‘Prescriptions: artists’ books’ exhibition

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Elspeth Millar

Special Collections & Archives are displaying an exhibition called Prescriptions: artists’ books in the Templeman Gallery. The pieces on display are from a collection accessioned into SC&A last autumn.

Florascript: Wild Garlic, Yarrow, Foxglove, by Cas Holmes. Photo by Egidija Ciricaite

The artists’ books in this collection were first shown at Prescriptions, an exhibition at The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge in Canterbury (21 April—25 September 2016), curated by Dr Stella Bolaki and Egidija Čiricaitė.

The Prescriptions exhibition at the Beaney was structured around the book art of Martha A. Hall (1949-2003), a former teacher and professional weaver. Martha was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1989, and in 1998 she began documenting her experiences with breast cancer and her interactions with the medical community through book art.

Other artists were invited to submit artists’ books for the exhibition, reflecting on the themes of illness, grieving, surgery, birth, recovery, mental health, aging, treatments, and wellbeing. Over 200 artists worldwide submitted nearly 250 works, of which 88 were selected for the exhibition. 71 of these were deposited with Special Collections & Archives at the University of Kent in autumn 2016.

Core Sample, by Allison Cooke Brown. Photo by Egidija Ciricaite

We are really excited about this collection, one of the most recent accessions into SC&A. The works in Prescriptions: artists’ books complements the teaching that occurs through seminars held in Special Collections & Archives (particularly those which interrogate materiality and the physicality of books), and also demonstrates SC&A’s commitment to preserving collections of varied formats which actively support current research and teaching at the University.

Prescriptions takes place as part of a wider research project on artists’ books and the medical humanities, organised by the University of Kent and the University of New England (Maine Women Writers Collection), and supported by the Wellcome Trust. You can find out more information on that project on the Artists’ Books and the Medical Humanities research project site and the School of English web pages.

Prescriptions exhibition in the Templeman Gallery

Music in the Archives – a Summer Music Week event, 7th June 2017 2pm – 4pm

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Joanna Baines

What do early modern playwrights, the Victorians, First World War soldiers and pantomime audiences all have in common? Music – and archives!

Books from the John Crow Ballad & Song Collection

To complement the University of Kent’s Summer Music Week, Special Collections & Archives invites you to an open afternoon on Wednesday 7th June between 2 – 4pm to learn more about how music is represented, recorded and explored through our collections.

W.K. Haselden: Music at meals: Meals at music – a parallel, 1914

You’ll be able to view a wide range of material including:
Items from the John Crow Ballad and Song Collection
Rare books from our Pre-1700 Collection
Artwork held in the British Cartoon Archive
Alternative cabaret performances found in the British Stand-Up Comedy Archive

…and much much more.

You don’t need to book, just drop in on the day. Whether you’re a performer, a researcher, a fan of all things musical or just curious about the material held right here on campus – all are welcome. We look forward to seeing you next week!

You’re invited to the launch of ‘Sex, Death and Panto’!

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Joanna Baines

The end of the Spring Term is finally upon us (farewell deadlines; hello chocolate) and with that brings the annual launch of the DR575: Victorian and Edwardian Theatre exhibition, which is being held tomorrow (5th April) at 4.30pm.

This is the second year in a row that our second-year Drama and Theatre Undergraduates have had the challenge of designing an exhibition to fit in the new Templeman Library Gallery space as part of their final assignments. This year, the students have split into two groups looking at very different topics:

Group one: Crime, Scandal and Theatre

The Victorian fascination with the gothic and macabre was a key feature of 19th century society. But when scandalous crimes – like the Jack the Ripper murders – became all too real on the streets of London, how did playwrights reflect the concerns of their audiences? This exhibition will focus on several sensations of the period and explore how the theatrical world reacted. This topic has never been explored as part of this module before, and we can’t wait to see what our students come up with.

