400th Anniversary of the Death of Sir Walter Raleigh – October 2018

Posted on 29 October, 2018 by nspeccoll

The morning of the 29^th October marks 400 years since the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh, beheaded at the Palace of Westminster under the auspices of King James I.

Raleigh is perhaps best known in the popular imagination as a courtier and favourite of Queen Elizabeth, and their relationship has often been speculated on and dramatised. Yet Raleigh was also a poet, a writer, a soldier, a sailor, and an adventurer, and embodied the idea of the ‘Renaissance Man’.

Spread from Raleigh's The Prerogative of Parliaments

A two-page spread from our 1628 copy of Raleigh’s The Prerogative of Parliaments in England, showing extensive annotations by a previous owner [Post-Incunabula, PI 328.42 RAL]

Raleigh’s life and career included many of the most events during this turbulent period of national history. Like many gentlemen of his social class, Raleigh gained military experience during the bloody English conquest of Ireland, where he infamously oversaw the massacre of 600 Italian and Spanish soldiers after they had surrendered at the Siege of Smerwick in 1580.

He was also instrumental in England’s early attempts to colonise North America, financing and planning expeditions to the Virginia region throughout the 1580s. The famous ‘Lost Colony’ of Roanoke, where the colonists disappeared with barely a trace, was one of his initiatives. In popular tradition, Raleigh is often attributed to bringing the potato and tobacco to Europe, although there is little historical evidence to suggest this. He did, however, make smoking tobacco popular at court.

As well as sending expeditions to North America, Raleigh was interested in Guiana, in modern-day Guyana and Venezuela. He believed that the fabled ‘El Dorado’ was found there, and that there were mountains of gold to be discovered. He led an expedition there in 1595, but returned to England empty-handed later that year.

After the death of Elizabeth in 1603 and the accession of James I to the throne, Raleigh was arrested for his involvement in the Main Plot against James. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he remained until 1616. It was during his incarceration in the Tower that Raleigh produced most of his prose works.

The title page from our 1652 edition of Raleigh’s The History of the World, showing an engraving of the author. Raleigh wrote the History during his long imprisonment in the Tower of London between 1603-1616. A substantial piece of scholarship, the book mainly deals with Biblical history, and the histories of ancient Greece and Rome [Bradshaw Collection, Bradshaw 930 RAL Folio]

Much of Raleigh’s career was defined by Protestant England’s long conflict with Catholic superpower Spain: his colonisation ventures in the New World would have allowed the English more opportunity to attack Spanish colonies; he surveyed and assessed coastal defences during the Spanish Armada of 1588; he took part in the Capture of Cadiz in 1596, and was a Rear Admiral in another attack on Spain in 1597.

However, on his release from the Tower in 1616, the political landscape had changed, and England’s position was no longer defined by antagonism with Spain. After being pardoned by James, Raleigh led another expedition to Guiana in 1617. His men attacked a Spanish outpost in the area, and Raleigh’s son and namesake Walter was killed in the skirmish. Although they searched for gold, they found none.

When Raleigh returned to England in early 1618, tired and disillusioned, the Spanish ambassador demanded justice for the attack in Guiana. James, eager to avoid a major crisis with Spain, ordered Raleigh’s arrest and execution.

Raleigh was a complex man, living in a complex time. The 400^th anniversary of his death provides us with an opportunity to assess his life, works, and legacy.

A map from our 1628 edition of The History of the World. This is one of the many detailed maps found throughout the book [Sandes Library, Sandes 174]

Agatha Christie and Archaeology – September 2018

Posted on 3 October, 2018 by nspeccoll

Agatha Christie is the world’s best-selling crime novelist; but did you know that she also worked in the field of archaeology alongside her second husband, the distinguished archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan? From the 21^st Century Collection, this month’s treasure is Agatha Christie and Archaeology, edited by Charlotte Trümpler, which celebrates Christie’s relationship with archaeology, exploring what life was like working and travelling around archaeological digs in the Middle East in the 1930s to the 1950s, and detailing the extraordinary relationship between Christie’s books and the field of archaeology.

First published as part of a major exhibition at the British Museum in 2001-02 and translated from German, this book details Christie’s contribution to the excavations led by her husband at various sites in Syria and Iraq, including the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud which has since been destroyed. With reflections from those who worked as part of the excavation teams, the book describes everyday life for Christie and her husband at the digs (including anecdotes of Christie piecing together pottery shards and cleaning ivory fragments using hand lotion and face cream).

Christie photographed many of the finds, some of which are now held in the British Museum. These are explored in the book, as well as details and stills from two films she made of the excavation sites that have never been shown publically. The book also provides photographs of Agatha and Max, in addition to examples of photographs taken by Christie of late-1930s Syria and of Iraq between 1948 and 1958. Demonstrating Christie’s unique perspective on archaeological digs in these areas, Agatha Christie and Archaeology also explores the differences between her attitude to the Orient, and those of previous European travellers in the Middle East, including Gertrude Bell whose extensive archive is held in Special Collections.

Many of Christie’s best-loved and most well-known novels featuring Hercule Poirot, such as Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Murder in Mesopotamia (1935), Death on the Nile (1937) and Appointment with Death (1937), take place in the Middle East and feature settings of archaeological sites; Agatha Christie and Archaeology uncovers some of the little-known connections between the fictional dramas and characters of the novels and their basis on real-life events and people, such as Christie’s own adventurous travels to excavation sites.

Why not visit Special Collections to take a look at some of the examples of Christie’s work held here? There are children’s versions of Death on the Nile and Crooked House in the Booktrust Collection, and the little-known Star Over Bethlehem and Other Stories – a collection of religious stories and poems generally thought to be aimed at children that Christie published under her married name – is held in the Brian Alderson Collection.

In-Tract After all These Years

Posted on 3 September, 2018 by nspeccoll

Cheque found in ‘Mr Mill’s Subjections of Women’, from Joseph Cowen to the London Society for Women’s Suffrage (Cowen Tracts, V.40 n.2)

As students of the Museum and Heritage Studies Masters course at Newcastle University, we recently undertook a 30-day work placement with the Special Collections team at Newcastle University Library. The main focus of this placement was to research and develop a temporary exhibition showcasing some of the archival material held in Special Collections.

