You will be looking at some examples from the Notebooks of Charles Lyell, one of the originators of modern geology. These notebooks were recently acquired by the University of Edinburgh, and you can view them yourself as students of the university (along with lots of other rare books and materials that we collect)!

Digital images can be accessed on the University of Edinburgh Image Collections site, and this exercise focuses on the digitally available notebook images. From the main page, search for Lyell and then in the Refine panel on the left of the search results click on More under the WHAT heading. Scroll down to labels starting with Notebook No. to filter to digital image collections of specific notebooks.

Lyell's handwriting can be difficult, so you should try reading some of the text but a lot of the exercise is seeing what you can say based on other aspects. Looking at the objects, answer the following questions (you are encouraged to write out some answers after you have finished):

• How does the object look? What is it made from? How big is it? How does its size and shape and material affect how it was likely used?
• How does Lyell use the pages? How is information arranged? Can you identify aspects such as indexes or page markers or headings that would help him use the notebooks? How would these be used?
• A key element of the notebooks was their ability to travel with Lyell. How can you determine where Lyell was when writing with a notebook? How are the features of the places he visited reflected in the organisation and content of the notebooks?
• What is Lyell paying attention to in his travels, and how does he show this in his notebooks?
• What else do you notice? What questions do you have?