UPDATE: SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND READING ROOM TO REMAIN OPEN
Following the latest Government regulations in response to the coronavirus pandemic, The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) will close to the public at 5pm on Wednesday 4 November 2020 until the end of the lockdown period. However, from Thursday 5 November 2020, we will continue to provide access to collections through the Special Collections […]
Giovanni Battista Piranesi and the glory of Rome
by Fiona Melhuish, UMASCS Librarian Hidden away in our collections store, amongst the rows of archive boxes, are the oversize book shelves, and the Overstone Folio Large sequence of the Overstone Library. Amongst the many treasures of this collection are a number of volumes of engravings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-78), one of the greatest […]
Update: Bookings now open for the Special Collections Reading Room
We are very pleased to announce that we are now able to take bookings for readers to access our archive and library materials in the Special Collections Service reading room from Tuesday 8 September 2020. If you would like to make a booking, please ensure that you read the updated reading room guidance before contacting […]
Update: Re-opening of Special Collections Service Reading Room
We are looking forward to welcoming researchers back to The MERL and the University of Reading Special Collections reading room from Tuesday 8 September 2020. This includes all the Museum’s galleries, our reading room, library and archive, and the shop, café and garden. We have greatly missed you during these difficult months, and are overjoyed […]
A cabinet of curiosities : Ole Worm’s ‘Museum Wormianum’ (1655)
Written by Fiona Melhuish, UMASCS Librarian The history of public museums is also a history of private collectors and collecting, as many of the world’s oldest museums began as the personal collections of wealthy individuals and families. Some of these collections took the form of ‘cabinets of curiosities’ (also known in German as wunderkammer or wonder-rooms), […]
Audio-Visual Beckett: Forgotten Gems from the Beckett Collection
Written by Dr Lucy Jeffery, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Samuel Beckett Research Centre When we think of Samuel Beckett and an audio-visual collection, Shades for ‘The Lively Arts’ series, broadcast on Sunday 17 April 1977 on BBC 2, comes to mind. And yes, Ghost Trio, …but the clouds…, and Not I are all worth watching, but […]