This year marks the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which granted some women the right to vote in this country for the very first time, and we decided to take this as our inspiration for the exhibition. Entitled, ‘The North’s Forgotten Female Reformers’, the exhibition celebrates the involvement of Northern women in movements which fought for various causes, including female suffrage, education, homosexual equality and foreign policy.

Researching the exhibition has allowed us to explore a range of archives held in Special Collections but to begin our research, we read some of the printed pamphlets contained in the Cowen (Joseph) Tracts to provide some context and understanding of the attitudes the British public had regarding women’s suffrage and their place in society. Whilst looking for one particular pamphlet entitled, ‘Mr Mill’s Subjection of Women’, we made an interesting and unexpected discovery. Nestled in the first page of this pamphlet – perhaps to mark the page – was a receipt for a cheque for one guinea made out to the London National Society for Women’s Suffrage (LNSWS) from Joseph Cowen himself.

‘Mr Mill’s Subjection of Women’ (Cowen Tracts, V.40 n.2)

The LNSWS was formed in 1867 and was one of the earliest Suffrage societies. Cowen is remembered as a well-known politician and MP for Newcastle upon Tyne who was interested in the social, educational, economic and political issues of his day. The discovery of his cheque is tangible evidence that he was an active supporter of women’s suffrage. The discovery of this item in a volume of Tracts adds further significance, as this collection of tracts was Cowen’s own collection of pamphlets and articles which reflected his personal interest in the social, educational, political and economic issues of the day, including foreign policy, women’s rights, religion, education and public health.

Cowen’s cheque can be seen in the exhibition, ‘The North’s Forgotten Female Reformers’, curated by the two Museum and Gallery Studies students, alongside many other treasures from Newcastle University’s Special Collections and Archives. The exhibition is on show on Level 2 of the Robinson Library from Monday 6^th of August.

Written by two Art Gallery, Museum and Heritage Studies Masters students, Katie Cumming and Mariance Spence, whilst undertaking a 6 week placement to create ‘The Norths Forgotten Female Reformers’ exhibition.

The Sopwith Diaries

Posted on 16 August, 2018 by nspeccoll

Newcastle University Library Special Collections and Archive hold the Thomas Sopwith Diaries covering the period 1828-1879.

Thomas Sopwith (1803-1879), as well as being a successful engineer who contributed extensively to the Victorian railway and mining industries, Thomas Sopwith was the author of a set of diaries that now live in the Special Collections archives.

Born in Newcastle in 1803, Sopwith discovered his love of writing as a teenager, and from the age of 18 kept a careful account of his every move in a series of pocket-sized hardback diaries. With only a few breaks, at times when he was really busy, he continued to write for the next 58 years, creating 168 volumes in total.

Sopwith was passionate about his work, and his dairies are a fastidious account of his meetings, projects and professional engagements. From 1845 to 1871 he was the chief agent of Allenheads lead mines in Durham and felt it would be imprudent to discuss the finer points of his role, reserving his diaries for more personal news.

Before his move to Allenheads, however, he worked as a kind of engineer-about-town, surveying railways, giving evidence in mining enquiries and touring the country with his renowned 3D models of the Forest of Dean coalfields. And documenting it all in often absurd levels of detail in his diaries.

One of the most striking things about the diaries is the sheer number of prominent Victorian figures who make an appearance. Sopwith was good friends with William Armstrong and George and Robert Stephenson and must have known nearly all the major names in science and engineering at the time. One week he might be staying with the Brunel family, the next he’d be dining with the King of Belgium, before travelling round the Norwegian fjords with Robert Stephenson. Sopwith was full of praise for almost everyone he knew and was a man who really valued his friendships.

Page from Sopwith’s diary dated April 1828 (Thomas Sopwith Diaries, TS/1/1)

When he wasn’t hobnobbing with the great and the good, Sopwith spent time at home with his large family. Married three times and widowed twice, Sopwith had eight children (two died in infancy) and doted on them all. His wayward eldest son Jacob caused him a great deal of worry and – spoiler alert – the diaries contain a fair few deaths, often prompting pages of reflection by Sopwith on religion and fate.

Many of his descendants went on to prominent careers themselves; one daughter married an MP, one grandson became the Archdeacon of Canterbury and another was an aircraft designer whose son was a racing car driver.

The diaries are littered with pencil and watercolour sketches and Sopwith often pasted in newspaper cuttings or even a menu from a banquet he attended in Belgium. The handwriting is immaculate and Sopwith’s use of symbols for days of the week, abbreviations and explanatory diagrams shows his love of efficiency.

Page from diary dated 24th April 1828, depicting a watercolour sketch of Abbotsford (Thomas Sopwith Diaries, TS/1/1)

Sopwith’s diaries also give a charming account of middle-class life in Victorian Newcastle. Sopwith was a frequent guest at Mr Donkin’s dinner parties in Jesmond and in the 1840s lived in a house he had had built on St Mary’s Place, nowadays part of Lloyds Bank. He maintained an interest in his family’s furniture-making business and was most indignant to discover that a railway viaduct was to be built right next to his workshop on Painter Heugh, blocking the natural light – a rare case of opposition to the railways.

Pedantic to the extreme, Sopwith’s exacting nature seeps through the pages of his diary in a surprisingly charming manner. From the intricate contents pages and indexes of the volumes themselves to his use of a telescope to make sure the children at Allenheads school turned up on time, Sopwith was nothing if not meticulous.

Index to the notebooks from no.1-no.33, 1829-1842 (Thomas Sopwith Diaries, TS/1/1)

Why did Sopwith keep such detailed diaries? He seems to have really enjoyed the process of recording and reflecting on his daily activities, and frequently mentions his joy in re-reading old passages and remembering old friends.

The diaries are so detailed that it’s hard not to get sucked in to the soap opera of Sopwith’s life. The sometimes dry accounts of his engineering work and academic interests – one diary includes a 13 page report from a lecture on fattening cattle – is always balanced with anecdotes from his family life or his fussy musings on the state of modern society.

Reading the whole set of diaries might be a tall order, but dipping into a volume or two opens up a window onto one of Victorian Newcastle’s most notable figures.

