A Blog of Biblical Proportions

A few years ago we published the following article on the John Brown Bible in the St Andrews In Focus  magazine. The article has been resurrected (terrible pun!) as we have been photographing pages of a John Brown Family Bible in the collection, so we thought we would share them with you.

SAAPT 2003.203 Brown Family Bible, c1840 

 

John Brown was “Minister of the gospel at Haddington” and is famous for his “Self Interpreting” Bible in which the bible text was accompanied by explanatory notes and observations.   He meant his bible to be used by ordinary people to aid them to understand and be inspired by the text.

John Brown was born at Carpow in the parish of Abernethy, in Perthshire, Scotland, and was the son of a weaver and fisherman.  While working as a shepherd boy, Brown saved his earnings and walked from Abernethy to St Andrews to buy his first Greek Testament from Alexander McCulloch’s bookshop in South Street.   While at the bookshop, Brown was challenged by a professor to read a passage in Greek, and when he correctly read from the bible, the professor bought the bible for the young boy.   Upon returning to Abernethy he taught himself Greek, Latin and Hebrew, all without formal teaching.   In a time when there was still a strong belief in witchcraft in Scotland, people in the town of Abernethy became suspicious of his knowledge, and he left the town never to return.  He travelled the country for some time, eventually becoming the schoolmaster at Gairney Bridge, near Kinross, in 1747.   It was around this time that he realized his calling and set his sights on the ministry of the Succession Church, and in 1751 Brown was called to be the Burgher minister of Haddington.  

Brown planned his self-interpreting bible for many years and he spent many years working on it.  It was first published in 1778, with Brown at first struggling to find a publisher for the book and being forced to advance the money himself.  This first publication cost a Georgian 22/-, and sold surprisingly well for being so expensive.   It was subsequently reprinted in at least 26 editions, with the last being published in 1909.   John Brown published a number of other books, including “A History of the Churches in Scotland and England from the Earliest Period” and “The Dictionary of The Bible”, though it is worth noting that none of his publication made him any money.

John Brown married twice and had four sons, three of which also became ministers.   He died in June 1787.

 

 

 

 

Electric Shock Therapy Machine

On Monday mornings the Curator, with the assistance of two volunteers, audit the Museum store, and take objects out and put them away again. It's fairly arduous, but it keeps the store in good order and we very occasionally find objects we had no idea we had!

This Monday passed we stumbled upon this Victorian electric shock therapy machine from around c1870s. In the late 19th century these machines (and adaptations of them!) were very popular due to the scientific discoveries being made at the time. In late-Victorian newspapers it is not uncommon to see advertisements for "electric corsets", "electric hairbrushes", and "electric belts" - mad-cap inventions in hindsight, but important nonetheless to the developments made in using electricity to enhance our daily lives.

 

The label on the Machine reads:

Connect two metallic cords or wires with the sockets in the ends of the Box, and apply handles connected with the other ends of the metallic cords or wires to any part of the person through which is desirable to pass the current of Electricity. Then turn the crank, regulating the strength of the current by the speed, and by the knob at the end of the box : it being desirable to increase the strength to that degree most agreeable to the patient. It is less unpleasant to the patient if wet sponges are placed in the ends of the handles and these applied to the skin, as they prevent the prickling sensation. The sponges should never be put inside the Box while wet as they rust the machinery. In applying it for the Toothache, Tic-Doloreaux or Neuralgia, the operator takes one Handle and places fingers or sponge over the part affected, while the patient hold the other Handle. In applying it to the foot place one of the Handles in the Water with the foot, and hold the other in the hand, or apply it to any other part of the person. The Bearings and Spring must be oiled occasionally".

 

The machine is now on display in our Chemist Shop.

St Andrews during the Great War - Preparing the Collection

Yesterday marked one year before the 100^th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War. In preparation of our own exhibition on St Andrews during the Great War next summer, I have been preparing objects in the collection that could be displayed. Today, I came across this photo-postcard of the children of St Andrews on parade during Sir Douglas Haig’s visit to the Town in 1919.

 

In 1916 Haig was elected rector at the University of St Andrews whilst Commander-In-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force. He unveiled the war memorial, a stones-throw away from the Museum, in September 1922.

As well as the postcard, British Pathe have this silent film of the parade.

The Great Parasol Challenge

Umbrellas and parasols before repacking

Parasols and umbrellas before repacking

Over the last year, I have been working with two volunteers, Anne and Linda, to entirely repack our costume and textile collection.  This presented a huge challenge, previously there was no order to how the objects were packed - some boxes contained a quilt, a wedding dress, a victorian mourning gown, a pair of trainers and a top hat!

An early plan for parasol storage

One huge puzzle to us was what exactly to do with the parasols and umbrellas.  Previously they have been stored in an umbrella stand which had caused a few of them to deterioriate.  Space was a major consideration, so I was keen to use existing boxes on convert them into a suitable storage solution.

After consultation with the Scottish Conservation Studio at Hopetoun House, I came up with a plan which involved using plastazote to build supports inside acid free boxes. Another good resource for practical tips on packing parasols can be found here

So, on Tuesday the 9th October we set about putting this plan into action.  Thanks to all our careful preparation, the morning went exactly to plan, and the project has been a great success! First we built up two layers of plastazote.  We laid out the objects where we wanted them and drew outlines of them on the plastazote, and cut out the shape.  The umbrellas and parasols were then photographed and  wrapped loosely enough that they were not being forced closed, but tight enough to ensure that there was no strain being put on their spokes.  The wrappings also ensured that they don't touch eachother.  The ends were not sealed to ensure airflow into the interior.   Another two layers of plastazote were put on top, then a third on which we repated the process of drawing round the umbrellas and parasols.  You will notice that the boxes are not completely full to allow for the storage of some new parasols in the future. We do have some smaller and larger parasols, and some broken ones that will be packed into another box in a less standard arrangement.

All the parasols and umbrellas were photographed and await the addition of labels which will include their descriptions and photos, after which they should be safely stored for a longtime to come!

layer 1 pre-wrapping

layer 2 pre-wrapping

all wrapped up!

UPDATE!

Here are the parasols / umbrellas with their labels on:

 

 

 

The plastazote was bought from PEL, and we used their Neutral PH Adhesive to glue the supports together.