Objects

An inscribed tombstone and the oldest surviving complete musical composition, with an enduring message: life is short, so enjoy it while you can.

The Steinway Model Z upright piano on which John Lennon composed what Nicolas Walter called 'probably the best-known humanist text today'.

Grave of writer, freethinker, and proto-feminist Aphra Behn in Westminster Abbey.

Award presented to writer, activist, and humanist Brigid Brophy for distinguished services to writers.

Secular song book edited by humanist and composer Emily Josephine Troup: Hampstead Ethical Institute edition.

Memorial to Northern Irish poet, historian, and humanist John Hewitt.

14th century playing card, and a reminder of medieval scepticism.

Painting by Arthur Hughes of Ellen Conway, humanist and key figure at South Place (now Conway Hall).

Minerva platen printing press, owned by Leonard and Virginia Woolf.

Portrait of humanist and activist E.M. Forster, presented to Conway Hall by the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Group (GALHA, now LGBT Humanists).

Statue of writer, evolutionary thinker, feminist, and humanist Elaine Morgan.

The Southwark playhouse at which Shakespeare's plays were performed.

First issue of literary journal The Honest Ulsterman.

Aesop’s Fables printed by William Caxton.

Manuscript of a collection of 158 rubā‘īyāt (quatrains) of Omar Khayyām, used by Edward FitzGerald to create his 1859 translation.