Written by special guest, Mark Sleightholm

Edith Stoney – Unsung hero of the Turbinia story… – July 2018

Posted on 2 August, 2018 by nspeccoll

Letter from Charles Algernon Parsons to George Johnstone Stoney concerning mathematical work undertaken by on the the Stoney’s daughters (GB186/MSA/2/22)

Thank you to the Heaton History Group, whose research into the Stoney family of Heaton solved one of the mysteries in our archive! A fascinating letter in our Manuscript Album (Letter from Charles Algernon Parsons to George Johnstone Stoney concerning mathematical work undertaken by one of Stoney’s daughters’, GB186/MSA/2/22) was obviously about one of the Stoney sisters, but we didn’t know which one. Whilst we still can’t be 100% sure, the Heaton History Group have found evidence that one sister, Edith, worked for the Parsons firm whilst living in Heaton in Newcastle, and all evidence points to Edith as our mystery mathematical genius!

You can read the first installment in March 2016’s Treasure of the Month, ‘The Turbinia Steamship and a mystery in the archives…‘

The following is an extract from the Heaton History Group’s research piece. A full version, which includes their research about all of the Stoney family, including Edith’s brother George who was also connected to the Turbina story, can be seen here.

The Turbinia

Most people in Newcastle have heard of Sir Charles Parsons, the eminent engineer whose invention of a multi-stage steam turbine revolutionised marine propulsion and electrical power generation, making him world famous in his lifetime and greatly respected still. Parsons’ Heaton factory was a huge local employer for many decades. It survives today as part of the global firm, Siemens.

But, of course, Charles Parsons did not make his huge strides in engineering alone. He was ably supported by a highly skilled workforce, including brilliant engineers and mathematicians, some of whom were much better known in their life times than they are today.

One that certainly deserves to be remembered is Edith Anne Stoney. Edith worked for Parsons only briefly but her contribution was crucial. This is her story.

Family background

Dr George Johnstone Stoney (1826-1911), Edith’s father, was a prominent Irish physicist, who was born near Birr in County Offaly. He worked as an astronomy assistant to Charles Parsons’ father, William, at nearby Birr Castle and he later taught Charles Parsons at Trinity College, Dublin. Stoney is best known for introducing the term ‘electron’ as the fundamental unit quantity of electricity. He and his wife, Margaret Sophia, had five children whom they home educated. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Stoney children went on to have illustrious careers. Robert Bindon became a doctor in Australia; Gertrude Rose was an artist; George Gerald was an Engineer (who also worked on Turbina in his career); and Florence Ada (awarded the OBE in 1919), was the first female radiologist in the UK. But it is Edith Anne whose mathematical genius is shown in the fascinating letter we have here at Newcastle University Special Collections.

Edith Anne Stoney

Edith was born on 6 January 1869 and soon showed herself to be a talented mathematician. She won a scholarship to Newham College Cambridge where, in 1893, she achieved a first in the Part 1 Tripos examination. At that time, and for another 50 years afterwards, women were not awarded degrees at Cambridge so she did not officially graduate but she was later awarded both a BA and MA by Trinity College Dublin.

After graduation, Edith came to Newcastle to work for Charles Parsons. In a letter sent by Charles Parson to Edith’s father, George Johnstone Stoney, in 1903. Parsons pays tribute to:

your daughter’s great and original ability for applied mathematics… The problems she has attacked and solved have been in relation to the special curvature of our mirrors for obtaining beams of light of particular shapes. These investigations involved difficult and intricate original calculations, so much so that I must confess they were quite beyond my powers now and probably would have been also when I was at Cambridge… Your daughter also made calculations in regard to the gyrostatic forces brought onto the bearings of marine steam turbines…

It looks like the sort of reference someone might write for a perspective employer except that, a sign of the times, it doesn’t mention Edith by name and is addressed to her father.

Stoney Edith,_Florence,_Johnstone_Stoney

Edith, Florence and George Johnstone Stoney. Image courtesy of Heaton History Group

After working in Heaton, Edith went on to teach mathematics at Cheltenham Ladies’ College and then lecture in physics at the London School of Medicine for Women in London. There she set up a laboratory and designed the physics course.

In 1901, she and her sister, Florence, opened a new x-ray service at London’s Royal Free Hospital and she became actively involved in the women’s suffrage movement as well becoming the first treasurer of the British Federation of University Women, a post she held from 1909-1915.

During WW1, both sisters offered their service to the French Red Cross to provide a state of the art radiological service to the troops in Europe. In the x-ray facilities at a new 250 bed hospital near Troyes in France, planned and operated by her, she used stereoscopy to localise bullets and shrapnel and pioneered the use of x-rays in the diagnosis of gas gangrene, saving many lives.

She was posted to Serbia, Macedonia, Greece and France again, serving in dangerous war zones for the duration of the war. The hospitals in which she worked were repeatedly shelled and evacuated but she continued to do what she considered to be her duty. Her war service was recognised by several countries. Among her awards were the French Croix de Guerre and Serbia’s Order of St Sava, as well as British Victory Medals.

After the war, Edith returned to England, where she lectured at King’s College for Women. In her retirement, she resumed work with the British Federation for University Women and in 1936, in memory of her father and sister, she established the Johnstone and Florence Stoney Studentship, which is still administered by the British Federation of Women Graduates to support women to carry out research overseas in biological, geological, meteorological or radiological science.

Edith Anne Stoney died on 25 June 1938, aged 69. Her importance is shown by the obituaries which appeared in ‘The Times’, ‘The Lancet’ and ‘Nature’. She will be remembered for her pioneering work in medical physics, her wartime bravery and her support for women’s causes. Although her time in Newcastle was brief, she deserves also to be remembered for her contribution to the work in Heaton for which Charles Parsons is rightly lauded.

Thank you to Heaton History Group for this piece.

Link to related article: The-turbina-steamship-and-a-mystery-in-the-archives/

Early Hot Air Balloon – Vincent Lunardi

Posted on 28 July, 2018 by nspeccoll

Illustration of Vincente Lunardi riding in a colourful balloon ascending (going upwards) from the Jardin del Buen Retiro (the public garden) in Madrid on 12th August 1792. — Illustration from Nueva relacion y curioso romance, en que se da cuenta del viage, que el caballero aeronauta don Vicente Lunardi
ha executado desde esta corte al lugar de daganzos de arriba en el globo aerostatico : que para este efecto se le preparo en el real sitio del Buen Retiro el dia 12 de Agosto de 1792. [Robinson 281, Robinson (Marjorie and Philip) Collection]

The note written in Spanish underneath describes the above image, where Vincente Lunardi is riding in a colourful balloon ascending (going upwards) from the Jardin del Buen Retiro (the public garden) in Madrid on 12th August 1792.

