Books for Everyone? National Trust Libraries and their Reading Communities in the Long Eighteenth Century
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Sch of History
Abstract
This studentship seeks to shed new light on one of the country's great - yet under-researched - book collections. The National Trust owns over 140 historic libraries, which together contain around 400,000 books. Many of these remain in situ in the houses where they were originally brought together and read. Focusing on five NT libraries in the North West of England and North Wales, this project explores important questions relating to the social, cultural and political history of books in the long eighteenth century.
Organisations
| Description | RHS Adam Matthew Digital Collections Subscriptions (1 year subscription to the database) |
| Amount | £0 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Royal Historical Society |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2020 |
| End | 08/2021 |
| Description | Training Grant for London Rare Books School |
| Amount | £1,290 (GBP) |
| Organisation | North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) |
| Sector | Multiple |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2022 |
| End | 07/2022 |
| Description | Women's History Network Small Grants Scheme (Postgraduate) |
| Amount | £250 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Women's History Network |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Global |
| Start | 01/2022 |
| End | 01/2022 |
| Description | CILIP Library and Information History Newsletter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A short piece for the CILIP Library and Information History group on female readers in eighteenth-century libraries. The piece reflected on a conference presentation I gave at the group's annual conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.cilip.org.uk/resource/group/6ea15dad-36c6-42ee-8a1c-cca65f310664/newslette... |
| Description | Conference Organiser - Power and Patriarchy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Supported by the Women's History Network, this interdisciplinary, two-day conference will bring together early career practitioners and researchers to place the country house in conversation with current feminist, queer, anti- and decolonial discourse. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://powerandpatriarchy.wordpress.com/ |
| Description | Conference Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Conference panel on reading and reflecting. My talk was titled 'A book is either the best treasure, or the greatest evil': The Circulation and Readership of Conduct Literature in National Trust Libraries, 1680-1830. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Conference Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation at a Women's Studies Group Seminar - 'A book is either the best treasure, or the greatest evil': The Circulation and Readership of Conduct Literature in National Trust Libraries, 1680-1830. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Conference Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation for the WHN Studying Herstories student conference for International Women's Day 2021 - 'When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library': Women's Management and Use of Private Libraries, 1680-1830. Awarded a £50 book token for participation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Conference Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Conference presentation at the CILIP Library and Information History Group conference for 2020 - Eighteenth-Century Female Readers in National Trust Libraries. Sparked new discussions and led to the publication of the magazine piece in the CILIP newsletter at the end of 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | NT Libraries Facebook |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Multiple Facebook posts for the National Trust libraries facebook group to share research and images of the Trust's collections. The comments on the posts spark discussion and increase the public's awareness of the collections which are usually inaccessible to them. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
| Description | The Brilliant Club |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Worked with 3 sets of 12 students across placements with The Brilliant Club (a widening participation charity). I designed a 7 week course for students in ks4 and ks5 based on my research into eighteenth-century private libraries. The course culminates in students writing a 2,000 word essay of original research. The course also intends to introduce students from disadvantaged backgrounds to the experiences and opportunities of attending a highly selective university. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |