Fine Art tutor George Charman is currently completing a practice-led PhD investigating the sculptural and architectural possibilities of the Edward James Archive. Find out more about the project in this blog post.

MA Conservation Studies student Jurjen writes about a small book from the collection in the Old Library and the remarkable details that lead him from a small local Latin school in Gouda, to Tsar Peter the Great, as well as to the well known art and book collection of the Beckford family.

To mark the start of Pride 2021, we are sharing a brief excerpt from an unpublished text by West Dean College Founder Edward James, thought to date from the mid-1960s, focusing on his reflections on homosexuality.

The Archive and Collections team at West Dean College were delighted to participate in this year's Explore Your Archive - an initiative set up to showcase the hidden gems stored in collections around the world. Read more for a recap of the week and to find out how students work with the College's Archives.

A key milestone in the project to catalogue the Edward James Archive has been reached with the completion of the first section, the Cultural Papers, and work is progressing on the important Biographical and Personal section. Read the latest update from West Dean College's Archive team.

Artist Alec Stevens is West Dean College's first remote Artist-in-Residence. Alec is working from his studio to develop new work in response to West Dean's surreal interiors and new-found research on Edward James. Read the blog post to find out more about Alec's process and plans.

Some five years ago, West Dean College of Arts and Conservation took the decision to embark on a project to make recordings of memories of our founder Edward James, conscious that people who had known him were no longer youngsters. British Library trained Oral Historian, Jackie Herrington, has captured just under 30 hours of recordings from 24 different individuals, and there are more individuals to be interviewed. Find out what we have learnt about Edward James so far in this blog.

West Dean's Archivist, Simon Coleman, recently delivered an evening lecture to introduce the cataloguing of the Edward James Archive which is currently underway. The talk provided an introduction to the Cultural Papers and highlighted material found in both these papers and in other sections of the Edward James Archive.