Tanner Project to catalogue Cornish women's library

The Hypatia Trust has launched a new project to catalogue the Elizabeth Treffry Collection on Women in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Thanks to a £5000 grant from the Tanner Trust, this important collection of 3000 books and archives will be catalogued to modern library and archive standards. The collection currently lives at Trevelyan House on Chapel Street in Penzance, the headquarters of the Hypatia Trust.

Dr. Tehmina Goskar will direct the Tanner Project which formally begins this week. She said, "Building on the success of History 51, our public engagement project to promote women's heritage in Cornish communities, the Tanner Project will ensure that the books, papers and ephemera we collect and that get donated to Hypatia will be properly recorded so researchers and students can use this important resource. Properly documented, the Elizabeth Treffry Collection could be the seed of a future women's library in Cornwall."

Researchers can visit the collection by email appointment but access may not always be possible during the cataloguing process.

West Cornish library retreat

Letter from Roo Gunzi

The Jamieson Library has been both a vital resource and a home-from-home over the past year. My ongoing PhD work into Stanhope Forbes’s early paintings has meant frequent and often extended periods in Penzance undertaking archival research at local galleries, libraries, and archive centres. As a self-contained rural abode, the Library accommodation and book-filled workspace offers the seclusion and tranquility required for study, and is well-placed for access to all sites of local artistic and historic interest.

Given the almost prohibitive cost of holiday lodgings during summer months, the Jamieson exists as a valuable, alternative, and realistic option for students wishing to reside in Cornwall for short-term study. I have found the experience, both of staying at the Library and being immersed in the Cornish landscape, both invaluable and liberating. It has given me the freedom to be able to work, as well as see and explore West Penwith at my leisure.

The Jamieson Library of Women's History is a scholar's paradise situated in the village of Newmill a few miles north of Penzance. Visits can be arranged by appointment through the Hypatia Trust and the library is also open to residential scholars.

For enquiries:

The Old Post Office, Newmill, Penzance, Cornwall, TR20 8XN Tel: 01736-360549 Fax: 01736-330704 email: info@hypatia-trust.org.uk

New Book Published as E-Book

Presented as our first E-book, Jane Gosney has exceeded her brief as one of the circle of Patten People, and produced a beautiful on-line display of some of her excellent photography and redolent memories of Cornwall. We are indebted to her for this pioneering and exploratory 'new light' on the arts and craft scenes of West Cornwall. This e-book is available for sale at our standard series price of £7.50 (on-line PDF) by clicking here and paying with PayPal. A .pdf copy of the book will be sent to your e-mail address on receipt of your payment.

It is also available as a reward gift for those making a donation of at least £10 to the current fundraising campaign of the Hypatia Trust for the securing of a permanent home for the Elizabeth Treffry Collection, Women in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

See www.elizabethtreffrycollection.org to donate to this worthy cause, and to ask for your free copy to be sent.

Jane writes -

I had first published photographs from my visits to Cornwall in "Reflections on Light" in 2002 (an anthology of photo essays about my work as a lighting designer and photographer which can be found in the Elizabeth Treffry Collection at the Hypatia Trust ).

My images were often used to illustrate articles I had written in the press but I had never used words to " paint a picture". The invitation from Melissa Hardie to write a five thousand word monologue as the first 21st century contributor to the Patten People series was especially welcome as my work is a balance between new technologies and art.

"New Horizons" describes my life as a designer in London, idyllic summers with my mother in St Ives and my relocation to Cornwall in 2007 where how my creative work has diversified. Shared memories of simple pleasures are recounted : sadly adjusting to a loss is also part of the story.

I would like to thank Sophie Bowness and The Hepworth Estate for permission to reproduce a photograph from The Hepworth Garden as one of the eight full colour illustrations.