Penny Readings in the Corn Exchange

Title: Penny Readings in the Corn Exchange
Description: These eight flyers, issued by the Worksop Mechanics’ Institute between December 1865 and February 1866, advertise a series of penny readings at the Corn Exchange. Penny readings were popular mid-Victorian entertainments, combining accessible instruction with amusement through songs, recitations, and music, all for the affordable price of one penny. Such events reflected the Mechanics’ Institutes’ mission to provide education and self-improvement for working communities, balancing learning with leisure. Printed by local firm Sissons & Sons, the surviving flyers, creased, foxed, and once folded, bear witness to their circulation and the enduring demand for affordable cultural life in industrial towns.
Publication Place: Worksop
Publisher: Worksop Mechanics' Institute
Date: 1865-66
Source: https://search.libraries.london.ac.uk/permalink/44SHL_INST/1j7aip0/alma991005297759709266
Format: Flyer
Century: 19th
Exhibition Theme: Advertising the Book Trade See all items with this value
Subject: Mechanics' Institutes; Literary readings; Performance; Working class