Vincente Lunardi was born in Lucca in Italy in 1759. He was an Italian aeronaut, which is someone who travels in an airship or balloon. He gained fame for the first 24 mile hot air balloon flight in England.

In the late 18th century (1700’s) there was a flying craze. There was the first manned free floating balloon flight in France (November 1783) and the first manned, free floating ascent in Scotland by James Tytler (August 1784).

Lunardi’s flight took off from the Honourable Artillery Company ground (an area that contained large weapons) at Moorfields in London. The flight occurred in September 1784 and many gathered at the grounds to watch it. It is claimed that he had to leave his friend, George Biggin behind, due to the crowd’s growing impatience or due to the balloon not inflating enough. Sources state that he had a cat, a dog and a pigeon with him for company. His balloon was very brightly decorated and was inflated by hydrogen gas to make it light enough to fly. He travelled for a total of 24 miles across London and overshadowed James Tytler’s balloon ascent, where he only went upwards from the ground.

Lunardi was nicknamed the ‘Daredevil Aeronaut’ and inspired ladies’ skirts and hats. The ‘Lunardi bonnet’ (a bonnet is a type of hat) is mentioned in a poem by the famous poet Robert Burns called ‘To a Louse’.

He carried out several more balloon flights, including one at the Jardin del Buen Retiro in Madrid in 1792. This was his first air balloon attempt in Spain. Prince Ferdinand of Spain was amongst the people watching and wasn’t very impressed as the balloon rose 300 metres from the ground before falling in the town of Daganzo de Arriba.

This text is originally taken from the Education Outreach team’s ‘Amazing Archives’ resource.

Forbidden Books – June 2018

Posted on 13 June, 2018 by nspeccoll

On 14^th June 1966 the Vatican’s list of forbidden books was officially discontinued, put in a reliquary (a container for holy relics) and covered with a glass bell. Books could still be condemned as immoral by the Catholic Church but it signified an end to being excommunicated (i.e. spiritual damnation) for reading or distributing books that offended the faith or its morals.

Johannes Gutenberg published his Bible in 1455 and this event is thought to have marked the beginning of print history in the Western world. Previously, texts were copied by hand (manuscripts) but the printing press facilitated the mass production of books. As more books were written and reproduced, and came to be more widely disseminated, the spread of subversive and heretical ideas became more difficult to control. In particular, the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648) that was initiated by the German theologian Martin Luther and continued by the French theologian Jean Calvin, generated a significant quantity of polemical works, or rhetoric that was strongly critical of Catholicism. For the purposes of preventing the corruption of ordinary Christians and helping the faithful to establish which books were immoral or which contained theological ‘errors’, the Vatican’s list, the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Prohibited Books), was first published in 1559 under Pope Pius IV. It went through 20 editions, with the last being published in 1948, under Pope Pius XII.

Berkeley, G. Alciphron, or The Minute Philosopher: in seven dialogues: containing an apology for the Christian religion against those who are called free-thinkers (London: printed for J. Tonson, 1732) Bradshaw 192.3 BER.
Alciphron is a dialogue by Irish philosopher George Berkeley. This defence of Christianity found its way into the Index in 1742 and was still included in the final 1948 edition, probably due to Berkeley’s anti-Catholic views. This copy was previously owned by the radical M.P. for Newcastle, Joseph Cowen (1829-1900).

It is important to remember that this was not the only attempt to censor books at this time. European governments also sought to exercise control over printing: in England, the Stationer’s Company received a Royal Charter in 1557 and had the role of regulating the print industry. Only two universities and 21 printers operating in the City of London were licensed to print.

The Index of 1559 banned the complete works of 550 authors as well as some other individual titles. This blacklisting, particularly of work by some Protestant authors, meant that Catholics were denied access to important thinking even in non-theological subjects. Indeed, a large number of philosophers and writers that today are ‘household names’ have appeared in the Index. However, judgements about what constitutes immoral work changes and, over time, not only were new books added to the Index but some were deleted. For example, the opposition to heliocentrism (the astronomical model that places the sun at the centre of the solar system, first championed by Italian polymath Galileo Galilei) was completely dropped in 1835.

Milton, J. Paradise Lost: a poem, in twelve books, 7th ed. (London: printed for Jacob Tonson, 1705) Robinson 61.
Paradise Lost, by the English poet and civil servant John Milton, is considered by many to be the greatest epic poem in English and it continues to influence English Literature today. It was first published in 1667 but did not appear in the Index until 1758 despite it attempting to reconcile pagan with Christian tradition and depicting a tyrannical God. It was still listed in the 1948 edition of the Index. This copy was previously owned by the satirist, poet and strict Catholic, Alexander Pope (1688-1744).

Some of the major intellectual figures whose works were in the Index include: Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543); French writer Voltaire (1694-1778); Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778); Scottish empiricist David Hume (1711-1776); and French feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986).

Extract from Darwin, E. Zoonomia, or, The laws of organic life (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1794-96) Pyb.N.v.17.
Zoonomia by the British physician, Erasmus Darwin, was first published in 1794. In it, Darwin sets out laws describing animal life and catalogues diseases and their treatments. Darwin formulates one of the first formal theories of evolution (which would later be developed by his grandson, Charles Darwin). Zoonomia was banned in 1817 and remained in the final edition of the Index. Whilst people were told about the bans, the reasons why books were banned were not explained. In this instance, it is likely that Darwin’s rejection of Biblical chronology was the reason. This copy had been presented to an unidentified former owner – probably the East Kent & Canterbury Medical Library whose stamps are on the title page – by an Anglican priest called William Champneys (1807-1875) and later found its way into the library of Newcastle surgeon, Professor Frederick Pybus (1883-1975).

Darwin, E. Zoonomia, or, The laws of organic life (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1794-96) Pyb.N.v.17.

