The Devon and Exeter Institution

The DEI’s oldest book: a fifteenth-century copy of Jacobus de Voragine’s Lenten Sermons - The Devon and Exeter Institution This blog was written and researched by Dr Anna-Lujz Gilbert On the outside, it’s an unassuming and slim little volume in a twentieth-century marbled binding. Open it up, however, and […]

Happy Ash Wednesday! Did you know that the oldest work in the DEI library is a fragment of Jacobus de Voragine’s Lenten Sermons (c.1493)? February's Book of the Month blog explores the history of this mysterious little volume.

devonandexeterinstitution.org/the-deis-old...

#incunabula #incunable

Join us for an evening lecture this month with Professor Craig Beall - 26th February!

You can also nourish more than just your minds by visiting our Courtenay Room café for a pie and mash special.

A date for your diaries!

Join us for our next second-hand book sale on Saturday 28th February, 11-3.

All books have been donated by our members and all proceeds raise money to support the Institution.

The students were introduced to some of the archival material that we hold here at the DEI, ranging from execution broadsides through to a handwritten medical recipe book.

Earlier this week we had the pleasure of welcoming first year history students from the University of Exeter to our Blue Room, visiting as part of their 'Into the archives' programme.

This #LibraryShelfieDay we’re celebrating one of our best-loved sections: South West Heritage. Many of these books were only recently retired from our browsable modern collections. They will be subject to safe handling practices going forwards, helping to preserve them for the future.
#ShelfieDay

Illuminating the library - The Devon and Exeter Institution Fashionable shoppers in Regency London could step away from the cold, dark streets into Rudolph Ackermann’s (1764-1834) ‘Repository of Arts’ and be dazzled by his new gas-lighting system, shining down...

Step away from the darkness of January and into the light! This month's Book of the Month blog explores Friedrich Accum's 'A practical treatise on gas-light', (1815) and the introduction of this new technology to our own library.

devonandexeterinstitution.org/illuminating...

29 January 2026 | Doors open 6pm | Tickets available via TicketTailor (£10)

January Evening Lecture 📣

This month Dr Nick Collins will discuss the ways in which technological innovation reshaped work and daily life in the nineteenth-century. This will provide space for reflection on parallels in the present day.

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.