Conway Hall is the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world. The only surviving ethical surviving ethical society in the world, it is named in honour of Moncure Daniel Conway (1832 – 1907), anti-slavery advocate, out-spoken supporter of free thought and biographer of Thomas Paine.
The exhibition is about the humble Pamphlet, the original type of blog. Since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, pamphlets have been used for a variety of purposes – from reports of meetings and court cases to reproducing political speeches, from spreading religious messages to spreading gossip and tall stories – but their great strength lies in the weaponry of their words for political and social protest. Where previously the political elite had been able to easily keep information from the masses, pamphlets opened access to ‘ordinary people’, enabling them to begin to criticise their political and religious masters and demand involvement in the decisions that affected their daily lives.
This exhibition will showcases the key campaigns, movements and agitators represented in Conway Hall Library’s nineteenth-century pamphlet collection. It is part of the Conway Hall's National Lottery Heritage Funded project to digitise the pamphlets and make them freely available online.
This is the publication that accompanies the exhibition. It's an 18pp concertina folded publication, size is 104 x 146mm, folding out to 308 x 438mm.
It is digitally printed on our Redeem 100% Recycled 100gsm and as you can see, the result is superb. The paper is uncoated with a neutral white shade giving the publication a feel which really works with the subject and is sympathetic with the period.
Design is by Gareth Humphreys. Digital printing is by Typecast Colour in Paddock Wood.
You can read more about the exhibition which runs until the end of January here:
https://conwayhall.org.uk/event/victorian-blogging-the-pamphleteers-who-dared-to-dream-of-a-better-world/
Posted by Justin Hobson 13.09.2019