We are already over half way through the project, and behind the scenes work is progressing on transcribing, editing and tagging Letters and Tours with a great deal of help from our systems developer Luca Guariento, and our new project assistant Vivien Williams. We have now added a Research Blog to our website, which, like the Walkers’ Blog is open to anyone who wishes to contribute. Several events are planned for the next few months where members of the team will be talking about their work; and we’re delighted to say that the wonderful exhibition which ran at Oriel Sycharth last year will be moving to North Wales, and then to Aberystwyth this summer. A volume of essays on Pennant’s Tours of Scotland & Wales, edited by Mary-Ann Constantine and Nigel Leask, is due out from Anthem Press this spring.
Recent talks
January 26-27, London: Alex Deans gave a paper on Pennant & Banks: ‘With a facility of communication’: Pennant, Banks and collaborative knowledge-making’ at a National Portrait Gallery Workshop: ‘Science, Self-fashioning and Representation in Joseph Banks’s Circles’. [abstract]
February 17, Edinburgh: Nigel Leask and Alex Deans spoke about mapping the Pennant Tours at the National Library of Scotland.
Upcoming events
March 8, Glasgow: Nigel Leask will give a lecture on Thomas Pennant to the Royal Philosophical Society in Glasgow.
April 29 (Edge Hill University): Kirsty McHugh will speak on ‘Leeds, Loch Lomond & the Lakes: the Marshalls, the Wordsworths and home tourism’ at Romanticism takes to the hills.
April 29, Oriel Môn, Llangefni, Anglesey: a Welsh-language day-conference devoted to the Morris brothers. Ffion Jones will give a paper on mutual friends and acquaintances of William Morris and Thomas Pennant. [programme]
May 6 Penpont, Brecon (day-conference, all welcome!): Windows on the World: C18th & C19th Travellers to and from Breconshire. [Programme].
Mid-May – end June: Exhibition: Landscape, Movement, Art at Oriel Brondanw, Llanfrothen. Look out for associated talks and events. We are also hoping the exhibition will move to Old College, Aberystwyth for the month of July – details to follow.
May 12, Oxford (public lecture): Mary-Ann Constantine will give the 2017 O’ Donnell lecture: ‘Curious Traveller: Britons, Britain and Britishness in Thomas Pennant’s Tours’.
June 7-9, Dublin: Mary-Ann Constantine will give a keynote lecture to the annual Eighteenth Century Ireland Society Conference, on C18th Welsh Travellers to Ireland (including Thomas Pennant, who visited as a young man in 1754).
July 10-12, Aberystwyth. Borders and Crossings International Conference, Mary-Ann Constantine will be giving a key-note lecture on Romantic-era travel writing and Coasts, and Liz Edwards will be talking about Hester Piozzi’s Home Tours.
July 29-31, York. British Association for Romantic Studies. Curious Travellers will be offering a panel of three papers by Alex Deans, Kirsty McHugh and Mary-Ann Constantine; Liz Edwards will speak on the tours of Hester Piozzi, and Nigel Leask is giving a key-note lecture on radical pedestrian tours.
October 18 (public lecture): Nigel Leask will be giving the 26th Annual Thomas Pennant Society Lecture at Holywell.
Please do contact us if you have any queries, would like one of our team to talk to your group or society, or if you’d like to write something for either of our blogs.