Sat 4 Oct: The Great Tew Circle 2.0
This event is in the past.
Kathryn Murphy
‘The Anxiety of Variety: Attention crisis in the 17th Century.’
Talk, discussion and supper in the parish church at Great Tew
Saturday 4 October 2025, 6.30pm
The original Great Tew Circle was a casual reading-group of friends that met in Lord Falkland’s house in the years before the Civil War. (Charlbury note: Edward Hyde, who as Lord Clarendon later owned and expanded Cornbury House, was among the regular attenders.)
We’ve adapted the idea for all local lovers of history and ideas. Come for a stimulating talk and conversation, followed – if you wish – by supper. Whether you seek the full evening experience or just the talk, your presence will enrich this gathering in the spirit of the Great Tew Circle’s tradition of open exchange.
Kathryn Murphy, a Fellow and Tutor at Oriel College, Oxford and frequent contributor to art magazines and organizer of exhibitions, will start a potentially fascinating conversation about what people who lived and worked in a community like ours four hundred years ago felt about the world they were living in, and the tumultuous political changes they were witnessing.
Her focus will be on the brilliant, unclassifiable masterpiece that is Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy – a very un-melancholy book through which, according to Philip Pullman, the author’s humanity and humour ‘blows like a gale’. First published in 1621, it would almost certainly have been read and discussed by members of the original Great Tew Circle (but there’s no need for anyone coming on 4 October to do any preparation).
Dr Murphy offers us a ringside seat from which to observe some of the best 17th-century minds grappling with the perils and possibilities of distraction and the elusive art of attention.
Talk & Dinner: £30
Talk only: £15 (students free -- ID required)
Pre-booking essential. To reserve a place please email office.tewbenefice@gmail.com