Shining a light on Sir Humphry Davy

30 Oct 2023 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news

An exhibition of the notebooks of the early nineteenth-century chemist Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) will be on display at County Hall, Morpeth from 8 November 2023 to 12 January 2024.

The exhibition has been put together by a team of experts from the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing at Lancaster University. Several original Davy manuscripts will be on display as well as information on his lectures, links with the slave trade, his poetry and the Davy lamp. A volume of correspondence relating to The Society For The Prevention of Accidents In Coal Mines 1813-1818 will also be on display. This volume is in the care of Northumberland Archives and is the property of The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Accompanying the exhibition will be a talk and poetry workshop highlighting Davy’s exceptional talent.

On Wednesday 15 November at 11am, Dr Andrew Lacey from Lancaster University will be giving a talk at County Hall entitled: Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829): His Life, Letters, and Notebooks. The talk is free and no booking is necessary.

Northumberland Libraries will be hosting a Poetry Reading Workshop at Morpeth Library with Prof Sharon Ruston from Lancaster University on Thursday 11 January from 2-4pm. There will be a reading and discussion of some of the poetry written by Sir Humphry Davy. No previous experience is necessary and the poems will be available beforehand. You can book on Eventbrite nlandlibs.eventbrite.co.uk/ or at Morpeth Library (Phone: 01670 620391).

For more background on the project and the work being done at Lancaster University visit -
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/online-course-and-exhibition-shine-light-on-sir-humphry-davy
 
[Picture credit: Portrait of Sir Humphry Davy, after Sir Thomas Lawrence (c. 1821), NPG 1573, © National Portrait Gallery, London, licenced under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. ]