Deconstructing The Signature of All Things - The Curator's Talk

Hear from the curator of this pop-up exhibition at the Portico Library, which invites you to experience Elizabeth Gilbert’s historical novel The Signature of All Things in a different way: by stepping behind the story and into the books, ideas and lives that helped shape it. Drawing on the Portico’s historic collections, the display traces the scientific discoveries, intellectual debates and overlooked voices that echo through the book. By showing extracts from the text alongside the works that inspired it, the exhibition turns reading into a game, encouraging you to look again, read anew, and make new connections.

Come and see a signed copy of the novel, a 19th century women’s travelling costume, and a selection of books that show how libraries bring knowledge together across centuries, sparking imagination, revealing hidden histories, and inspiring new stories. Part of the Festival Of Libraries.

Curated by Dr. Susana Sanchez-Gonzalez, HE Innovation Fellow at Creative Manchester, University of Manchester.With kind thanks to Debbie Challis, Apapat Jain-Glynn, and the library volunteers for all their help.

With thanks to loans from Cheethams Library and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.

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Host or Publisher Portico Library