Wordsworth Grasmere lends treasured manuscript to museums in Asia
William Wordsworth’s poetry is wowing crowds across Asia on its travels as Wordsworth Grasmere loans one of its most cherished manuscripts to museums in South Korea and China.
As its successful run at the Busan Museum in South Korea comes to an end, the exhibit is once again on the road as it prepares to go on display in Shanghai Museum East, China, from 18 March – 13 July 2026.
The manuscript of Wordsworth’s poem, ‘On a Portrait of the Duke of Wellington Upon the Field of Waterloo, by Haydon’ dates back to 1840 and will feature as part of the wider “Writers Revealed” touring exhibition, organised by the National Portrait Gallery, London, which celebrates Britain’s greatest literary figures.
The poem is part of a larger volume of Wordsworth’s later poetry dated after 1820. He composed the poem at the age of 70 while climbing Helvellyn, England’s third-highest mountain, accompanied by his daughter Dora and her future husband Edward Quillinan. The manuscript on loan to the museum was written in Dora’s hand.
After composing the poem, Wordsworth sent a copy to his friend, the artist, Benjamin Robert Haydon. Haydon was so delighted that he painted a portrait of Wordsworth on Helvellyn to commemorate the occasion. It is this exact portrait that is displayed alongside the manuscript while it is on tour.
The exhibition tour brings together some of the most influential British writers in history, including William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Michael McGregor, Robert Woof Director at Wordsworth Grasmere commented: “Korea and Shanghai are very important markets to us. As overseas visitors continue to return to the UK, we need to ensure that Cumbria — and in particular Grasmere — is a destination they are aware of. Being part of this wider exhibition provides us with an opportunity to reach audiences who are deeply invested in British writers. Our hope is that after experiencing Wordsworth in the Busan and Shanghai Museums, visitors will one day come to Grasmere and Dove Cottage to continue their journey into the poet’s world.”
The “Writers Revealed” exhibition has been on show at the Busan Museum, South Korea since autumn 2025 and will soon be moving to Shanghai Museum East where it will be available to view from mid-March 2026 onwards.
