The University of Delaware hosted a two-day symposium, “Celebrating the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection: Rare Books and Manuscripts, Victorian Literature and Arts” at the University’s Morris Library in Newark, DE. Elaine Showalter, Professor Emerita of English, Princeton University, will be the keynote speaker. In addition to Ms. Showalter, speakers will include Mark Dimunation (Library of Congress), Barbara Heritage (Rare Book School, University of Virginia), Edward Maggs (Maggs Bros. Ltd., London), Joseph Bristow (UCLA), Linda K. Hughes (Texas Christian University), Margaretta S. Frederick (Delaware Art Museum), William S. Peterson (Emeritus, University of Maryland), David Taylor (UK historian and author), and Margaret D. Stetz (University of Delaware).

The symposium was held in conjunction with the exhibition Victorian Passions: Stories from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, curated by Margaret D. Stetz, University of Delaware, on view in the Special Collections Gallery, UD Library, from February 14 to June 3, 2017. The Mark Samuels Lasner Collection focuses on British literature and art of the period 1850 to 1900, with an emphasis on the Pre-Raphaelites and writers and illustrators of the 1890s. It holds more than 9,000 books, letters, manuscripts, and artworks, including many signed items by such figures as Oscar Wilde, George Eliot, Max Beerbohm, William Morris, Christina and D. G. Rossetti, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Aubrey Beardsley.

 It is the largest and most valuable donation in the Library’s history. Mark and Margaret got a standing ovation at the end of two wonderful days. Here are a few photos of the occasion.

 Lead Graffiti was honored to print the print the program for the occasion.

Photographs by Ray Nichols & Jill Cypher.