The Pencheon Collection in Context: Collecting and Recollecting the French Revolution

In collaboration with the Institut français du Royaume-Uni and the Centre for the Comparative History of Print (CentreCHoP).

The Pencheon Collection in the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, of material relating to the French Revolution con-tains nearly 3,000 volumes in French and English along with boxes of miscellaneous items—manuscripts, pamphlets, prints, maps, booksellers’ catalogues, newspaper clippings, correspondence and additional ephemera—many of them related to the process of collection.

It was created by James Michael Pencheon (1924-1982), a neurosurgeon and psychiatrist, who had studied medicine at the University of Leeds but who then developed an interest in the historical knowledge of the French Revolution ostensibly outside his disciplinary field, but perhaps inflected by his research in psychology.

This resource raises questions about the formation of the cultural memory of the French Revolution in Britain, about the role and approach of individual collectors of materials on the French Revolution and about what can be learnt about the acquisitions policies and subsequent use of such collections in university libraries.

This workshop will enable networking about the collection and its use to begin.

Speakers, including Madame Valérie Guillaume, Directrice of the Musée Carnavalet, Paris, and leading UK specialists from the fields of History, History of Art and French Studies, will give short presentations on their work on analogous collections, sharing insights and ideas and helping us to refine our aims and objectives for the future exploitation of the collection.

All are welcome to join us.

Cost: £20 to include lunch and refreshments

Please register here.

Download the programme here.
Contacts: Dr Valerie Mainz v.s.mainz@leeds.ac.uk; Dr Paul Rowe: P.Rowe@leeds.ac.uk
Image: Pencheon Collection, Brotherton Library, University of Leeds