Bell's Poets Exhibition

Bell’s Edition 

The Poets of Great Britain Complete, from Chaucer to Churchill 

(109 Volumes).

Further to our previous post, readers of this blog now have an opportunity to see Bell's wonderful edition for themselves – at the University of Tasmania Library, Newnham campus – for a limited time. The Library is open seven days a week (afternoons only on Saturday and Sunday) and our exhibition is opposite the enquiry desk on the ground floor.

There are many remarkable things about this edition:

• Their diminutive size (12.5 x 8cm).
• The quality of the typography, printing, binding and illustrations.
• Their significance in the history of the British publishing industry.
• Their survival intact as a rare complete set after nearly 250 years of use, including 100 years on the shelves of a public library.

And a full appreciation of their beauty can only be gained from seeing them.

As an aside, the Bell's Poets are perfectly suited to display in our handsome travelling cabinet so superbly constructed by Tony Mitchell of TJM Woodturning and Joinery. We thank Arts Tasmania, and particularly the Lynne Stacpoole Caring for Your Collection grants program, for funding the travelling cabinet, which has more than earned its keep over the past three years.

We can enthusiastically recommend this grants program as an invaluable support for cultural heritage groups wishing to purchase capital items for the preservation or display of objects within museums and collections. The 2018 Grants round is currently open with a closing date of 1 October 2018.