The V&A : Three-in-One : The Artful Book: 70 Years of The Folio Society

Apr3

Ten years ago I visited the 60th Anniversary of the Folio Society display at The British Library. Suddenly, ten years later, its 70th birthday is being celebrated at the V&A. I LOVE Folio books. I have quite a few which I’ve collected over the years, mostly secondhand, some without their slipcases. Whenever my local Book Group decide on a classic book to read I search out the Folio edition to read. They are just so pleasant to handle, comfortable to read, have clear, easy to read type printed on quality paper and a great deal of care and attention to detail has gone into the illustrations commissioned from professional artists. There’s a good selection at The Leeds Library. Long live The Folio Society!

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Gerhart-Hauptmann-Haus

Aug12

Gerhart Hauptmann (1862-1946) is another winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was a German novelist, poet and playwright; although he was born and died in what is now Poland. I visited his former summer house on the island of Hiddensee in June.

The original gate entrance to Gerhard Hauptmann House and Garden

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Hull UK City of Culture 2017 : Larkin : New Eyes Each Year

Aug9

Larkin exhibition
New eyes each year
Find old books here,
And new books,too,
Old eyes renew;
So youth and age
Like ink and page
In this house join,
Minting new coin.

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Sleeping with Books : Gladstone’s Library

Apr27

Last Saturday I was to meet friends in Porthmadog for a ride (and more – watch this space!) on the Ffamous Ffestiniog Railway. Porthmadog is a very long drive from Leeds so I was very happy to know about Gladstone’s Library and to secure a room there for two nights.

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Glasgow Weekend : The Remains

Mar16

In addition to all the Mackintosh connections in Glasgow we found time to explore the permanent collections at both the Hunterian and the Kelvingrove Galleries; to visit Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis and enjoy a session at Glasgow’s Annual Book Festival “Aye Write“. The festival takes place in the beautiful Mitchell Library, one of Europe’s largest public libraries, which has been one of Glasgow’s iconic landmarks since it opened in 1911.

Waterstones Pop-up Shop at The Mitchell Library

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Coop House in Cumbria before Christmas

Dec25

The tree is decorated, the presents have been bought and the cards have been written and posted. But there’s still shopping and cooking to be done and there are gifts to be wrapped so what better time could there be to take off for a 2 night pre-Christmas break, literally away-from-it-all, at a Landmark at Netherby in Cumbria – Coop House? Continue reading →

Libraries Big and Libraries Small [3]

Jul13

Dublin is a City of Words, a UNESCO City of Literature and a city with some great libraries. On my visits in May I managed to get to two of these. I’m looking forward to future trips when I may visit other literary locations across the city.

Most highly recommended to me was The Chester Beatty Library right in the centre of the city and within the walls of the grounds of Dublin Castle itself.

Dublin Castle

“For over 800 years Dublin Castle has been at the heart of Irish history. From the founding of the first Celtic settlement in the 1st century A.D. to every Presidential inauguration since the foundation of the state, the site has stood witness to some of the most pivotal events in the country’s history.” So it’s interesting enough just walking through the Castle precincts.

Chester Beatty (1875-1968) was an American mining engineer. He had been an avid collector since childhood – stamps, Chinese snuff bottles, rocks and minerals. During the first decades of the 20th century Beatty moved to Europe and began to collect European and Persian manuscripts and decorated copies of the Qur’an. He took an interest in Japan, the Orient and Egypt. He actually bought a house near the Pyramids.

He later bought modern editions but had very conservative taste. He preferred books where the text and image formed pleasing compositions. Such as here a Gregynog Press issue of The Fables of Esope, 1931.

No photography allowed but I found the above pictures here

He loved books for their own sake as opposed to having a love for literature. He was attracted to decorated books/illustrations/iluminations and fine bindings. He didn’t like modern art and avant garde book designers, illustrators and binders are not represented in his collection. His mantra was “quality, quality, quality”. He was probably the last of the great book collectors after J. Pierpoint Morgan and Henry E. Huntington. Beatty also appreciated the 18th and 19th century print cabinets essential to the gentleman’s library.

In 1950 Chester Beatty decided to move to Ireland and he built a library for his art collection on Shrewsbury Road which opened in 1954. Upon his death, the collection was bequeathed to a trust for the benefit of the public and his priceless collection lives on as a celebration of the spirit and generosity of Chester Beatty.

I enjoyed studying the short videos demonstrating print techniques : woodcuts, engraving, etching, lithography and chromolithography. And a trust fund allows the Library to continue buying works today which complement the original collection. It was during my visit to The Chester Beatty Library that I realised that I’m really much more interested in printed books and printing methods than in the beautiful and exquisite manuscripts.

