Wild Places
This section will explore wild and dramatic landscapes in literature and what they reveal about the author. Writers have charted memorably terrifying encounters of man with the wild, and at the same time written about spaces of regeneration and enlightenment, powerfully redefining how we view much of Britain’s landscape today.
Highlights in this section include:
- Charlotte Bronte’s manuscript for Jane Eyre (1847), in which a terrifying apparition of a ‘gytrash’ (a beast of folklore most associated with Yorkshire and Lancashire) anticipated by Jane solidifies into an encounter with Mr Rochester’s horse, Mesrour, and dog, Pilot.
- Sylvia Plath’s draft of ‘Hardcastle Crags’ and Ted Hughes’s draft of ‘Wuthering Heights’, both based on the couple’s trip to Top Withins in Yorkshire.
Cockney visions
This section will explore how writers have represented London over the past 600 years, and how these visions continue to define how observers see the city. Beginning with Chaucer’s pilgrims, then progressing to depictions of the underbelly of London, as explored by writers like Dickens, and continuing to the present day with contemporary psychogeographers and how they have been influenced by earlier London wanderers including William Blake.
The ‘Cockney visions’ section will include:
- William Blake’s plates from Jerusalem describing ‘The fields from Islington to Marylebone, To Primrose Hill and Saint Johns Wood’ as ‘builded over with pillars of gold, And there Jerusalem’s pillars stood’.
- Harold Pinter’s early draft of his poem ‘Joseph Brearley’, describing childhood walks‘ from Clapton Pond to Stamford Hill, And on, Through Manor House to Finsbury Park…’
- Robert Louis Stevenson’s manuscript for Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, showing how he toned down some of the language compared with the first draft, which was burnt, and describing Soho as ‘a dismal quarter…like a district of some city in a nightmare’.
Beyond the city
Taking the edges of the city as its focus, this section will look at how the fantastic and forgotten have been uncovered and reclaimed by writers. From the literary reconstruction of suburbia from a place of security and uneventfulness to a place where the fearful or fantastic might lurk, this theme will also explore how the division between centre and periphery shifts as writers open up the overlooked. Both idyll and threat, these under-examined edge-lands are, in the words of JG Ballard, ‘more interesting than people will let on’.
Highlights in this section will be:
- Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel, Beyond the City, set in the ‘tree-lined peaceful avenues’ of suburban Norwood. The novel is displayed along with an ‘at home’ piece for The Strand Magazine, showing the author proudly posing in front of his house in the suburbs, and letters to his mother with plans for a new house in Hindhead, Surrey: ‘I was very interested to hear your view about the stables’.|
- Hanif Kureishi’s diary and manuscript for The Buddha of Suburbia, kindly lent by the author, set in suburban Bromley. When Buddha was adapted for the BBC, the soundtrack was composed by David Bowie, who himself grew up in Bromley. Kureishi’s diary describes his meeting with Bowie in Switzerland.
- J G Ballard’s manuscripts for Crash and Kingdom Come use anonymous peripheral landscapes – gated communities, shopping malls, clinical airport terminals. Ballard’s suburbia is a breeding ground for violence and the mood is even reflected in the author’s handwriting and edits on the page, brutally scrawled in different coloured inks.
Waterlands
This section will look at the ways in which writers are inspired by the rivers, seashores and other waterscapes of the country. From nostalgic evocations of childhood bucket and spade holidays to powerful themes of death, rebirth and the eternity of nature, water plays a key part in our literary heritage.
The ‘Waterlands’ section includes:
- ‘The Seafarer’ from the 10th century Exeter Book. On loan from Exeter Cathedral Library, the Exeter Book is one of four surviving collections of Old English poetry. It features ‘The Seafarer’, a religious poem written from the point of view of an old sailor.|
- James Joyce’s original notesheets for the chapter of Ulysses which provoked scandal in the US, due to its subject matter of voyeuristic masturbation, and led to Joyce’s prosecution and banning of the novel.
- Daphne Du Maurier’s early plan for Rebecca, on loan from Exeter University Library, which was used as evidence when the author was unsuccessfully sued for plagiarism.
Jamie Andrews, Head of English and Drama, British Library, and lead curator of the exhibition, says: “We are very excited to share the wealth of the country’s literature in the summer of 2012 and to explore how writers from William Blake to Angela Carter have helped shaped the nation’s understanding of our landscape and surroundings. Writing Britain celebrates the incredible collection of great literary works held at the British Library, spanning more than 1000 years to the present day. These rare and unique collections will help give a fascinating and new insight into the creative thinking behind iconic British novels, poems, illustrations and more.”
The English and Drama team will be keeping a Writing Britain blog, giving curatorial insight into particular texts featured in the exhibition and tracking new discoveries made throughout the summer.
In a series of videos filmed specifically for the exhibition, eleven contemporary writers will explain what place means to them, in their writing and in the writing of others. These video interviews, featuring British authors including Simon Armitage, Graham Swift, Ian McEwan and Andrea Levy, explore a sense of place in Britain today and how their work reflects Britain’s unique landscapes.
Visitors to the exhibition will also be invited to explore an online interactive map revealing the literary highlights of the British Isles. Submitted by the public through the British Library website the website project Pin a Tale asks people to describe their favourite pieces of writing, in any form, that represents a place they know and to explain why they have chosen the item and how the author has captured the spirit of the place.
In addition to a compelling range of events and learning activities, Writing Britain will be accompanied by a new title, Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands, written by author and journalist, Christina Hardyment. www.bl.uk/shop and Amazon.
More Articles
- National Archives Records Lay Foundation for Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
- Nichola D. Gutgold - The Most Private Roosevelt Makes a Significant Public Contribution: Ethel Carow Roosevelt Derby
- Oppenheimer: July 28 UC Berkeley Panel Discussion Focuses On The Man Behind The Movie
- The Beige Book Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions By Federal Reserve District Wednesday November 30, 2022
- A la Frank Sinatra: "Come Fly With Me", U.S. Department of Transportation Airline Customer Service Dashboard
- "Henry Ford Innovation Nation", a Favorite Television Show
- Julia Sneden Wrote: Going Forth On the Fourth After Strict Blackout Conditions and Requisitioned Gunpowder Had Been the Law
- Jo Freeman Reviews: Gendered Citizenship: The Original Conflict Over the Equal Rights Amendment, 1920 – 1963
- Dereliction of Duty: Examining the Inspector General’s Report on the FBI’s Handling of the Larry Nassar Investigation
- Adrienne G. Cannon Writes: Those Lonely Days