#FindingMiddlemarch’s last chapter is now available! ✨ A window into women's lives in 19thC Coventry, from the limits of female education to the mercenary nature of the marriage market. Feat. exhibits from Herbert Art Gallery & Museum Royal Holloway Art & Culture & more… exploringeliot.org/FM/7

This sampler was made by Mary Ann Tidye in 1813 at age 11. Herbert Art Gallery & Museum houses an impressive collection of samplers stitched in the 19thC by girls as young as nine. As a child, George Eliot would have produced comparable work. 🪡🧵#FindingMiddlemarch🔎 exploringeliot.org/FM/7

Wonderful - stitching our way thru #Findingmiddlemarch

I’ve learnt something! And it’s still early. Thank you Exploring Eliot.

This sewing 🪡 reticule of George Eliot's consists of a buttonhook, a file, a penknife & a crochet hook, all with mother-of-pearl handles. Find out more about 19thC needlework in our latest ch. of #FindingMiddlemarch🔎 exploringeliot.org/FM/7

This footstool, thought to have been embroidered 🪡 by George Eliot, exemplifies the kind of intricate needlepoint that would have served as a suitable demonstration of feminine refinement in the 19thC. exploringeliot.org/FM/7 Find out more at #FindingMiddlemarch🔎

CRAFTY QWEEN

What can a persistent rumour about Eliot’s right hand tell us about what it was like to be a woman in the 19thC growing up in the provinces? Find out in the latest chapter of #FindingMiddlemarch🔎 exploringeliot.org/FM/7

Such a fascinating story of social mobility & status anxiety - did George Eliot make cheese or not?!

The latest #FindingMiddlemarch chapter includes Edwin Long's The Babylonian Marriage Market Royal Holloway Art & Culture. By spotlighting an ancient scene that presents women as commodities rather than as individuals, Long holds up a mirror 🪞to Victorian society... exploringeliot.org/FM/7

My favourite detail… the young girl making uncomfortable eye contact with the viewer.

Also of note, the word lace is derived from the Latin for noose & is related to the term lacere, meaning to entice or ensnare. A fitting accessory for Rosamond - whose feverish weaving is indicative of the dextrous manner she manipulates her own fate, esp in her relations w/ men.

For a woman born in 1819, George Eliot led an extraordinarily progressive & independent life. Yet Middlemarch’s women find no such freedom. Why is this? Find out at #FindingMiddlemarch🔎 exploringeliot.org/FM/7 feat. an assortment of Eliot's writing tools...

Totally fab, I mean, look at that blotting paper!

A fav. #FindingMiddlemarch🔎 exhibit… there is no entry for Marian Evans in the 1861/71 census. But there is a Mrs Marian E. Lewes. For occupation George Eliot ignores the fact she's a bestselling author so that she can defiantly put ‘wife’ exploringeliot.org/FM/7

Today marks 30 years since filming started on Andrew Davies' adaptation of Middlemarch and our latest blog is now live! Justin Smith of dmuleicester writes about the project which links the novel to the BBC adaptation Tinyurl.com/transforming-m…

Great to be back BAVS 2023 Annual Conference #bavs2023 & thanks to Dr Danielle Dove for warm welcome. More on #FindingMiddlemarch here: please explore great exhib by Rosie White exploringeliot.org/discover-georg…

Step into the world of George Eliot's novels with #CLiCCreative! 💻🪄 Our blog post offers a comprehensive keyword guide for writers & researchers looking to immerse themselves in the 19th century. ✍️📖 blog.bham.ac.uk/clic-dickens/2… #HistoricalFiction