Charles Beatty summed up his life “It has all been a great adventure”.

The Castle Grounds and Grass Maze

Moving on from the Chester Beatty Library I headed back through the Castle precincts and after a quick lunch in the lovely Avoca store found my way to The National Library of Ireland. A friend, and fellow member of the Leeds Library, recommended to me after a recent visit “YEATS: the life and works of William Butler Yeats” [1865-1939]. It’s an almost permanent exhibition (ongoing since 2006) but it is particularly relevant this year as 2015 is the 150th anniversary of Yeats’s birth.

The National Library of Ireland’s collection of Yeats manuscripts is the largest collection of Yeats material in a single institution anywhere in the world. This collection is at the heart of the exhibition which you can visit for yourselves here.

I was particularly interested to discover more about the life of Ireland’s national poet. He came from a family of artists and creatives. He played a huge role in the establishment of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin which he founded along with Lady Augusta Gregory in 1904 with the main aim of promoting Irish writers and artists which is still incorporated in its charter today. He had a great interest in the occult and Celtic mysticism. Many of his poems are about places in Ireland, and elsewhere.

By coincidence during my trip in May HRH The Prince of Wales and his wife The Duchess of Cornwall also visited Ireland and planted a tree at the grave of William Butler Yeats at Drumcliffe, Co. Sligo.

[source]

Libraries Big and Libraries Small [2]

Jun16

dlrLexicon

There’s a regular two-page spread in the Independent Traveller section of Saturday’s Independent called “Travel Agenda : Where to Go, What to Know” that gives a few pithy lines about what’s going on in the world of travel.

Approaching dlrLexicon

The ‘back’ of dlrLexicon

A few months ago I spotted a brief mention of the dlrLexicon, the newly opened Dun Laoghaire public library. The library was said to greet drivers as they disembarked from the Holyhead ferry. In fact there is no longer a ferry terminal at Dun Laoghaire but I knew exactly the location of the Library as many times in the past I’ve arrived at Dun Laoghaire from North Wales.

Light and airy for studying and browsing

DLR stands for Dun Laoghaire and Rathdown. On my visit we started the day with coffee and delicious cake in Brambles Cafe on the ground floor. Later in the day we explored the other floors, looking at the views and the stock.

The Beautiful Librarians – dlrLexicon book stock

Popular with all ages

The massive building is shaped like a liner, which is rather apt since a partnership has been struck between dlrLexicon and Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company in order to promote the town as a leading cruise destination. Indeed, on the day of our visit an Irish cultural variety show – music, song and dance – was laid on in the garden area. Not for cruise passengers only; free access is also offered to the public.

Dun Laoghaire Marina, East Pier and Cruise Liner

The Bolton Library, Cashel

On my first visit to Cashel as I travelled from Co. Waterford up to Co. Kildare I stopped off in Cashel. As I was leaving The Rock of Cashel I noticed this poster :

Well, how could I resist when a couple of days later I found myself heading back down to Co. Cork? What an amazing treasure trove! I could hardly believe this place existed. Upstairs is even fitted out as an exact replica in miniature of Trinity College Library in Dublin where the famous Book of Kells is now housed. Bolton Library Upper Floor [Picture source]

I think they mean William Caxton!

I parked up in Cashel and headed for the Tourist Office where a very helpful young lady rang Martin, the curator, who said he would be happy to show me around the library so drove straight to the St John’s Cathedral and was met by the enthusiastic Martin.

The Bijou Bolton Library

You can read more about the treasures Bolton Library Document but I was amazed to see the world’s tiniest book – The Lord’s Prayer in German; an early Caxton printing of Chaucer; the earliest use of the word Zero; the 1493 Nuremburg Chronicle and many more treasures besides.

The Upper Floor [source]

NOTE : The Bolton Library is now in the care of The University of Limerick

http://www.ul.ie/ullinks/features-opinions/bolton-library

4 March 2017

The Leeds Library Summer Day Out in Whitby

Jun12

The weather on this year’s annual Leeds Library Visit to Whitby could not have been more different from last year’s The Lake District trip. The sun shone all day and the sky was blue as blue. Perfect weather for a day at the seaside. But first stop on our journey was in Pickering where after tea and toast in the Poppies Tearoom we visited the parish church of St Peter and St Paul where medieval wall paintings have been extensively restored. Originally discovered in 1851 they were almost immediately covered over again. In the 1870s they were restored and, as the leaflet tells us :

Nikolaus Pevsner, in his series of books The Buildings of England (1966), wrote that the church has “one of the most complete series of wall paintings in English churches, and they give one a vivid idea of what ecclesiastical interiors were really like”.

