Hypatia Collection

Dr. Melissa Hardie, has been collecting books by and about women for 25 years. She has created a library remarkable for its richness and variety - strong on biography, social life, occupations and history, as well as on literature and the arts, her aim being 'to make available published documentation about women in every aspect of their lives'. In addition to this main reference collection, there is the Cheris Kramerae Gift of books on second-wave feminism and related topics. This small but useful sub-collection is available for loan to University members.

Chronological: Post-1800. Chiefly mid-to later twentieth-century, with a number of nineteenth-century literary and periodical titles.

Known gaps: The collection at Exeter is part of a larger Hypatia Trust book collection, sections of which remain under the Trust's administration in Cornwall. Other parts of the Hypatia Collection, located in Cornwall and America, can be accessed through the Hypatia Trust.

Dr Melissa Hardie, was born in America and now lives in Newmill Penzance, Cornwall. She is a publisher, author, and book collector. Originator and donor of the Hypatia Collection. Company Secretary of The Hypatia Trust. Honorary Fellow, University of Exeter (Department of English) Hardie collected books by and about women for over twenty-five years. Originally known as the Jamieson Library (many volumes still bear the Jamieson Library bookplate), the books and journals outgrew their home and the books were placed in Exeter University Library in 1996 on long term deposit for a minimum fifty years. The collection at Exeter is part of a larger Hypatia Trust book collection, parts of which remain under the Trust's administration in Cornwall. Other parts of the Hypatia Collection, located in Cornwall and America, can be accessed through the Hypatia Trust.

The books are shelved alphabetically within subject sequences: Biographies; Health; Education; Occupations; Science; Crime; Religion; Marriage and the Family; Politics; Archaeology; History; Domestic Science; Art; Humour; Natural World; Poetry; Performing Arts; Diaries; Nursing; Literature; Myths and Legends; Travel; Topography; The Cornish Woman; The American Woman; Women and War; Fiction.

Usual EUL Special Collections arrangements apply.

The collection is fully catalogued and entries appear on the University Library's online catalogue. At 2008 this could be found at http://lib.ex.ac.uk/

Stuart Macwilliam, Sub-Librarian. Added to Archives Hub as part of the Genesis Project of 2008.

Usual EUL Special Collections arrangements apply.

Dr. Hardie originally housed her collection in purpose-built accommodation at Newmill, but the material soon outgrew the available space and Dr. Hardie drew up an agreement to deposit the collection at Exeter University for a minimum of fifty years. The transfer took place in midsummer 1996, and the Hypatia Collection became part of the special collections housed in the Old Library.

Mainly closed to accruals; some limited irregular additions by donor.

The collection at Exeter is part of a larger collection (other parts can be found in Cornwall and America). more details about the Hypatia Trust were available at http://www.hypatia-trust.org.uk/ in 2008. ELIZABETH TREFFRY CORNISH LITERATURE & ART HISTORY COLLECTION: Administrative Centre: Trevelyan House Study Centre, Penzance. Hon. Curator: Peter Waverly
HYPATIA ARTS COLLECTION: Administrative Centre: Trevelyan House Study Centre, Penzance. Hon. Curator: Dr. Melissa Hardie
THE PAUL & VERA WAGNER AMERICAS COLLECTION: Currently some 3,000 books, journals and ephemera related to the history and literature of the American (North and South) civilisations and cultures. This Collection, made in memory of the collector's grandfather and mother, both avid readers and collectors in their own time, whose collections have gone to various Texas libraries and museums, has been presented as a donation to the North American Studies Program of the University of Bonn, Germany. The collection contains a variety of subjects in depth, such as 19th century philosophical thinking (Emerson & Thoreau), fiction, biography, poetry, religious movements, phase two feminist journals, African-American literature, the westward movements, Central and South American educational projects, Canadian literature, etc.