Gibbon, E. The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, 2nd ed. (London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Caddell, 1776-88) RB 824.67 GIB.
Banned in 1783, Edward Gibbon’s six-volume work on The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire drew heavily on primary sources, providing a model for later historians. Gibbon was accused of being a ‘paganist’, influenced by Voltaire (many of whose works were listed in the Index) and thinking that Christianity had hastened the fall of the Roman Empire.

Yet, there were some omissions that might be surprising. English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882); German revolutionary socialist Karl Marx (1818-1883); German philosopher and atheist Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900); English writer D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930); and Irish novelist James Joyce (1882-1941) are among those people whose work escaped the Index. Whilst the views expressed by such authors were unacceptable to the Catholic Church, their work was either considered heretical and therefore was automatically forbidden, or, did not meet the primary criteria for banning books: anticlericalism and immorality.

Marx, K. and Engels, F. Manifesto of the Communist Party (London: William Reeves, 1888) RB 335 SOC(17).
Originally published in London, in 1848, the Manifesto of the Communist Party takes an analytical approach to explaining class struggles and the problems of capitalism and capitalist production. It has both been praised as one of the most influential texts of the Nineteenth Century and criticised for homogenising the working classes. It has also been argued that its authors, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, were influenced by the work of John Milton, who had some works listed in the Index. Marx described religion as “the opium of the people”, giving false hope to the working class. The Manifesto was never included in the Index.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service – April 2018

Posted on 26 April, 2018 by nspeccoll

E.M. Bettenson, “Dr. Martin Luther King,” announcement, 22 April, 1968 (University Archives, NUA/00-7621/3/21)

April 2018 marked the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of the civil rights campaigner, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Shortly after 6pm on 4^th April 1968, King was short dead in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. Following the news of King’s assassination, Newcastle University Registrar, Ernest Bettenson announced that the University “deeply deplored” the killing and “we are flying our flag at half-mast to show our deepest regret and sympathy for Dr. King’s family…” (‘City Students Pay Tribute to Dr. King,’ E-Chronicle, April 5, 1968, p.1).

The world was shocked and press quickly took to reporting the hunt for King’s killer. The press in Newcastle also joined the rest of the nation through extensive coverage of the murder, the riots that then ensued in the United States and the hunt for King’s killer. Two months after King’s assassination, on 8^th June 1968, James Earl Ray was arrested in London, which later led to his trial and conviction.

Just five months prior to his assassination, on 13^th November 1967, King made a fleeting visit to Newcastle. Staying just seven hours in the City, to receive an Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law from the University (the only University to do so during his lifetime) and delivered a powerful, impromptu speech. King spoke about many challenges that still remain with us today. He linked the African American freedom struggle to developments in contemporary British race relations and issued a call for people to confront global challenges of war, poverty and racism. This would be his last public address outside the US before his assassination. You can read the full details of the day of King’s visit to Newcastle University in this digital exhibition.

Photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. receiving his Honorary Degree in King’s Hall –
just 5 months before his assassination (University Archives, NUA/052589-12)

To remember Martin Luther King, Newcastle University organised a Memorial Service to honour King’s visit and curate his lasting legacy. On 26^th April 1968, Vice Chancellor Charles Bosanquet delivered this Service and gave a moving eulogy for staff and students at St. Thomas’ Church, Haymarket in Newcastle. Bosanquet spoke of King’s visit to the University. He personally expressed the experience he had when King arrived, where they spoke about King’s beliefs and policies surrounding radical equality, poverty, the war in Vietnam and the situation in Britain. King told Bosanquet that “we should bestir ourselves to ensure early and full acceptance of coloured people in Britain as equal citizens”.

Charles Bosanquet, Page 2 from his Address at the Memorial Service for Dr. Martin Luther King

Charles Bosanquet, Pages 1 & 2 from his Address at the Memorial Service for Dr. Martin Luther King, 26 April, 1968 (University Archives, NUA/00-7621/3/4)

The University went on to remember his legacy through a series of events, including Martin Luther King Memorial Lectures, the first delivered on 12th October 1972, when Trevor Huddleston (Bishop of Stepney) spoke on ‘Race Relations in a Hungry World’, as well memorial conferences and the unveiling of Dr. Martin Luther King’s statue in the King’s Quad to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of his visit to the University.

On 26^th April 2018, St. Thomas’ Church is holding a Memorial Service to honour Dr. Martin Luther King, 50 years to the day that the 1968 Service took place.

The Blaydon Brick: Joseph Cowen

Posted on 5 April, 2018 by nspeccoll

Newcastle University Library’s Special Collections holds pamphlets and books that were formerly owned by Joseph Cowen Jnr. (1829-1900). Joseph Cowen was an M.P. for Newcastle upon Tyne, he supported cultural institutions in the region. The family brickworks was inspired by his nickname, ‘the Blaydon Brick’.

The below material are highlights from the ‘Blaydon Brick: Joseph Cowen‘ exhibition which was on display in the Philip Robinson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne. It draws upon the pamphlets and books as well as portraits, speeches and cartoons from other collections, to explore Joseph Cowen’s political career.

The Cowens

The Cowen family moved from Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in Northumberland to Stella on Tyneside soon after the Reformation and dissolution of the monasteries. Looking for a safe haven, the Catholic Cowens found themselves in the shelter of the prosperous Tempest family of Stella Hall, near Blaydon. Eventually, after establishing his family and various successful businesses around Blaydon Burn, Joseph Cowen Senior would buy Stella Hall…

The Cowens found work at Sir Ambrose Crowley’s steelworks at Winlaton. Crowley was an exceptional employer for that era, providing free schooling for the children of the village, and paying for a doctor to treat his employees and their families. He also established a fund to support workers forced to stop working due to age or disability. Crowley’s practices clearly had an impact on the Cowens. The factory closed in 1816.

Photo of Crowley tombstone.
From M. W. Flinn, Men of Iron: The Crowleys in the Early Iron Industry (1962) (338.273 FLI, Philip Robinson Library)

Joseph Cowen Senior (1800-1873) was born at Greenside, near Blaydon, and
worked as a chain maker in Ambrose Crowley’s factory. Interested in the social conditions of his fellow workers, he became a member of ‘Crowley’s Clan’, the tightly-knit group of Crowley’s employees protecting workers’ rights.

By 1850, Joseph Cowen Senior had become a successful businessman and bought Stella Hall, the former home of the Tempest family which had offered his ancestors a refuge during the Reformation.

