"A Knight to Remember" Examines Life of Sir Walter Raleigh
An oil portrait (ca. 1593) of Sir Walter Raleigh
will be part of the exhibition "A Knight to Remember"
"A Knight to Remember: The Life and Legacy of Sir Walter Raleigh" will be the title of a new exhibition opening Oct. 18 at UNC's Wilson Library.
Books, maps, and manuscripts relating to Raleigh's life and times will be on display in the North Carolina Collection Gallery through Jan. 31. The exhibition will also feature examples of modern postcards, currency, and even tobacco tins, that use the iconic explorer's image and name.
On Oct. 22, Kim Sloan, a curator at the British Museum, will present a lecture that addresses Raleigh's efforts to colonize North America in the 1580s. Her presentation will focus on John White, an artist who participated in several voyages that Raleigh sent to this continent in the 1580s. White served briefly as governor of the so-called "Lost Colony" on Roanoke Island in present-day Dare County, N.C.
The free public program will begin at 5:45 p.m. in the Pleasants Family Assembly Room of Wilson Library. A reception and exhibit viewing will begin at 5 p.m. For program information, contact Liza Terll, (919) 962-4207.
"A Knight to Remember" complements an exhibition about the Lost Colony opening October 20 at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, said Neil Fulghum, keeper of the North Carolina Collection Gallery. The Museum will showcase original John White drawings, on loan from the British Museum.
"Even Americans who know little about English history are often familiar with the exploits of Sir Walter Raleigh and can identify him," said Fulghum. "The Gallery's exhibition provides a wonderful opportunity to highlight events in Raleigh's remarkable life."
The exhibition will also debunk some persistent myths, such as the notion that Raleigh introduced tobacco to England.
"He popularized smoking as a leisure activity," Fulghum said, "but he did not introduce the plant to his country. Tobacco had already been in use for decades in Europe as a medicinal inhalant for patients suffering from asthma and other respiratory problems."
Items in the exhibition will include sixteenth-century travel accounts and maps; a 1570 letter signed by Queen Elizabeth I; and a first edition of Raleigh's History of the World, published in 1614 while Raleigh was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Most of the exhibition's content draws from the Library's Sir Walter Raleigh Collection. Established in 1940 with an endowment from the Roanoke Colony Memorial Association, the collection now contains more than 1,000 books, drawings, and manuscripts pertaining to Raleigh and to the earliest English explorations of North America. Visitors can also see examples of authentic Elizabethan and early Jacobean furniture in the Gallery's Sir Walter Raleigh Rooms, a 1593 oil portrait of Raleigh and a life-size wooden statue of him.
The Gallery is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is free.
Related Links
