Montage of subjects photographed by Michael Peto
Images from the collections featuring females
Images from the collections featuring WW1 material
Collection of archival images including Rector Stephen Fry

The collections

The collections cover a broad range of interests and everyone is welcome to use them.

Most of the collections are listed in our online catalogue. The subject sheets also provide a convenient way of finding material relating to a particular topic, such as shipping, women, medicine and the World Wars.

Procession of academics

The University Collections date from 1881 to the present day. They comprise records of the University of Dundee and its predecessor institutions, University College and Queen's College. They also include the records of merged institutions, including Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and the College of Education.

The records cover the administrations of the institutions and the activities, both formal and informal, of staff and students.
Female textile workers at loomsThe Manuscript Collections contain the records of businesses, societies and organisations, churches, families and individuals. They comprise administrative, legal and personal papers, ephemera, maps, plans, photographs, film and audio. Over 100 of the collections relate to the jute and linen industry in Dundee and West Bengal, India.

Extract from Brechin Diocese Book of Hours 'Flight into Egypt'Ecclesiastical collections include the Brechin Diocesan Manuscripts and Library collection, the Glasite and Sandemanian Church and the Arbroath and Montrose Methodist Church.

The collections cover over 600 years and include records of individuals and churches. They contain sermons and discourses, correspondence, diaries, transcripts of baptismal and other registers, plans and photographs

Elevations of Montrose AsylumThe NHS Tayside Archive contains the records of many hospitals and other medical institutions, including Dundee Royal Infirmary, Dundee Royal Lunatic Asylum and Sunnyside Royal Asylum, Montrose. Other records include the Dundee General and Mental Hospitals Boards of Management.

The collections include administrative records, and those of staff and patients. Please note that clinical records are closed for 100 years

 

Self portrait of photographer Michael PetoThe Peto Collection contains over 120,000 images taken by the Hungarian photo-journalist Michael Peto (1908-1970). Major themes include pre and post-war Britain; the arts, especially the London ballet scene; Cambridge Prospect Theatre Productions, Eastern Europe, Israel and India.

The collection contains images of musicians from the Beatles, to Louis Armstrong to Benjamin Britten, of icons of film and theatre such Ian McKellen, Maggie Smith and Richard Burton, of political figures such as Nelson Mandela, Khrushchev and Winston Churchill, as well as literary figures like Hugh MacDiarmid, Alan Bennett and Iris Murdoch.

Peto was also prolific in capturing scenes of the every-day, from Welsh miners to street vendors in India, of cafe culture and families.
Dr Torrance speaking to patients in PalestineOur photographic collections are of local and national significance, including the Turner-McKinlay Photographic Collection comprising over 15,000 images created by the University. Other major collections include the Torrance collection, which focuses on the Middle East and India, as well as Europe and the Americas, and the Alex Coupar and Dundee Rep collections
Extract of Plan of Springfield, DundeeMaps and plans comprise over 10,000 items from the manuscript and University collections and offer visual insights into local and national development, into places, buildings, industry and transport.

‌‌Extract of cover, 2000AD, 1980Comic strips and cartoons, superheroes and scallywags, satire and social comment - you'll find them all in our comics collections. Ranging from comic strips in the 'Dundee Free Press' to complete runs of 2000AD and other Marvel and DC titles, this resource is proving invaluable to leisure researchers, undergraduates, postgraduates and academics.

Women seatedOral history collections

We advise and help individuals and organisations doing oral history projects, and actively engage in the creation of oral history collections, such as the University of Dundee Oral History project and the Strathmartine Hospital History project.

Cover of Diaries and Letters from IndiaSpecial collections

The Kinnear Local Collection contains a substantial number of local books and newspapers including many rare items. The Joan Auld Memorial Collection relates to British labour, social and shipping history. It was established in memory of the first university archivist. Other special collections include the Brechin Library and the Glasite collection. As with the archives, all books can be consulted on a reference-only basis in the Archives.