​Where are you from? I am from London and will be based here for the first part of this research project, however I do have plans to relocate to Gwynedd.
What is the subject of your doctoral research project? The Lives and Afterlives of Medieval Manuscripts in the Libraries of the Welsh Gentry.
What are your main research interests? My main research interest is the history of manuscript collecting, especially within the private collections of the gentry. This includes changes in the ways that manuscripts were valued and interacted with by their owners. Secondly, the role of medieval manuscripts within gentry intellectual culture in terms of the rise, and fall, of antiquarianism within the Welsh country house.
Tell us about your career so far and what led you to ISWE and your doctoral research project? I have a BA in Politics from Queen’s University, Belfast, and have recently completed an MA in The History of the Book from the School of Advanced Study, University of London, through which I became fascinated with the afterlives of Medieval Manuscripts. I am currently working on a project digitising the diaries of the nineteenth-century Keeper of the Manuscripts at the British Museum, Frederic Madden, with the aim of creating a digital edition. I have also worked on cataloguing the pre-1500 manuscripts held at Marsh’s Library Dublin, which has culminated in a paper presented at the Built with Books conference at University College London. I joined ISWE in September 2025.
What is your favourite historical period and why? Oddly, I don’t think I have one generally speaking. While, as evidenced by my research, I am primarily interested in the post-Medieval lives of manuscripts, I am still interested in their points of origin. In terms of library history, it would have to be the seventeenth century. It is then that the great libraries of Wales begin to stabilise.
Your favourite place in Wales? My favourite place in Wales is the Gower, Rhossili Bay in particular. My Mum is from the area so we would spend entire summer holidays there. It was there I learned to surf (badly) and that anything can be used as a firepit if you try hard enough.
Can you recommend any books, TV shows, podcasts, blogs that you have enjoyed recently?
- A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
- Meet Me at the Surface by Jodie Matthews
- Hidden Hands: The Lives of Manuscripts and Their Makers by Mary Wellesley
- The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
- The Librarians, directed by Kim A. Snyder
Contact Isabel:
sbt25rgj@bangor.ac.uk
