Watch and listen to GPP events

Collected here are the publicly available recordings of past events of the Georgian Papers Programme and other GPP AV content.

  • The Round Tower

    On 14 July 2020 the Washington Library Digital Book Talk involved Arthur Burns, academic director of the Georgian Papers Programme at King’s College London and Zara Anishanslin, 2019 Mount Vernon GPP fellow, in conversation with Jim Ambuske, Digital Historian at the Washington Library and himself one of the first Omohundro Institute GPP fellows. The conversation ranged widely across the Programme and Professor Anishanslin’s fascinating research project on the American Revolution in London. You can watch the conversation here.

  • Mark Gatiss in the Nottingham Playhouse production of The Madness of George III

      We were delighted that in June 2020 NTLive streamed a free recording of the 2018 Nottingham Playhouse production of the Madness of George III which could be be viewed across the world. The Georgian Papers Programme worked very closely with both the Playhouse and NTLive to support the original production, briefing the cast, supplying material for props, staging an exhibition at Windsor for the actor portraying George, the wonderful Mark Gatiss, and then mounting it online, and providing programme notes and a pre-performance talk. You can see a record of Mark’s visit to Windsor in the introduction to the play produced by NTLive: We also staged two events linked to the play – a discussion with the playwright and first director of the play back in the 1990s, Alan Bennett and Nicholas Hytner, and then a reflection on the Nottingham production with Mark Gatiss, director Adam Penford, historians Barbara Taylor and Mike Brown, and Sir Simon Wessely from a clinical perspective (for which we staged another exhibition). We can’t recommend the performance highly enough for anyone interested in the eighteenth-century or the issues it raises about mental illness more generally – we ourselves now have three interrelated research projects which arise directly from our engagement with the creative artists involved and the reflection it provoked on the historical treatment of the King’s illness, so well documented in the Georgian Papers.  It was broadcast on the NTLive channel on You Tube.  If you ever get the chance to see it in future, do! Arthur Burns, academic director of GPP, joined the director and members of the cast to look back on the production to celebrate the screening on NTLive. You can view the conversation below, including Adrian Scarborough’s memorable rendition of Hamlet’s soliloquy in the voice of Alan Bennett!   You can find our materials relating to the play and production in the following places: Mental Health in the Georgian World: The ‘Madness’ of George III: recording of symposium with Mark Gatiss, Adam Penford, Mike Brown, Barbara Taylor, Karin Wulf and Arthur Burns, 5 Nov. 2019. An associated blog post by Arthur Burns and Karin Wulf at The Madness of George III revisited: reflections on Mental Health in the Georgian World. Just write it, I’ll make it work’ – King George III through the eyes of Alan Bennett & Nicholas Hytner: recording of interview between Alan Read and Alan Bennett and Nicholas Hytner, 5 Oct. 2016 The Madness of George III explored: an exhibition for Mark Gatiss: an exhibition staged at Windsor for Mark Gatiss when preparing for his role, and then reproduced online: also seen in the pre-show film when the NTLive production was shown in cinemas. George III: the Eighteenth Century’s Most Prominent Mental Health Patient: a Virtual Exhibition by Arthur Burns and Karin Wulf: an exhibition staged in association with the Nov. 5 symposium. The 18th Century Materializes on Stage: a blog reflecting on how the 18th century was realised in the Nottingham production. The Madness of George III revisited – Sir Simon Wessely on George’s illness: A link to an article by Simon Wessely offering his perspective as a practising clinician.   And if all this inspires more interest in the remarkable medical papers associated with George III, why not come and join us in transcribing them? Learn more here.  

  • Mark Gatiss in the Nottingham Playhouse production of The Madness of George III

    A panel discussion focusing on mental health and how the opportunities provided by the Georgian Papers Programme to reconsider the king’s illness can shed light on issues relating to mental illness both in the eighteenth century and today.

  • Etching of George III as king with crown hovering above his head and emitting rays of light

    Professor Carté discusses the American war from the perspective of George III’s protestant empire.  George III’s position as a Protestant king shaped the ecclesiastical policy of the empire, and also set the stage for the violent anti-Catholic riots that rocked Edinburgh and London during the war.  Using sources from the Georgian Papers as well as other manuscript sources on both sides of the Atlantic, Carté traces the strengths and weaknesses of Britain’s pro-protestant politics in the Age of Revolution, and its consequences for the development of American religious freedom.

  • The GPP project team explores new ways of working and collaboration between archivists, academics in various humanities disciplines and digital humanists in order to maximise opportunities. In this talk, a historian, an archivist and a digital humanist from the project will jointly explore the challenges and opportunities the project presents.

  • Actor Michael Jibson viewing Georgian Papers materials with partners from the GPP

    On 25 September 2018 Michael Jibson, the award-winning actor who portrays King George III in the London production of Hamilton, was invited to visit the Royal Library at Windsor Castle to see a selection of the remarkable collection of documents held by the Royal Archives that relate to King George III.

  • Garrison of Gibraltar by John Trumbell

    Professor Paquette lectures on Spain’s role in the American Revolution. He is especially interested in the Anglo-Spanish relationship, and the outbreak of war between these two countries in 1779. George III strenuously sought to prevent long-standing rivalry with Spain from leading to war and he sought in vain to end hostilities at various points. Using the Georgian Papers and other manuscript sources, Paquette traced the evolution of Spain’s relations with Britain during the American Revolution,

  • Talks by Arthur Burns and Karin Wulf, programme directors, and Jim Ambuske (OI GPP fellow) and Andrew O’Shaughnessy (SAR Visiting Professor) on their research in the archives, and an introduction to the role of the Library of Congress in the project.

  • This panel brought together Peter Barber, the leading authority on George III’s map collection and former head of the Map Collection at the British Library, and Dr Max Edelson, a leading authority on the mapping of colonial America and a pioneer of its digital interpretation, to discuss the place of maps in the exercise of rule and authority in the eighteenth century.

  • The Washington Library’s first Georgian Papers Fellow, Dr. Bruce Ragsdale, discusses his work at the Royal Archives in London and Windsor Castle investigating George III .