J Morris, Hector MacQueen, Aubrey Manning and David Purdie). The afternoon will be occupied by Mr Owen Dudley Edwards on the visual arts, and Professors Randall Stevenson, Stewart J Brown and Tom Devine on, respectively, literature, religion and politics. A drinks reception will bring the day to an end. Tickets will cost a mere £15 for OEC members, and £20 for non-members. This fee includes refreshments and lunch. It may be the biggest bargain ever in the world of academic conferences!
It is hoped that the conference papers may make up the bulk of a future volume of The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club. Publication of this constitutes the OEC’s greatest achievement over the past hundred years. Between 1908 and 1985, thirty-five volumes were published. A New Series was begun in 1991: the seventh volume of this is in course of production, and will appear during 2008. The Book contains full-length articles, shorter articles (published as ‘Reekiana’), ‘Edinburgh Portraits’ and book reviews. The editor is Dr Andrew Fraser (andrew.g.fraser@ed.ac.uk). The Club holds a series of six lectures over the autumn and winter, and also organises a programme of summer visits. There will be a civic reception for members this winter, offered to the Club by its Patrons, the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of the City of Edinburgh. Information on the Club, and on the Centenary Conference, may be had from the Secretary, Dr Alan Borthwick (Alan.Borthwick@nas.gov.uk). The President of the Old Edinburgh Club for the Centenary (and to serve until 2010) is Dr Iain Gordon Brown, Principal Curator of Manuscripts in the National Library of Scotland, a Council member of SRA. Although 2008 is a time of celebration and retrospection, it is vital that the Club attracts new members so that the tradition of research and publication, and of concern for and interest in the past of the capital city, may be kept alive and carried on (it is to be hoped!) towards the bicentenary - and beyond. |
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| This is an abridged version of a story in the latest SRA Newsletter. For more items from the Newsletter click here. | ||