Group two: Drury Lane Pantomime of the Late Nineteenth Century

The Theatre Royal at Drury Lane stands on the oldest site of a theatre in London. The 1812 building that stands today is the fourth theatre erected there, and it has a rich history. This exhibition will explore how Augustus Harris’ management in the late 19th century changed the fortunes of the Theatre for the better – and, in particular, how Harris’ role in establishing the Pantomime tradition. It will explore the roles of actors and actresses working at the theatre through analysing material held in Special Collections & Archives.

The Victorian and Edwardian theatre module is always a highlight of the Special Collections & Archives team’s year; this time you’ll also be able to take a look back at past exhibitions to see how far the course has developed. Come along, have a drink and discover how fantastic an insight into Victorian Britain (and beyond) our wonderful theatre collections can provide!

Political History is Not My Forte; or, How to Learn History Through Political Cartoons

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Rachel Dickinson

Many sides of Stalin – as drawn by Cummings

Starting work on new collections is always fun. For a start it means you’re decreasing the number of items that need working on, but you also get to go through something that’s completely new to you. Most recently, I have started cataloguing artwork by cartoonist Michael Cummings, who worked mainly for the Daily Express for a period of nearly fifty years. This particular selection of artwork dates from the early 1950s, a time that seems to be far away in the past, at the beginnings of the Cold War.

Now my first reaction was something along the lines of ‘oh no, I’m not going to know who anybody is’. As it turned out I was wrong. I recognized Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill and Stalin. This didn’t really give me a lot to go on. The 1950s are not exactly my strong point. I enjoy my history, but I enjoy my history quite a lot earlier than that. When I turned to the very first image and had literally no idea what was happening:

My first Cummings cartoon

My first reaction was, ‘this must be a Tory,’ based entirely on the caption. I had one other thing to go on, as somebody had very kindly written on the back of the artwork when the cartoon was published, and even what page it appeared on. As I knew all students and staff at Kent have access to UK Press Online, I decided to hop along and find the appropriate issue of the Daily Express. The cartoon was precisely where the artwork said it was, which was great. What was less great was the fact that there was nothing surrounding the image, no helpful arrows saying ‘this man is so-and-so’, and no articles relating to the image, as far as I could see, anywhere in the issue. So I hit a dead end. Extremely early on. Now what?

Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, Google searching ‘Conservative 1950s NHS’ didn’t get me very far. I had a look on Lexis Nexis but even narrowing down the date range produced more results to check than was feasible. I was almost on the verge of taking a photo on my phone and seeing if my Dad knew who it was, when I decided to check copies of the Express from the surrounding time period. This turned out to be the right thing to do – I came across a cartoon head of the very same man, this time with a caption telling me it was Aneurin Bevan.

Ok, so I basically got everything wrong. Bevan was a well-known Labour Politician, and at the time of the cartoon Minister of Health. At least I knew what the greenhouse was…

Getting the dimensions – featuring my tape measure, Colin

Establishing who people are in each of the cartoons is probably the hardest aspect of cataloguing them, for me. When I’m cataloguing I look out for specific information every time. First we need the basics: a title, artist, publication, date and size. Next comes recording anything that’s written in the cartoon, which we refer to as embedded text. This text and the image itself provides us with the information to assign subject matters to the item. This would be relevant political parties, or any celebrity and sporting news, or government policy mentioned. Other subjects can include setting, items or animals in the picture or emotions you think the people depicted are feeling. And then comes the time to add the people themselves to the record. This is also significant for the subjects; you can’t add the Chancellor of the Exchequer unless you know he’s actually in the picture.

When I first started cataloguing political cartoons, around two and half years ago now, I began with the more modern items. Part of our collections here at the British Cartoon Archive include the newspaper versions of cartoons that appear in the daily papers. This means our collection grows every day, and it’s partly my job to keep on top of this. I won’t pretend that I’ve ever had much of an interest in politics, (I knew next to nothing when I started), but I’ve definitely learnt a lot working here. I could at least recognise most of the Labour and Conservative politics, but my first big stumbling block was Danny Alexander. I think I found him by searching for ‘ginger Liberal politician.’

