Research spotlights

Notes and drafts for Simon Armitage's translation of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' show how his working practices evolved as he worked on the poem.

In 2010 Simon Armitage spent 19 days walking the 256 mile Pennine Way as a 'modern troubadour'. This online resource presents archive material relating to the walk and creation of Walking Home, held by Special Collections.

Explore the notebook in which William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg recorded the results of their Nobel prize-winning experiments carried out in the summer of 1913.

Francis O'Gorman, Professor of Victorian Literature at the University of Leeds, introduces the Brontë family manuscripts, part of the original Brotherton Collection.

Explore the Brotherton Collection of letters written by Branwell Brontë.

Learn about the remarkable Brotherton Collection copy of the works of Ovid, printed in Parma in 1477. Discover who owned the books, and who might have added the hundreds of marginal annotations and colourful illustrations.

An in-depth look at the life of composer Denis ApIvor (1916-2004) and the collection of his manuscript scores held in Special Collections.

Discover highlights from the collection of over 400 letters written to Victor Hugo by Juliette Drouet held in Special Collections.

Guide to the Freemantle Collection in the Leeds University Special Collections and the significant materials that can be found within.

A history of the Gregory Fellowships in Poetry, Painting, Scuplture and Music at the University of Leeds.

Trace the development of Tony Harrison's poem 'Them & [uz]' through the series of evolving drafts contained in the pages of one of his notebooks.

Rudolf Laban's life as told through archives in Leeds University Special Collections.

Notable people linked with the University of Leeds and its Library.

A joint project between the School of English and Leeds University Library bringing together the work of poets at the University of Leeds between 1950-1980.

An introduction to the history of Gothic Fiction, through books and manuscripts in Special Collections at the University of Leeds Library.

Explore digitised images of medieval manuscript illumination. Find out more about the significant provenances of the manuscripts, and how they came to the University of Leeds Library.

Explore the work of Menasseh Ben Israel, rabbi, scholar, philosopher, diplomat and Hebrew printer, through books in the Cecil Roth Collection.

Biographies of members of the Novello, Cowden Clarke and Gigliucci families; an extraordinary Anglo-Italian family of artists, musicians, writers, publishers and actors of the long nineteenth century.

A focused study of the 1861 portrait of the politician Richard Cobden by the artist Emma Aloysia Novello, supported by an Understanding British Portraits Fellowship in 2024.

Exploring the evolving design of the pioneering Poetry and Audience magazine. An online exhibition from Special Collections at Leeds University Library.

View examples from books in the University of Leeds Cookery Collection illustrating the stories behind some traditional Christmas dishes, and look at the variety of ways in which people have celebrated Christmas over the centuries.

Use this resource to explore the University of Leeds Brotherton Collection digital First Folio, to find out more about the significance of the book, and the history of this particular copy.

Thomas More’s novel Utopia was first published in Latin in 1516. Famous for it's playful account of an ideal society set on an island of the same name, the word has since become known as a general term for a better vision of the world.

Discover some of the coins in the Winchester Cabinet, a collection of over 3000 ancient coins, medals and tokens collected by William Eyre, an eighteenth-century barrister, held by Leeds Special Collections, University of Leeds Library.

A Research Spotlight exploring the history and achievements of Women’s Aid Federation of England over their 50-year history, since their formation in 1974.

An exploration of the artist, writer and art educator Maurice de Sausmarez's time in Leeds, including his tenure as Lecturer and Head of the Department of Fine Art at the University of Leeds.