Stella Hall was essentially an Elizabethan house with 18th century additions. The last member of the Cowen family, Jane, died in 1948 and the house was demolished in 1953. The only remaining part of the Hall is now known as the Grade II-listed Stella Hall Cottage.

Cowen bookplate. The Library of Reason
Most of the books in our Cowen Tracts contain his engraved booklate, showing a Bewick-like view of Stella Hall with the spire of Newcastle’s St Nicholas’ Casthedral in the background.

In 1853 Cowen was elected to the Newcastle Municipal Council and became Liberal MP for the city in 1865.

His son, Joseph Cowen Junior (1829-1900) was born at Blaydon Burn House, Blaydon. After private education in Burnopfield, he attended Edinburgh University, where he became interested in European revolutionary political movements, influenced by his teacher, Scottish preacher Dr. John Richie. Richie was a fearless radical and fiery orator and influenced Joseph’s social conscience.

Portrait of Joseph Cowen Junior (1829–1900)

The Blaydon Brick

In 1828, Cowen Senior went into business with his brother-in-law Anthony Forster to manufacture fire bricks, under the company name Joseph Cowen & Co. The business quickly developed, helped by the superior quality of the local fireclay.

On returning from Edinburgh, Joseph Junior took a very active role in the family business and workers’ conditions. His developing interest in domestic politics and revolutionary European politics was also evident; his views were much stronger than his father’s.

Cowen Junior became a frequent speaker at workers’ trade clubs and mechanics’ institutes, reputedly speaking at every colliery village in Northumberland and Durham. His skills as an orator were widely recognised later in his life when he became an MP. He himself built up an extensive library of speeches by others, and his own speeches were collected in various volumes.

From the Nineteenth Century, industrial development expanded rapidly along the Blaydon Burn to include a number of industries related to the processing of coal. The supply of cheap local fuel and good transport links led to the development of coke works, steelworks, iron foundries, and brickworks, making Blaydon Burn one of the most industrialised parts of the region.

Cowen bricks, made from the superior clay found in the area, can still be found in parts of Blaydon Burn Nature Reserve. They are easily recognisable, with the prominent ‘COWEN’ stamp.

Photograph of the Cowen brick walkway at Roche Harbour, San Juan Island, Washington, USA Cowen bricks were exported all over the world and can still be seen in many locations.

Short in stature and uncouth in appearance, Cowen spoke with a distinctive Tyneside burr. When he entered Parliament in 1874, after the death of his father, his manner initially shocked members of the House of Commons. Eventually, his genuine eloquence established him as one of the best-known politicians in the country. He became known as the ‘Blaydon Brick’ – a reference to his physical appearance, attitude, and, of course, the family business in Blaydon.

This satirical cartoon (below) shows Cowen astride his political ‘support’ – various bricks named after his extensive business interests (bricks, fire clay, the Tyne Theatre, and the Newcastle Daily Chronicle).

‘After the ballot’ [A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons, referring to election in Northumberland, Necwcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826-1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)

Cowen and Domestic Politics

Cowen, a formidable political force in the North East, represented Newcastle upon Tyne as its Liberal MP from 1874–1886. In 1858 he established the Northern Reform Union and, in 1867, was Chair of the Manhood Suffrage Committee. These organisations shared a common ambition to bring about reform, particularly through extended enfranchisement (the right to vote). On Tyneside particularly, Cowen helped to politicise the miners and to bring reformers from the middle and working classes together. (He counted Robert Spence Watson, a social and education reformer from Bensham Grove in Gateshead, among his friends.)

Cowen encouraged political debate and persuaded communities to participate in local, national and even international political struggles. His independence, and his support of an Irish Parliament and Home Rule, brought him into conflict with the Liberal caucus and split the party into radical and moderate factions.

The death of the incumbent MP, Joseph Cowen Snr., occasioned a Newcastle upon Tyne by-election on 14 January 1874.

The by-election was won by the Liberal candidate, Joseph Cowen Junior, who defeated the Conservative, Charles Frederic Hamond, with a majority of 1,003. This cartoon depicts the scales of justice weighing the votes, with Hamond tying casks of beer to the
Conservative scalepan in a bid to tip the balance.

This is significant because the Liberals (led by William Ewart Gladstone) were not united: the education policies upset nonconformists; trade union laws and restrictions on drinking upset the working-class; and the party was divided over Irish Home Rule. Parliament was dissolved just nine days after the Newcastle by-election, prompting another contested election. Again Cowen won but, this time, those supporting a more moderate faction of the Liberal party supported Thomas Emerson Headlam. Despite winning the popular vote, the Liberals lost the general election to the Conservatives (led by Benjamin Disraeli). Newcastle upon Tyne was one of few constituencies to remain under Liberal control.

‘Weighed in the balance and found wanting’
[A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons,
referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside
divisions, 1826–1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)

In the Nineteenth Century, the word ‘caucus’ was widely used, particularly in reference to the highly-structured system of management and control within the Liberal Party. The Liberal caucus was vilified by socialists and trade unionists who found their route to parliamentary representation blocked by the party’s management structures.

In this cartoon (below), the caucus is depicted as a group of insignificant people who want their candidates to think and speak as they do. The caucus is backing another Liberal candidate, Ashton Wentworth Dilke, but is prepared to offer Joseph Cowen a role as Dilke’s colleague. The people of Tyneside, however, are firmly and loudly behind Cowen. Cowen’s oration, 1 February 1880, is a rejection of Gladstone’s Liberalism in favour of the pursuit of radical principles.

‘Master Joseph offends the caucus…’
[A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons,
referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826–1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)

Gladstone was anti-imperialist, whereas Cowen was an imperialist who supported the Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli’s foreign policy. Cowen was returned to Parliament in the 1880 election (Cowen 11,766 votes; Dilke 10,404 votes; and the Conservative candidate Hamond 5,271 votes). When the 1885 general election was held Cowen, still popular on Tyneside, campaigned and won without the support of the Liberal caucus. However, his clashes with the Liberal Party would soon cause him to retire from politics.

Cowen and International Politics

In the wider political sphere, Cowen was an ardent supporter of European revolutionary movements. He championed their causes in Britain through the press and fundraising campaigns, and directly assisted their movements by smuggling propaganda and clandestine material into Europe in consignments of bricks. He counted many of the key revolutionaries of the time as his friends, and organised their visits to Tyneside.

