The Devon and Exeter Institution

Join us for an immersive tour of the Devon and Exeter Institution's historic past. Meet characters from previous centuries who worked around Cathedral Close and have stories to tell!!

Tickets are purchased via TicketTailor. Refreshments provided 🍷

What's on at the DEI this December! See our website for further details ☃️🎄

Who is this woman, proudly wielding a Christmas pudding?

Find out by reading our Book of the Month blog for December: devonandexeterinstitution.org/whats-in-a-p...

You can also pick up Christmas cards featuring this image from our Front Desk.

Looking for a meaningful gift this Christmas? Adopt one of our books for your loved one and treat them to a private tour of our historic library, followed by cream tea for two in the Courtenay Room. Gift adoptions cost £45, and help to fund vital conservation work.

Email your picture to library@devonandexeterinstitution.org by 10th December for a chance to win. We'll share our favourites on social media.

We've included a few of our staff and volunteers to give you some inspiration. Can anyone beat the cabbage??

Competition time!

For this year's DEI Christmas card, we chose this beautiful wood engraving from the 1867 Christmas supplement to the Illustrated London News, based on a drawing by Wilhelm Kümpel.

Can you recreate this image, holding an object of your choice, to win a pack of 10 Christmas cards?

I had the opportunity to put together a book display this month in the @dexinst.bsky.social (title: 'Threads through Time')! It's based on depictions of clothing in the historic book collection 📚It will be on display until this Saturday, 22 November

On 27th November, Professor Nicola Thomas will discuss the Reinterpretation of the Redvers Buller statue in Exeter. This will be a space for reflection on the presence of the colonial past in contemporary civic life. Tickets can be purchased here: www.tickettailor.com/events/devon...

These are the words of Mary Somerville, writing in her old age.

This pioneering scientist of the nineteenth century is the subject of our Book of the Month blog for November - written and researched by our Library Volunteer Edward Maunder.

devonandexeterinstitution.org/mary-somervi...

This was when the veil between the living and the dead was considered the thinnest. The most famous of these stories is Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas carol', first published in 1843.

An illustration of ghosts, spiders, bats and a number of other creatures

An illustration of ghosts

An illustration of a spider

An illustration of bats

Ghosts! Spiders! Bats! Surely this is a #Halloween image?

Well, it actually comes from the Christmas supplement to the Illustrated London News (1867).

During the Victorian era, spooky tales were especially associated with the festive period

A @dexinst.bsky.social board meeting tonight - an honour and a privilege to be voted Hon Sec for another year. Huge progress over the last 12 months; much more planned. Thank you to fellow trustees, the top-class staff, wonderful volunteers, and engaged members that make it what it is.

How about this schoolmaster's log book as #DissertationInspiration?

See this book in person at our Dissertation Inspiration Drop In on Friday 24th October, 2-4pm, or email us to make a research appointment.

#primarysources #Victorianschools #Victorianchildren #archives #dissertation

"Rough Cyder for Summer's drinking": 18th century treatises on Cyder - The Devon and Exeter Institution The first extract, entitled “A dissertation on Cyder and Cyder-Fruit,” was written by Hugh Stafford, of Pynes in Devonshire, Esq., (1674- 1734), as part of a “letter to a friend” […]

Find out more about this book by dipping into our Book of the Month archive: devonandexeterinstitution.org/rough-cyder-...

The book advises those wishing to make cider using the 'Devonshire method' to pile up these fruits into a heap for around 10 days, to allow for the maturation of their juices.

What do you call an apple that has fallen off its tree?

Well according to this 'Treatise on cyder-making' from 1755 you would call it a 'promiscuous' kind of apple!

Calling all university students!

How about this archaeological manuscript as #DissertationInspiration?

See this book and a number of other fascinating archives in person at our Dissertation Inspiration Drop In on Friday 24th October, 2-4pm.

Meet the curator!

Wednesday 15th October. Drop in between 1-3pm.

Our new book display ‘Travelling through the library: Translated literature in the DEI’ has been curated by Richard Mansell, Senior Lecturer in Translation at the University of Exeter.

devonandexeterinstitution.org/meet-the-cur...

Calling all university students!

How about this nineteenth-century dramatic photo album as #DissertationInspiration?

See this album and a number of other fascinating archives in person at our Dissertation Inspiration Drop In on Friday 24th October, 2-4pm.

To create the marbled effect, paints would be floated on a liquid, where they could be manipulated to form different shapes. Paper would then be laid on top, so that the design would be transferred.

Although marbling had existed in other parts of the world for centuries, the use of marbled paper became popular in European bookbinding in the seventeenth century.

Marbled endpapers in a book

Just look at the vibrant colours of these marbled endpapers!

They can be found in our copy of ‘Cartas erudítas, y curiosas’ by Benito Jerónimo Feijoo (1777).

Lovely to see this! Edward Parfitt was also the Librarian at the DEI.

You can also make a research appointment to view it by emailing library@devonandexeterinstitution.org

Calling all university students!

How about this seventeenth century medical recipe book as #DissertationInspiration?

See this recipe book and a number of other fascinating archives in person at our Dissertation Inspiration Drop In on Friday 24th October, 2-4pm.

PEOPLE TALKING: Exeter oral history 1975-1979 - The Devon and Exeter Institution This blog was researched and written by Jenny Lloyd.  “We had a joint of meat every day.  But the family next door … they were really poor. The children sat […]

Read the full blog on our website: devonandexeterinstitution.org/people-talki...

“We had a joint of meat every day. But the family next door … they were really poor. The children sat round the table with an empty plate and tapped the plates to make out they were eating.”

One of the voices preserved in People Talking (1975-9), a collection of working people’s memories of Exeter up to 1945. In October’s blog, Jenny Lloyd reflects on the project, which features in the Exeter events for the Festival of #DevonInThe1920s, running 9-18 October.
#exeterhistory #oralhistory

Poster for a Dissertation Inspiration drop in at the Devon and Exeter Institution on Friday 24th October from 2pm to 4pm

Calling all university students!

Are you looking for some #DissertationInspiration?

Join us for a drop in session to view original primary sources, perfect to give you ideas for your historical research.

Free and open to all.

Members' Magazine Auction 2025 - The Devon and Exeter Institution

Members' Magazine Auction

Did you know that as a member of the Devon and Exeter Institution, you can bid for a year's worth of back issues of your favourite magazine?

Bidding for this year's auction closes on Tuesday 30th September.

devonandexeterinstitution.org/members-maga...

People on a tour of a historic library

This morning we kicked off our Heritage Open Days with a Librarian's Tour. If you missed out, we have another Librarian's Tour on Thursday at 2pm.

Visit our website to see full listings of all the exciting events taking place this week: devonandexeterinstitution.org/heritage-ope...