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Nancy Astor: Reading and Parliamentary Archives collaborate on exciting new project

Author
micheledrisse
Published Date
December 16, 2015

Special Collections are delighted to have been supporting this collaborative project, which celebrates the parliamentary career of Nancy Astor. We have been working closely with Dr Jacqui Turner in the History Department and with the Parliamentary Archives.

Nancy Astor, sketch by John Singer Sargent, 1923. From: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viscountess_Astor.jpg

A new leaflet has been produced to accompany the project.

Look out for more Astor news in 2016 as we continue to explore the archives of this amazing political family.

Builders working on a partially-complete c 1906. Great Hall
Published Date
June 30, 2026

A Century of ‘Town and Gown’

The University History Collection (UHC) The UHC contains the records of the University’s evolution from its origins in the late 19th…

A family of four people stand in a line wearing formal clothing.
Published Date
April 27, 2026

The immortal legacy of James Joyce

A review of the University of Reading Special Collection’s exhibition James Joyce: Enigmas and Puzzles, which ran from October 2025 to February 2026, by Jared Geraghty, undergraduate in Art.

Bookshelves with leather bound, 19th century books.
Published Date
March 24, 2026

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What is a subject explorer for? Subject explorers support students by suggesting primary sources as jumping off points for their dissertation research. The…

Published Date
March 9, 2026

Visualising class, disability, and race on the Victorian stage

This post introduces, via sheet music covers, a few more real individuals whose stories can be used to explore histories of marginalised people. With only 800 of the covers catalogued so far, there are sure to be countless stories still waiting to be rediscovered.  

Published Date
February 23, 2026

Challenging our view of rigid Victorian gender boundaries through music covers

In the first of two blog posts showcasing the research potential of our Spellman Collection of Victorian music covers, we…

Published Date
February 13, 2026

Mills & Boon: The Surprise Archive 

Having long been a lover of a good romance novel, it was a dream come true to be granted permission…