Despite his radical views, Cowen was also a supporter of British imperial ambitions. As with his domestic politics, his views on imperial policies caused considerable tension between him and the Liberal Party. The Russian Empire in particular was seen by Cowen as being not only a threat to the British Empire, but also to the freedom of other European peoples.

Cowen delivered a speech in the Town Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne (1880) titled ‘The Foreign Policy of England‘ (M082 PAM Sundries III, John Theodore Merz Collection) This speech by Cowen highlights his antagonism towards the Russian Empire and his call for freedom for peoples oppressed by the Russians, particularly the Poles.

Cowen helped Polish-Hungarian refugees who had arrived in the country in 1851, including a group who settled on Tyneside. He organised public meetings, speeches, and collections for Polish exiles. Cowen was also involved in more clandestine activities, such as assisting the efforts of the Polish Democratic Society, a radical political organisation, by arranging for funds, arms, and propaganda to be smuggled to Eastern Europe. He destroyed much of his correspondence with the revolutionaries in order to obscure his involvement in their affairs.

Cowen came under attack within the Liberal Party over his imperialist views. For example, he supported the Tory government’s pro-Ottoman stance during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), as the Ottomans were a useful counterweight to Russian power. However, the Liberals strongly campaigned against Ottoman support due to atrocities committed in Bulgaria by Ottoman forces.

In this Liberal cartoon (below), the ‘Russian Bear’ ridicules Cowen for his apparent hypocrisy as ‘Freedom’s Priest’. The Bear remarks that, while Cowen may comment on the Russian treatment of the Poles, Cowen supported ‘the Jew’ to ‘rob and murder little Afghan’. The Bear was referencing Jewish Tory Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80).

‘Birds of a Feather’
[A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons, referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826–1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)

Cultural Activities: The Route to Citizenship

Cowen’s desire for an expanded franchise (right to vote) also manifested itself through the facilitation of cultural activities. Cowen believed in the necessity of an educated democracy and saw participation in cultural activities as pathways to full citizenship. He thought that self-improvement, through intellectual activities and enjoyment of performing arts, would lead to an expanded democracy.

Cowen served on the committee of the Arts Association of Newcastle upon Tyne and took leading roles in the founding of the Tyne Theatre and Opera House and Newcastle Public Library Service. By the early-Twentieth Century, the working-class had a prominent culture in Newcastle.

Joseph Cowen recognised that the press could be an effective way of promoting his radical brand of politics. He bought the Newcastle Chronicle in 1859. The newspaper was already well-established as a political vehicle, with a middle-class readership and influence over the Whigs. (The Whigs were a political party that, by the Nineteenth Century, drew support from emerging industrial interests and supported the supremacy of Parliament over the monarchy, free trade, Catholic emancipation, the abolition of slavery and extending the vote.) He invested heavily in the paper, including a new rotary press, and re-launched it as the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle.

The repeal of tax on advertisements, duty on paper, and stamp on news led to the increased production of newspapers and Cowen took full advantage. Sports reports, serialised literature, and features on mining communities and co-operatives attracted new readers: by 1873, daily sales exceeded 40,000. But Cowen was on a mission to inform and educate his readers and kept them up to date with issues such as the Polish struggle against Russian oppression and with the fight for Home Rule in Ireland.

Cowen used the newspaper to: garner support for the establishment of a College of Science in Newcastle; sell the benefits of his Co- Operative Union; publicise the take-up, by prospective employees, of shares in the Ouseburn [engineering] Works; highlight the plight of female agricultural workers; subsidise the Italian revolutionary general Garibaldi; and, generally, to promote radical causes. The Chronicle press allowed him to influence public opinion significantly.

The ‘Carrion Chro’ verse (below) plays on the word ‘crow’ to make a derogatory statement about Cowen’s Chronicle. Carrion crows are noisy birds that perch on vantage points and beat their wings slowly but deliberately. They actively harass predators and competitors and can engage in mobbing behaviour. Carrion crows are scavengers. In making this comparison, the author of the poem accuses Cowen of running stories that feed on a festering underlife: ‘Manslaughters & murders, elopements & rapes, / Divorces & scandals …. quack med’cine & betting’. The Chronicle, says the poem’s author, is Cowen’s vehicle for engaging ‘the mob’.

‘The Carrion Chro’
[A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons, referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826–1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)

Joseph Cowen co-founded the Tyne Theatre and Opera House. Thomas Forster (solicitor) and George Stanley (an actor-manager that ran the Tyne Concert Hall on Neville Street) wanted to build a theatre in Newcastle that would satisfy public taste for spectacle. When the city magistrates denied Stanley a licence to stage drama, Cowen was incensed, went into partnership with Stanley and financed the building of the Tyne Theatre and Opera House on Westgate Road. The money and, possibly, the building materials, came from Cowen’s Blaydon Brickworks.

The theatre opened on 23rd September 1867 with Dion Boucicault’s Arrah-Na-Pogue: a melodramatic tale of misadventure, villainy and romance, set during the Irish rebellion of 1798. The play’s theme – the struggle for Irish independence – is aligned with Cowen’s support of Irish nationalists. It played to full houses.

Stanley managed the theatre with a stock company until 1881. During this period, and in the decades to come, the theatre became a venue for staging bold, socially-motivated dramas, as well as functioning as a forum for controversial debates. Richard William Younge managed the theatre in the 1880s and provided free shows for poor children and members of the bird conservation society, the Dicky Bird Society.

Photograph, Tyne Theatre, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, c.1900 (008908, Newcastle City Libraries)

In 1870, Dr Henry Newton took up his late father’s campaign for a public library. Joseph Cowen’s commitments to democracy and to educating the people motivated him to take a leading role in supporting the cause, especially through the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle. The lending library was temporarily housed in the Mechanic’s Institute until the opening of the first public library building in Newcastle, in 1880. This library was built on New Bridge Street West and was later extended with the construction of the Laing Art Gallery.

Newcastle was late in establishing a public library. The Public Libraries Act had been passed in 1850, with The Royal Museum and Public Library in Salford being the first to open in the UK, in 1850. Philanthropists (people that perform deeds for public good, or ‘dogooders’) seeking to ‘improve the public’ campaigned for public libraries in the face of opposition from the Conservatives, who feared the cost implications and the potential for social transformation.

