Mendelog

Dr. Jan Marsh, biographer of artists and writers and Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London, England, will give a talk entitled The Pre-Raphaelite Women at the Mendel Art Gallery on Thursday, July 5 at 7 pm. Dr. Marsh’s lecture is one of several events scheduled to accompany the exhibitions—British Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada and Drawing Inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelites: Selected Works from the Dr. Dennis T. Lanigan Collection—currently on view at the Mendel through August 26.

A recognized authority on the Pre-Raphaelite Circle, Dr. Marsh has written extensively on its members. Her publications include a major biography of the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet, Christina Rossetti entitled Christina Rossetti: A Literary Biography (London: Random House 1994 and New York: Viking, 1995), as well as books and articles on artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, May Morris, and Elizabeth Siddal. She has also been guest curator for exhibitions of Victorian art. Dr. Marsh has been Royal Literary Fund Fellow in English and Drama at Queen Mary, University of London, England since 2001. Educated at Cambridge and Sussex, she lectures and broadcasts widely in addition to writing biography and cultural history.

Recent publications by Dr. Marsh include:
Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Painter & Poet, (London: Orion, 1999. Pbk 2005);
Art & Androgyny: The life of sculptor Fiore de Henriquez, (Elliott & Thompson, 2004);
The Pre-Raphaelite Circle (National Portrait Gallery Insight series, 2005);
Earthly Paradise: William Morris and Red House (National Trust/Chrysalis, 2005);
Black Victorians: The Black Presence in Art 1800–1900 (LundHumphries, 2005).

Selected Publications by Jan Marsh
Edward Thomas: A Poet for his Country, 1978.
Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood (London: Quartet Books, 1985 and Tokyo: Heibon-sha Tokyo, 1997).
Jane & May Morris (London: Pandora Press, 1986 and Tokyo: Shobun-sha, 1993).
Christina Rossetti : A Literary Biography (London: Random House, 1994 and New York: Viking, 1995).
Christina Rossetti: Poems and Prose (London: Everyman Books, 1994).
“Art, Ambition, Sisterhood,” [in] Women in the Victorian Art World, ed. Clarissa Campbell Orr, Manchester University Press, 1995.
Bloomsbury Women: Distinct Figures in Life & Art (London: Pavilion Books, 1995).
The Pre-Raphaelites (London: National Portrait Gallery Character Sketches, 1998).
Christina Rossetti in Poetry & Prose [with Anne Harvey] (London: Penguin Audiobook, 1998).
Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Painter & Poet, (London: Orion, 1999).
Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Collected Writings, new edition, (London: J. M. Dent, 1999).
“Votes for Women and Chastity for Men,” [in] Victorian Vision, ed. John Mackenzie, V&A Publications, 2001.
The Legend of Elizabeth Siddal (London: Quartet Books, 1989).
The Woman’s Domain: Women and the English Country House [with Trevor Lummis] (London: Penguin Books, 1990).
“Concerning Love: News from Nowhere and Gender,” [in] William Morris & News from Nowhere: A Vision for our Time, ed. Stephen Coleman and Paddy O’Sullivan, Green Books, 1990.
Entries for Dictionary of Artists’ Models, ed. Jill Jiminez and Roda Morrison, Fitzroy Dearborn.
Entries for new Dictionary of National Biography: including May Morris, Rosalie Chichester, Jessie King, Kate Bunce.
Contributions to Dictionary of Women Artists (ed. Delia Gaze, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997).
Scholarly essays are forthcoming on John Ruskin’s Sesame and Lilies (ed. Deborah Nord, Yale University Press), May Morris (in Decorative Excess and Women Artists 1885–1935, ed. Janice Helland and Bridget Elliott), and Marie Spartali Stillman (Women and Italy in the Nineteenth Century, ed. Alison Chapman and Jane Stabler, Manchester University Press).
Films
Against the Grain, Arts Council documentary film 1983.
May Morris, Central Television documentary film, 1988.
Looking for Lizzie, Kaleidoscope Special BBC R4, 1991
Exhibitions
Pre-Raphaelite Women Artists, co-curator of exhibition 1997¬–8 at Manchester City Art Gallery, Birmingham City Art Gallery, and Southampton City Art Gallery, March¬–July 1998. Co-author of accompanying book, Pre-Raphaelite Women Artists, re-issued by Thames & Hudson, 1999.
Elizabeth Siddal: Pre-Raphaelite Artist, exhibition at Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield, 1991.
Black Victorians: Black People in British Art 1800-1900, Manchester Art Gallery, October 1, 2005–January 6, 2006; Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, January 28–April 1, 2006.