Cultures of Knowledge: An Intellectual Geography of the Seventeenth-Century Republic of Letters

A lecture by Susan E. Whyman entitled ‘Letter Writing, Reading, and the Rise of the Novel: Jane Johnson of Olney and Samuel Richardson’ will take place at Convocation House of Oxford’s Bodleian Library on Tuesday 4 May 2010 at 1pm. In the lecture, which is organised by the Friends of the Bodleian, Dr Whyman (author of The Pen and the People: English Letter Writers, 1660-1800 [Oxford, 2009]) will use the Bodleian’s manuscripts of Jane Johnson of Olney (1706-59) and the letters of Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) to explore the complex relationship between reading, letter writing, and the rise of the novel in the eighteenth century. Admission is free, and all are welcome. Wine and sandwiches will be available at Chancellor’s Court after the lecture at a cost of £7 per person, for which bookings should be made with the Administrator. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to fob@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.