Beyond the Books Exhibition

Over the past two years, the Forest of Dean Writers Collection Project has amassed a huge new collection of papers and ephemera relating to Forest poets and authors. The new collection at the Dean Heritage Centre covers nearly two hundred years and includes work by Catherine Drew, Leonard Clark, Harry Beddington, Valerie Grosvenor Myer, Humphrey Phelps, Gladys Duberley, Ralph Anstis, and Ian Claridge.  

The 'Beyond the Books' exhibition will be showcasing just some of the treasures in this vast new collection of over 1,000 individual items. As well as original manuscripts and early drafts, also on display will be notebooks, play scripts, and scrapbooks; never before seen unpublished poems and novels, correspondence and personal items - including Catherine Drew's lace cap and Humphrey Phelps' iconic pipes!

The collection also includes a surprising number of artworks:  book cover designs, illustrations, artworks by the writers themselves, including line drawings and paintings by Harry Beddington, his skill as an artist being one of the many discoveries made during the project. Interpretation panels explore the author's life and work, as well as focusing on common themes such as the Forest of Dean, nature, Forest dialect and drama. 

The Exhibition will be on display in Gallery 41.