Engraving depicting Newcastle Library in the 19th century (ILL/11/198, Local Illustrations)

Newcastle’s Library of the Literary and Philosophical Society had been established as a conversation club in 1793 but it has always been a subscription library. When it opened, the rate of membership was one guinea (roughly £58.83 in today’s spending worth). This was beyond the financial reach of working people. In 1855, the rate for using a public library was one penny and, in 1919, reform of the public libraries made them free to use.

Joseph Cowen was the first person to borrow a book from the new library. The book that was issued to him was On Liberty by J.S. Mill, 1859 (M323.44 MIL, John Theodore Merz Collection) in which the philosopher J.S. Mill sets out his ideas on the relationship between authority and liberty. It was a hugely influential work that continues to underpin liberal political thought today.

Cowen’s Legacy

Cowen could be said to have advanced the primacy of urban environments. He saw the concentration of people as a strength because larger populations were less vulnerable to being oppressed by the elite. Industrialised cities, he said, brought the benefits of economic growth, science and medicine and the possibilities of liberty and social elevation to everyone.

As the MP for Newcastle upon Tyne, he represented the town and then city (Newcastle became a city on 3 June 1882). However, in campaigning for better housing and social welfare reform, in championing workers’ unions and in encouraging self-improvement through the provision of Co-operatives, libraries, places of learning, mining and mechanics institutes and public entertainment, he arguably embodied the spirit of Newcastle.

Cowen’s Library

Books and pamphlets that were owned by Joseph Cowen were given to Newcastle University in 1950. Almost 2,000 pamphlets from his private library have been kept together in Special Collections, in a collection called the Cowen (Joseph) Tracts.

Pamphlets were an effective form of public debate because they could be widely distributed and their authors could hide behind anonymity. The Cowen Tracts discuss such issues as: Irish politics; foreign policy; women’s rights; education; and public health.

These tracts, like all of our Special Collections holdings, can be used by anyone that has an interest – even if they are not a member of the University and its library. The books, many being literary works, were dispersed across various collections as well as the general holdings of the University Library.

Lifelong Learning Centre

Joseph Cowen lends his name to the Joseph Cowen Lifelong Learning Centre, in Newcastle. The Centre has changed its location several times over the course of its existence. In the 1960s, it was based at Barras Bridge, in the building seen on the right of the photograph below.

Today, the centre has charitable status and aims to provide opportunities for lifelong learning across the North East. It achieves this through a programme of talks, workshops and visits (called Explore) that are open to all adults, irrespective of their knowledge and qualifications.

The link between Cowen and education is a strong one: he had been Chairman of the Education League in Newcastle; and advocated for the availability and quality of education for all, most notably for non- Sectarian education and extending education beyond primary school for working class children. He donated money to support Mechanics’ Institutes, reading rooms and libraries. He also played a role in the establishment of a College of Physical Science in Newcastle (now Newcastle University).

Photograph of Barras Bridge, Newcastle (c.1965) (Newcastle University Archives)

Joseph Cowen Chair of English Literature

The first Chair of English Literature was established at Newcastle University (then it was known as the College of Physical Science) in 1898. It is an endowed chair, founded by the family of Joseph Cowen. Ever since 1909, it has been officially called the Joseph Cowen Chair of English Literature.

Peter Ure held the Joseph Cowen Professor of English Language and Literature at Newcastle University 1960–1969.

Ex Libris bookplate for the Peter Ure Collection

Electoral Reform

Cowen demonstrated his commitment to democracy by being a staunch advocate of electoral reform, particularly in 1867 when he was heavily involved in the campaign for the Second Reform Bill. He was also a vocal supporter of women’s suffrage at the time of the 3rd Reform Bill. He played a leading role in securing an amendment to the Bill when it was discovered that it disadvantaged miners who could not meet the complex property qualifications for the vote.

‘Nottingham election: the hustings in the Market-Place’ in The Illustrated London News (May 19, 1866) (19th C. Coll. 030 ILL Folio, 19th Century Collection)

Community Relations

Cowen fostered harmonious relationships between local people and ‘minorities’ who settled in the region (most notably the Irish community who experienced extreme prejudice and hostility in many other British towns and cities – Liverpool, Glasgow and London, for example). He challenged the various Irish Coercion Acts in the House of Commons in the early 1880s and pledged his support for Irish Home Rule long before Gladstone presented it as official Liberal policy. His attitude to migrants remains a cornerstone of the region’s reputation for fairmindedness and tolerance.

‘The division in the House of Commons on the Irish Home Rule’
question’ in The Illustrated London News (June 12, 1886) (19th C. Coll. 030 ILL Folio, 19th Century Collection)

Statue of Joseph Cowen

Cowen is commemorated by a bronze statue in Newcastle city centre, which can be found opposite the Tyne Theatre, at the junction of Westgate Road and Fenkle Street. The statue was erected in 1906 and was funded by public subscription. It was created by renowned Scottish sculptor John Tweed.

Statue of Joseph Cowen

We would like to thank Dr Joan Allen for her contribution to this
exhibition.

Janet – March 2018

Posted on 7 March, 2018 by nspeccoll

Stored in the Bloodaxe archive in the Robinson Library there is a note written in the margins of the manuscript of Ken Smith’s poetry collection, ‘The Poet Reclining’ from 1977, one of Bloodaxe Book’s first publications:

‘pity Janet, you’ve done it again!’

References to ‘Janet’ continue to appear frequently in the editorial marginalia, minutes and notes. As part of her practice-based PhD research, Kate Sweeney has decided to build a ‘Janet’ – from traces of administration ephemera found in the archive. An amalgamated, chimerical idea of a ‘Janet’ from paper. From the margins, notes and minutes, but mainly from the post-its – a part of the archive and Apart from the archive – much like Janet herself…

…

‘Treasure of the Month’

This month’s treasure is Janet. Janet seeps through on post-its pressed upon other people. A part and apart, her stickiness is temporary, her yellow glow fleets over faces. She is deeply disposable unless undetected – then, she slips off her sheet, off her box and into the archive…

Image: Post-it note attached to material in The Bloodaxe Archive, contained in BXB/4/5/1 and stored in Special Collections at The Robinson Library.