By Lisa Wills, Special Collections Assistant

Choosing menstruation as an exhibition topic really brought into focus the challenges of researching a subject not traditionally catalogued within archive and rare book collections. The taboo and private nature of menstruation meant that archive items relating to it were much more hidden than for other exhibitions the team has completed recently.

As with many other exhibitions, research started with a library catalogue search for rare books. Thinking of keywords proved to need a creative approach, as terms straddled colloquial and medical (periods, the curse, flow, blood, PMT, PMS, the rag…) and often had changed, even over short periods of time.

Items from the Hypatia collection were the first to be identified as they came up on a keyword search, such as the book of cartoons ‘Heavy Periods’ by Fanny Tribble (1983), the pamphlet ‘Menstrual Taboos’ (1977) and the book ‘The Curse’ by Janice Delaney (1976).

Several of the books chosen to be in the final exhibition however, such as the texts focusing on the period around menarche, ‘What a Mother Should Tell her Little Girl’ by Isabelle Thompson Smart (1911) were found by subsequently scanning the shelves, having not been identified through the catalogue. The language used in this book demonstrates the often cryptic nature in which menstruation is discussed, especially in the period that it dates from. For example, although an instructional text in its nature, no mention of menstrual flow is made, only that ‘you will understand what mother means when she says she has a headache or backache’ and that girls ‘cry upon the slightest provocation’.

The poems featured, ‘The Change’ by Sylvia Kantaris and ‘Menustration at Forty’ by Anne Sexton, were discovered by an even closer examination of texts in the Hypatia collection, through identifying poetry anthologies likely to contain relevant material.
In terms of archive material, results were very limited for a keyword search. Many objects were tantalising, but turned out not to relate to menstruation at all, or could not be proved to be. Others had only recently been catalogued as being related to menstruation, such as Dorothy Harmsworth’s diary. Used whilst she was attempting to conceive a child, the diary records period flow and whether it was heavy or light on certain days.

A notable exception to this was the Daphne du Maurier archive. Du Maurier and her family often used code words within their conversation and writing, and in her letters menstruation is referred to as ‘Robert’. The postcard chosen for the exhibition is from a trip to the Matterhorn, where du Maurier was accompanied by ‘Robert’. She also refers to anaemia and fatigue.

Personal knowledge of certain collections was needed to identify several items which were subsequently included in the exhibition, such as the 17th century books from the Syon Abbey collection A choice manuall : or, Rare and select secrets in physick and chyrurgery, collected and practised by the … Countesse of Kent, dated 1654 and Zōologia, Schröder, Johann, dated 1659 which both contain recipes for ailments relating to menstruation, referred to as ‘the flowers’, with ingredients including hare’s foot!

Period products are central in the lived experience of menstruation, so we were very keen to identify any items relating to these. Again, knowledge from an archivist was needed to identify a particular article in the University’s student publication RAZZ magazine. We were very happy to find illustrations in the article, as even in the Hypatia collection, nothing like this had been identified. It was interesting to see how the flower motif was used in the illustrations, linking to the wording used in the older books from the Syon Abbey and Rare Books collections.

Flowers were also featured in the piece of artwork ‘The Physical, Mental and Social Impact of Menstrual Taboos on Women’s Health’ (2025). It was brilliant to have this piece by medical student Sarah Packer in the exhibition as it was inspired by items relating to women’s health within the collections, especially the pamphlet ‘Menstrual Taboos’.

Overall planning this exhibition it has been a thought provoking experience both in the way material was discovered, and the themes that run through it, often over centuries. We hope that our journey has shed light on the process of researching a topic conventionally concealed within archives and rare book catalogues.

Exhibition Items:
Syon Abbey 1654/KEN – Extract from ‘A choice manuall: or, Rare and select secrets in physick and chyrurgery…’ by the Countesse of Kent (1654)
Rare Books B 1659/SCH – Extract from ‘Zoologia: or the history of animals as they are useful in physick and chirurgery’ by Johann Schröder (1659)
Hypatia CRIT/BER – Poem from ‘About women: an anthology…’ by Stephen Berg (1973)
Hypatia CRIT/DEL – ‘The Curse: a cultural history of menstruation’ by Janice Delaney (1976)
Hypatia HEA/SMA – ‘What a mother should tell her little girl …’ by Isabelle Thompson Smart (1911)
EUL MS 435/6/5/1/6 – Pocket Diary for 1945
EUL MS 207/6/4/1/106 – Manuscript postcard from Daphne du Maurier to ’Tod’ (23 May 1952)
EUL MS 367/LIT/2/4/1/2 – Typescript draft of the poem ‘The Change’ (c 1985)
Hypatia HUM/TRI/Pamphlet – ‘Heavy Periods’ by Fanny Tribble (1983)
University Archive: EUL UA/A/25 – ‘Razz Magazine’ (Issue 28, 2019)
Hypatia HEA/MEN/Pamphlet – ‘Menstrual Taboos’ by Pauline Long (1977)
‘The Physical, Mental and Social Impact of Menstrual Taboos on Women’s Health’ by Sarah Packer (2025)