‘This is a Coalition Budget’ by Peter Brookes

In current cartoons, the colours actually plays a surprisingly large role in identifying who people are. It’s fairly obvious what party a politician is from based on what colour their tie is, (this is obviously a problem for women). This doesn’t work in artwork from the 1950s, which is done in black ink, with a blue wash which would appear grey in the published version. Another clue could be who the person is interacting with and how. If two politicians are having an argument about something it’s likely (although not definite) that they are from opposing parties. This also didn’t help me initially, as Aneurin Bevan was the only person in the first cartoon I catalogued, but it’s certainly helped along the way.

Once you get to know who someone is, there’s usually characteristics that most cartoonists exaggerate when they’re depicting them. For example, Theresa May is always wearing leopard print shoes, whilst Boris Johnson is mainly made of hair. Back in the 1950s, Winston Churchill always has a cigar. This wasn’t strictly speaking helpful, after all if you don’t know what Churchill looks like, where exactly have you been since the start of the 20^th century?

….and Strachey

Gaitskell…

Noses and eyebrows are also quite often notable. Aneurin Bevan always has large black eyebrows paired with his neat white hair. Emanuel Shinwell, (“Who on earth?” – me about a month ago), has a very prominent, bulbous nose. Unfortunately, John Strachey and Hugh Gaitskell seem to have the same long, pointy nose, so initially I had to check which hairstyle any pointy-nosed men had to establish who they are. Here the differences seem obvious, but when you don’t know who they are and their images aren’t next to each, it’s not so easy.

There is an odd enjoyment in all this hunting for people and discovering who they are, even though I often sit there in mild despair when all my methods have failed. I wonder if Poirot ever felt like that.

This brings us to my favourite Cummings cartoon:

‘The New Elizabethans’ by Cummings

I love this for two reasons. 1. It is genuinely a fabulous cartoon. I love the detail and the period costume. Elizabethans are much more my style. 2. The published version of the cartoon has a key that tells you who everyone in the picture is. That was a happy moment for me.

I’m going to let you all into a little secret now. One of the reasons I have particularly been enjoying my work with the Cummings Collection is that it’s a nice break from cataloguing the cartoons of today. Sometimes working on this kind of material can get a little wearing. Recently there’s been a lot of cartoons focusing on terror attacks, and a lot about Brexit and the US presidential elections, and for the most part these cartoons aren’t overly positive. This is because the cartoonists genuinely believe what they’re depicting, and the whole point of them is to draw your attention to things that they consider need changing. But it can get very repetetive, so the 1950s is like a little holiday in history for me.

Now obviously terrible things happened in the 1950s. The Korean War and the Cold War for a start, and Stalin certainly did some terrible things. But it’s strange how the distance of time can weaken the effects of this in the present day. If it wasn’t something you lived through, or even something your parents lived through, it’s very difficult to get a proper grasp on how it must have felt at the time. If it does affect you, then you know you’ve just come across a powerful cartoon.

So far, this has happened to me only once whilst cataloguing this collection, when I came across the cartoon on the left. Published in early 1953, initially I didn’t have a lot to go on. It was obviously the shadow of a soldier, and that was enough for me to know if was referencing World War II. I don’t know how common this is generally, but in my head the 1950s and World War II are very, very separate. Even though I knew that 1953 was only eight years removed from the end of the war in Europe, and rationing was still ongoing. Even though I knew that war criminals were being tried, it never really occurred to me that this was something I would come across working on this collection. And that’s what this cartoon is depicting, the trial of men accused of taking part in the massacre of the village of Oradour.

