Read more about the stories and people behind the objects and furnishings in our collection at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.
Dame Mabel Tylecote
William Gaskell’s study is home to a collection of mainly 19th Century books which have reached Elizabeth Gaskell’s House through a variety of purchases and donations. I am currently creating an inventory of these books, which includes a note of any inscriptions
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A Darwinian Discovery
Continuing with my project of cataloguing all the books in William’s study I reach four undistinguished looking brown volumes by Lord Henry Cockburn. Inside both covers of a two volume life of Lord Jeffrey (1773-1850, Edinburgh judge and literary critic, co-founder of
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Annie Swynnerton and William Gaskell…
The portrait of William Gaskell , which usually hangs in his study at the House, is currently on display at Manchester City Art Gallery as part of a major exhibition of the works of Annie Swynnerton, an important feminist artist with many
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Book Plates in the Study
When books were being chosen for William’s study back in 2013, there was an ambitious plan to record the reason for each book’s presence. The idea was that a small bookplate would be inserted into each title giving a brief account of
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Victorian Christmas Decorations
Before Queen Victoria‘s reign started in 1837 nobody in Britain had heard of Santa Claus, no Christmas cards were sent and most people did not have holidays from work. The wealth and technologies generated by the Industrial Revolution of the Victorian era
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