Pickering Church

St George and The Dragon Wall Painting

The East Window

Our day out was primarily to visit the Whitby Literary & Philosophical Society Library and Museum housed in a purpose built art gallery in Pannett Park above the town and with views of the Abbey opposite and the sea beyond.

The Society had been founded in 1823 by a group of Whitby citizens led by The Reverend George Young, a minister of the Presbyterian church. It’s chief object was to set up and maintain a museum specialising in fossils since “Whitby is a chief town of a district abounding with petrifications and containing not a few Antiquities”.

The Society’s Library Today

Initially opened in two rooms over a shop in Baxtergate it subsequently moved to several other locations in the town but finally, by the end of the 19th century the Society decided it needed more space and a new building which opened in 1931 and adjoins the Municipal Art Gallery : The Pannett Art Gallery.

We had an introduction to the collection in a new wing added 10 years ago with funds from The Heritage Lottery Fund. The volunteer curators, Stephen and Fiona, spoke enthusiastically about the collection and the Whitby Merchant Seaman’s Muster Rolls which are an important part of it.

The Muster Rolls are a unique series of historical documents which are the surviving paperwork for the Whitby Merchant Seamen’s Hospital’s regulation of the “seaman’s sixpence”, an eighteenth century pension provision. This pension provided financial support to injured seamen and to the widows and children of seamen who died while serving on merchant ships.

Example of Muster Roll from the Library website

They record a wealth of information about crews and ships, and offer a particularly rare insight into working men’s lives : age and place of birth; port where and when enlisted; where and when leaving the ship; name of the ship and its owners.

The Library holds on microfilm the Whitby Muster Rolls from 1747 to 1795 and also some Whitby Muster Rolls from 1800 to 1850. The Museum passed 7,000 Rolls to the Society in 2010. These require careful repair and conservation and much of the cost of this is being defrayed by The Thomas Roe Trust.

The main specialism of the Library is the Whitby local area :

Local History – collections of books, pamphlets, journals, maps, prints and manuscripts for Whitby and the surrounding area (approx. 15 miles radius)

Maritime History – collections of books, Lloyds registers, and records including muster rolls, and ships’ account and log books

Geology – extensive collection of books and journals relating to the history of geology and the internationally important discoveries of Jurassic fossils made in the 19th Century in the Whitby area

Industrial heritage – sources for the development of the alum, jet, ironstone, and potash industries and the railways in the area

Family History – many sources including printed parish registers, lists of monumental inscriptions for many local churches, wills, and indexes to wills in the York Registry

Literature and language – a small literature collection focussing on novels, poetry and plays that are either by Whitby writers or are about Whitby, and a small collection on Yorkshire dialect

After tea and biscuits we were free to visit the Library and the Museum and Art Gallery.

After a picnic lunch in the lovely Pannett Park and a final look round the Museum a fellow library member and I headed into town. After a walk along the quayside we climbed the 199 steps to the church and the Abbey for more stunning views before returning to the coach pick-up point and the return journey to Leeds.

Whitby Church

Whitby Abbey

View from the Top of the 199 Steps

Libraries Big and Libraries Small [1]

Jun10

One Irish word I came to recognize on my recent trip, although I don’t know how it’s pronounced, was Leabharlann. Needless to say, it means Library.

Colclough Room, former Tintern Abbey Library

And the first Library I came across was no longer in use as such. It was the library at Tintern Abbey. Since restoration this room is now known as the Colclough Room and is used as a gallery to tell the stories of the families who lived here.

To my mind the best place to pick up wifi is at a Public Library and I made a couple of visits to Lismore Public Library and Dungarvan Library on some of the wetter days that I spent at Salterbridge Gatelodge.

Lismore Public Library

On my day out in Cork I popped into the Cork Public Library. There was an interesting display in the foyer : The Best Banned in the Land featuring books banned by the Catholic church in Ireland.

The Cork Library Register of Banned Books

Best Banned Books

Many of the authors were Irish and often the Library had bought copies which were later removed from shelves and returned to booksellers for credit. The exhibition focussed on those Irish authors. The list of “Our Nasty Novelists” included George Bernard Shaw, Edna O’Brien, James Joyce, M J O’Farrell (Molly Keane), and I recognised ‘Persephone’ author Norah Hoult (Persephone Book 59 “There were no windows”)