What's on
Children’s events and workshops
Our programme of our children's events and workshops July - Sept 2022
Press Release December 2021 – The Devon and Exeter Institution secures a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant for The Next Chapter project.
The Devon and Exeter Institution, an independent library and educational charity in the heart of Exeter, has received a £814,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant for the second stage of its project, following a development grant of £186,000 awarded in March 2020; a total grant of one million pounds.
Current Vacancies
We're delighted to offer some exciting new opportunities to join our team. We are seeking a Projects and Programme Officer, a Collections and Research Assistant and offering a funded PhD in partnership with the University of Exeter, as part of our Next Chapter development project.
The Next Chapter project – Vlog 1, November 2021
It's been a busy week at the Institution as we continue with preparatory works for the Next Chapter project. This week we have been working with the team from Oakford Archaeology, to see what lies beneath our courtyard.
Here is the very first video blog (Vlog) of our project.
Francis Stevens (1781-1823) and the Devon and Exeter Institution
The South West Collection includes many rare items that shed light on the history of our region. This lovely pocket sketchbook, bound in leather with a brass clasp, contains pencil sketches and notes by the landscape artist, etcher and drawing master, Francis Stevens (1781-1823).
Early 19th century xylotheks
Xylotheks, or xylotheques, are book-like herbariums, made of wood and filled with wood specimens, including dried leaves, flowers, seeds and bark. They appeared towards the end of the 17th century […]
William Beckford’s travels in Italy (1834)
William Beckford (1760-1844) was an English novelist and travel writer, best known for his Gothic novel, Vathek (1786), and for building the magnificent (but structurally unsound) Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire. […]
William Hogarth’s complete works (ca. 1861)
William Hogarth (1697-1764) was a prolific painter, printmaker and social critic, best known for his often bawdy and satirical comic-strip series of pictures of life in 18th century England. His […]
Burckhardt’s Travels in Syria and the Holy Land (1822)
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784-1817) was a Swiss traveller and geographer from Lausanne who later moved to England and found employment with the African Association. His mission from its President, Sir […]
Henry Nelson Coleridge’s Six months in the West Indies (1826)
Henry Nelson Coleridge (1798-1843) was born in Ottery St Mary, Devon. He was both nephew and later son-in-law of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) and edited his poetry. In […]