Talk on October 20: Learning from the Wordsworth Trust's Collections

Dove Cottage, at the heart of the English Lake District National Park, was the home of William Wordsworth during his most creative years. Here he wrote his autobiographical masterpiece'The Prelude'; it was also here that his sister Dorothy wrote her 'Grasmere Journals'. The Wordsworth Trust owns the historic site and the world's greatest collection of manuscripts by the two writers and others of their family and circle, as well as an internationally important collection of first editions and early Lake District guides and watercolours. This talk will explore the collections, their meanings and the variety of ways in which learning can be gained from them. Jeff Cowton is Curator at Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum in Grasmere at the heart of the English Lake District National Park. The museum and archive holds the greatest single collection of Wordsworth and Lake District materials amongst 67,000 manuscripts, books and fine art.