We regularly host talks in the Reading Room for library members and non-members alike. The programme is as eclectic as the library’s collection – ranging from Dartmoor tin to the Scillies and the sea – and meander through Literature, Poetry, Art, Geology and a host of other fascinating subjects in between.
Often, the writers, academics, poets and artists that we invite to speak at the Library generously let us record their talk so we can share them with a wider audience online. You can browse the selection of recorded talks here.
We really enjoyed hosting Amy Gulick in June 2025 for a talk about an Italian Midsummer Ritual – Acqua Di San Giovanni, or Saint John’s Water. On Saint John’s Eve, Italian women practice this fascinating ritual. An infusion of plants and flowers, selected for their curative properties and symbolic associations, is left out overnight on June 23 to selenare—to bask in the light of the moon and absorb its energies—and then used the following morning for bathing.
Amy’s recent talk contextualised the Acqua di San Giovanni ritual within a discussion of ancient and contemporary Italian Midsummer observances and greater European (including Cornish) folkloristic traditions around Saint John’s Eve: bonfires and fire-smoke purification, divination rituals, bonding rites, and worship of the Baptist.
Amy made use of several titles from our collections as part of her supplementary research. She has kindly shared a “Reading List” to go with her talk, in case you would like to follow up on it by borrowing related titles from the Library. All of these books can be found on the shelves of the Jenner Room and are available to borrow.
Common Herbs and Their Uses: As Grown in the Hortyards at Gulval by Lt. Col. G. R. Gayre – C 635.7
Bygone Days in Devon and Cornwall by Mrs Henry Pennell Whitcome C398.2094235
A Taste of Cornwall – Historical Remedies and Reminiscences edited by Kenneth Fraser Annard & Ann Butcher C398.242
The Folklore of Cornwall: The Oral Tradition of a Celtic Nation by Ronald M James C398.2094237
Fern Seeds and Fairy Rings by Rupert White C581.634
Ill-wished by Rupert White C133.43
Cornish Feasts and Festivals by Liz Woods C641.54237
