Tuesday 3rd November 2026 at the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
15 British Academy-funded bursaries of up to £175 for travel and accommodation
Hands-on experience of authorial papers is an increasingly sought-after doctoral and post-doctoral research skill, and it enables all readers to experience what Philip Larkin called the ‘magical value’ of literary manuscripts. In this one-day workshop and seminar, two editors of the Longman Annotated English Poets edition of Lord Byron, Jane Stabler and Matthew Ward, together with Kirsty McHugh, Curator of Archives & Manuscript Collections at the NLS, will provide support and guidance on work with Romantic-period archival materials, using the holograph manuscripts of Lord Byron as a case study.
The day will begin with a rare opportunity to view material from the NLS Murray Archive. This will be followed by two workshops on the key elements of editorial practice, walking through the tasks of transcription and editorial decision-making. Participants will work towards the production of their own reading text from first encounter with a manuscript to the setting of a new scholarly text according to defined editorial principles.
To conclude the day, Professor Michael Rossington, General Editor of the Longman Annotated English Poets series, will give a talk on ‘Curation and Intervention: Editing the Shelleys in the Nineteenth Century and Now’ about questions of curation and intervention, suppression and censorship. The event coincides with the NLS’s special exhibition on ‘Fakes and Forgeries’, which delegates will be free to attend.
If you would like to find out more, or want to book your place and apply for a bursary, please email Matthew Ward at m.ward.1@bham.ac.uk.
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Matthew Ward