Consists of: Professional and personal letters, both to and from Joseph Crawhall II. Pencil, ink and watercolour sketches created by Joseph Crawhall II, some including annotations. Various printed ephemera from a variety of authors. Various leaflets, notifications, invitations, cards and reciepts relating to Joseph Crawhall II. A collection of woodblock pulls from a selection of original woodblocks created by Joseph Crawhall II. Letters and sketches relating to George Edward Crawhall, brother of Joseph Crawhall II. A genealogical scrapbook relating to the Crawhall family.

The Local Illustrations date from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries and depict a variety of local scenes and structures, such as schools, hospitals, residences, castles and churches. There are views of Newcastle, Durham, Northumberland, Sunderland; portraits; depictions of local life (keelmen playing cards) and a plan of the Grainger Market, Newcastle.

The Bradshaw-Bewick Collection contains works by and relating to the engraver Thomas Bewick (1753-1828). Bewick was born at Cherryburn, near Mickley, Northumberland and his early interest in drawing, under the tuition of the Reverend C. Gregson, was later developed when he was apprenticed under the Newcastle engraver, Ralph Beilby. He was to become a master craftsman.Bewick had a particular fascination with the natural world and this is reflected in works such as A general history of quadrupeds (1790) and History of British birds (1797). The collection is strong in Bewick's other main area of interest - morals and fables. His Select fables (1784) was immediately popular and ran into several editions but he worked on many small moral instruction books, such as Youth's instructive and entertaining story-teller (1778) and The looking-glass for the mind (1792).

The archive comprises mainly correspondence addressed to Sir Walter and his first wife Pauline Lady Trevelyan nee Paulina Jermyn. The letters reflect the couple's interests in natural history, botany, geology, antiquities, travel, temperance, phrenology, art and literature, and include examples from many well known contemporaries.

There is also material relating to the history of the Trevelyan family, accumulated during Walter and Charles Edward Trevelyan's preparation of 'The Trevelyan Papers' for publication.

The archive also features diaries and journals, sketchbooks, notes for speeches and scrapbooks. There is material relating to the North East of England, including proposed railways, Tyne crossings at Hexham and decoration of the Great Hall at Wallington.

This is a small collection comprising 26 volumes of printed music and books about music, dating from the Eighteenth and early-Nineteenth Centuries, from the library of the late Hugh Vernon (d. 1975), including An account of the musical performances in Westminster-Abbey, and the Pantheon: May 26th, 27th, 29th; and June the 3d, and 5th, 1784. In commemoration of Handel by Charles Burney (1785) and the undated The Cuckoo: A Pastoral Ballad set by Mr Arne, Sung at Vauxhall by Mrs Weichsel [Mrs Frederika Weichsel is recorded as having performed at Vauxhall Gardens, London, and was reportedly a pupil of J.S. Bach].

19th Century printed ephemera, much of which originates from North East England.

Daguerreotypes were an early form of photography which did not permit reproduction therefore the images on the plates are unique. The daguerreoytypes in Special Collections have particular significance because among them are the first-known photographic images of Niagara Falls and the Clifton Hotel, taken in 1840 by metallurgical chemist and industrialist, Hugh Lee Pattinson (1796-1858) who was Gertrude Bell's great-grandfather.

There are also two daguerreotypes depicting Rome which are signed 'Lerebours'. The daguerreotypes have deteriorated: the plates exhibit signs of spotting, surface scratches, there are cracks in the glass and the plates have oxidised but they have been conserved and digitised.

Consists of 42 prints made from James Gillray's original engravings and documents relating to Newcastle University's acquisition of the prints.

The Crawhall Collection is a wonderfully-diverse and visual collection of material by and relating to local businessman, artist and patron of the arts, Joseph Crawhall II (1821-1896). The published book portion of this collection comprises of 23 volumes and includes chapbooks, such as Olde ffrendes with newe faces (1883), A Jubilee Thought (1887) and Old Aunt Elspa's ABC [1884].