Victorian Valentines
February 14, 2024
The link between St. Valentine’s Day and romance has existed at least since the later medieval period – but it was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that one of its most iconic features emerged in its modern form: the Valentine’s Day card. Traditionally, Valentine’s Day had been associated with poetry – …
Reading the correspondence of the Duchess of Portland
May 18, 2023
This is a guest blog by Arts Faculty Placement student Nabiha Iqbal, who in 2023, worked on cataloguing the papers of Dorothy Bentinck, Duchess of Portland (1750-1794). I was granted the unique opportunity to revisit the lives of the noble men and women of 18th century England through their primary means of communication: letters. Each …
“Will you come into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,
March 12, 2012
‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy; So begins the famous children’s poem, ‘The Spider and the Fly’. This is just one of the many poems and stories written by the celebrated Victorian author Mary Howitt whose collection of family correspondence is held in Manuscripts and Special Collections. The Howitts certainly encountered …
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