For once the published cartoon actually stood alongside a relevant article in the newspaper, which allowed me to identify what it referenced easily. I had not heard of Oradour before, so I had to read the article to establish what exactly happened. I also used the internet to read more about it, and I was shaken. It wasn’t news to me that this sort of atrocity took place, but I wasn’t prepared for finding it amongst the cartoons.

I do think it’s extremely important that this cartoon, and others like it, exist. Sometimes images can convey more than words, particularly at a distance of seventy years, and cartoons certainly have their place amongst records of history, alongside sources like written accounts and photographs.

But it’s also important to keep things light. So here’s Churchill dressed as a goose:

A Politician’s Panto

All cartoons (c) Express Syndication Ltd, except Peter Brookes, (c) News UK

DR575: Victorian and Edwardian Theatre FAQs

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Joanna Baines

The Bad Girl of the Familt publicity postcard

Publicity postcard for Fred Melville’s melodrama ‘The Bad Girl of the Family’, c.1909

We’re really looking forward to welcoming students on the DR575: Victorian and Edwardian Theatre module to Special Collections & Archives this term! It’s always tremendous fun for both our team and everyone studying.

To help everyone settle in, we’ve collated a list of the most commonly asked questions we get about using Special Collections & Archives during the module. This list is by no means exhaustive, and we’ll try and update it throughout the term. However, if you have a question please do have a look through this list to see if the information you need is here. As ever, we encourage you to get in touch with any queries you might have. See you in our Reading Room!

Accessing Special Collections & Archives

How do I find material to use from Special Collections & Archives?
How do I book an appointment to view material?
Can I book in to the Reading Room with a group of people?
How can I access the playbills you hold?

Contacting Special Collections & Archives

When is the Reading Room open?
I’ve emailed you with a query – when can I expect a reply?

Handling material in Special Collections & Archives

Do I need to wear white gloves?
How do I handle this item?
What can I bring into the Reading Room?

Accessing Special Collections & Archives elsewhere

How do I find other archives for my research?
Where can I find [X] archive?
How do I contact [X] archive?

Exhibition queries

I need a scan of this item! What do I do?
How long will it take you to scan items for me?
Can I use this image for my exhibition?
What should I get my exhibition material printed on to?
Where can I get material printed?
When do I need to get items sent to the printers by?
How much does [X] cost? Can I reclaim this money? How?

Accessing Special Collections & Archives material

How do I find material to use from Special Collections & Archives?
The majority of Special Collections material can be found on LibrarySearch. There are two main ways of finding material:

You can either select ‘Special Collections’ (or ‘British Cartoon Archive’) from the drop-down box on the right-hand side of the search bar, then enter your terms…

…Or you can enter your search terms as usual, then scroll down and select ‘Collections’ from the right-hand side of the screen. You can then select ‘Special Collections’ from the list:

Some Special Collections & Archives material is currently only catalogued on our own website, so it’s worth checking both. Our catalogue can be accessed on the first page:

Enter your search terms, and then you can narrow down the results by collection/type of material/subject…

Once you’ve found an item you’d like to see in our reading room, note down as much information as possible (especially the identifier) and drop us an email.

If you’re interested in searching the British Cartoon Archive, you can search for books using LibrarySearch as above…or you can use the British Cartoon Archive catalogue to search for cartoon artwork:

You can search using the box on top right-hand side of the screen, or click Advanced Search (cartoons) to locate more specific material. By using Advanced Search, you can narrow down results by several terms (such as artist and date). Once you’ve found something you’re interested in viewing, click the image thumbnail to view a bigger version of the image or click the artist’s name to find out more information about the artwork.

If you want to view higher resolution images, or see any original artwork, please do get in touch. It’s worth noting that artwork from the British Cartoon Archive is currently stored offsite due to the Library Refurbishment so we need at least two weeks’ notice to get any material for you. Additionally, some material from the British Cartoon Archive is very fragile, so if we have a digital copy we’ll likely ask you to use that for your research instead.