Overview presentation
- For a general select overview of the appeal of the Arthurian legends through the centuries, you can follow the recording of the lecture given by Prof. Raluca Radulescu in the Stephen Colclough Centre for the History and Cultures of the Book Shankland lecture series: 'King Arthur in the Book: Uncovering Treasures in the Flintshire Harries Arthurian Collection and Bangor University Library, Archives and Special Collections' (18 November 2016), live recording.
Welcome
Exhibition under construction
Our 'Malory and his followers in the Bangor University Arthurian collections and the private collection of Alan Lupack and Barbara Tepa Lupack, Rochester, USA' is an online exhibition of selected rare books and artwork, tracing the journey of Arthurian legends in their material (predominantly book) format inspired by the best-known author of English-language Arthurian romance of the Middle Ages, Sir Thomas Malory (the fifteenth century) through some interesting nineteenth- and twentieth-century works.
The aim of this exhibition is to highlight the place occupied by Bangor University's Arthurian collections in the wider scholarly world, and draw together contributions from many Bangor-based scholars, Bangor alumni and international scholars. As such it provides a starting point, and not the final stop in the exploration of Arthurian legends - and an invitation to visit the collections and continue the research into this area of enduring interest.
As a first step, the exhibition invites the viewer to consider the formats in which the legends have survived, and their cultural impact in their respective period of production and circulation. For this reason, we organise our material into periods, ranging broadly from the medieval to the modern and contemporary. On this journey, the selection of books and art we display shows the many genres employed by known and anonymous authors, as well as the versatility of the legends, their gradual adoption across languages, geographical boundaries, and ultimately their global effect on our cultures.
The contributors, working together under the aegis of the new Centre for Arthurian Studies at Bangor, include primarily Bangor academic staff and postgraduates in Arthurian studies, Bangor alumni and specialist collaborators from further afield. The exhibition aims to enthuse the general public and scholarly world alike, bringing together items that are perhaps well-known to some and lesser-known books, to the attention of a broader audience than a physical exhibition could.
This exhibition is a site which will grow and change: a blog will be added, as well as a work-in-progress bibliography for the items already showcased. Viewers are encouraged to keep in touch with the latest developments by signing up for updates, as well as to share the news on social media.