Emily Wingfield: EDITION Spring Lecture and workshop

The Edition Spring Lecture 2026 will be given by Emily Wingfield, Professor of English and Older Scots Literature at the University of Birmingham. It is titled 'Initial Steps Towards an Edition of the Poetry and Related Writings of Mary, Queen of Scots', and will include a discussion chaired by Dr Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh). It will be held in the Project Room 1.06, 50 George Square at 4pm to 5:30pm. You can find the details below.

The Autumn lecture will be preceded from 2pm until 3pm by an optional workshop at the Centre for Research Collections. This workshop is titled 'Reading and Writing Mary, Queen of Scots and Scotland's Royal Women', and will also be led by Professor Wingfield.

Capacity for this workshop is limited, so please book separately for it and the Spring lecture.

You should arrive at the Main Library foyer around fifteen minutes before the workshop starts and give your name at the desk to the right of the main entrance doors. A member of staff will greet you and take you to the 6th floor, which is accessible via lifts. There are lockers at the Centre for Research Collections where you should deposit coats, bags, food and drink, and anything that might damage the rare books. Information about visiting the Centre and accessibility is available on the library's website.

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In this lecture I reflect on the initial steps I have taken to produce a new critical edition, and English translation, of the literary works of Mary, Queen of Scots.

In addition to considering the need for and opportunities of such an edition, I also evaluate the challenges it poses, focusing here in particular on difficulties of authorship and attribution, and of capturing Mary's notable word play in translation.

I concentrate especially on the notorious Casket Sonnets, thinking about: what place these texts might play in the canon of Mary's writings, how best to present and translate them, and how/why we might make a new case (or cases) for Marian authorship.

In this workshop, we examine a range of items from Edinburgh University Library's Special Collections relating to writings by and about Mary, Queen of Scots, including copies of George Buchanan's De Maria Scotorum Regina and Ane Detectioun of the duinges of Marie Quene of Scottes, and the latter's publication of the Casket Sonnets (discussed in the later lecture).

We set these volumes alongside additional Marian material, including copies of Mary's 1566 will, and letters sent to Elizabeth I, and alongside material relating to Scotland's royal women and/or their European counterparts (including a copy of Virgil's Aeneid associated variously with James III of Scotland, and James I's daughter, Eleanor), and a Book of Hours belonging to Anne of Brittany.

If you choose to attend the workshop, please remember to provide your name as you enter the Main Library so you can be admitted.

About Edition

Edition (formerly the Centre for the History of the Book) is a collaborative initiative at the University of Edinburgh supporting new research in all aspects of the history of the book, from traditional forms of bibliography, codicology and textual editing to the latest theoretical and digital innovations.

Access and recording

Please note that this lecture is a free, in-person event held on the University of Edinburgh campus. It will not be live streamed - tickets are for access to the venue. However, the lecture may be photographed and/or recorded and added to the University website afterwards. If you would prefer not to appear in any recordings, please contact us in advance or speak to us on the day. It's not a problem.

After the event

We may like to contact you in the future to hear what you thought of the lecture and invite you to other Edition events. Please tell us at the time of booking if you are happy for us to do that.

Also check out other Workshops in Edinburgh, Arts events in Edinburgh, Literary Art events in Edinburgh.