Hannah Humes

Qualifications

MRes English Literature 2013

BA English Literature 2014

Thesis

Expanding or Diminishing Worlds: A Study Of Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Oriental Travel Writing in Newcastle’s Literary and Philosophical Society Library

My current research project focuses on travel writing about China from 1880-1925 housed in Newcastle’s Literary and Philosophical Society Library. The aim of this project is to investigate the history and content of the Lit and Phil’s Chinese travel writing collection in order to understand how larger Orientalist ideas were mediated through, not only the content of travel accounts, but the development and interests of specific regional collections. My research draws on a wide range of resources, such as acquisition and borrowing records, biographies of prominent members and the Societies meeting minutes to understand why such a collection of Chinese travel writing was composed and how it has been engaged with since its acquisition.

Research themes & scholarly interests

Travel Writing, Imperialism, Culture,  Book History, Collections Studies, Regional Libraries  

Supervisor(s) 

Dr Katherine Baxter, Dr Helen Williams