Founded in 1425, the City’s Guildhall Library is a strong contender for the title, having recently finished celebrating its 600th Anniversary. As part of the celebration, it put on an exhibition that looked at the founding of the Library, what it was like, why it was closed, and the origins and development of the current Guildhall Library.
I was lucky enough to attend a talk by Senior Librarian and exhibition curator Melanie Strong. So what did I learn, and what gems did I discover?
A gift to the City
Not only did my favourite Mayor - Richard Whittington - provide the ladies of London with the first public ladies loos [see my earlier blog], he was the benefactor behind the founding of the original ‘Common Library at Guildhall’. Money he left to the City was used by John Carpenter, the City’s Town Clerk and principal executor of Whittington’s will, to found the Library. A keen reader and bibliophile himself, Carpenter was the driving force behind it – overseeing the building of the Librray next to the Guildhall Chapel and bequeathing several books to it himself in his will.
Less is known about William Bury’s donation - the other benefactor. But once founded, the Library attracted donations and books from many others. Its collection quickly grew.
The Library closes
Alas, the Library lost all its books thanks to William’s Cecil’s “book grab” in 1549. The Library had been forfeited to the Crown and, as secretary to the Duke of Somerset, Cecil was permitted to borrow any works he fancied. So he “borrowed” the entire collection and never returned them - if only they had library fines on those days! The empty Library was converted into a store house for clothes. The Guildhall was without a library for nearly 300 years.
An original found!
However, the City was able to “buy back” a work from the original collection. This early 13th Century manuscript copy of the Bible – the Peter de Riga Bible or Aurora – was purchased by the City at auction from Southeby’s in 1926 and features in the Exhibition.
The Library returns
In 1824 the City decided to establish a library at Guildhall relating to matters of the City, Southwark and Middlesex. The library opened in 1828 but it was not public. Only members of the Corporation could access its 1,380 works. But as it quickly grew and membership expanded, public demand for a public library increased.
The public got their wish in 1876 when the new public library opened at Guildhall. Designed by City architect Horace Jones, its collection spanned over 60,000 books.
While the current Library’s premises may not be as impressive, the purpose built building meets the needs of a modern library, housing a collection of over 200,000 books available to everyone. And while its aim remains to collect books relevant to London’s history, it will accept other books if they are of particular interest.
The Library takes public accessibility very seriously. There’s no need to join – visitors are welcomed from all walks of life – whether to peruse the books, listen to a talk, or use the computers. And on the ground floor you can also check out the giant model of central London.
And don’t worry – the Library has long since abandoned its practice of chaining its books to the shelves!
This Bible is in the Medieval library section of the Exhibition and still has the lock and chain attached. The books were chained to the shelf and, once requested by a library member, would then be chained to a desk so they could read the text but not take it away. Or do a “William Cecil”.
Gems in the Exhibition
There were several gems in the collection on display as part of the Exhibition.
This has got to be the most beautifully decorated book of walks ever. It’s part of an 8 volume series and was lovingly handwritten in mediaeval manuscript style by a group of ramblers known as the Viatores. It details a series of walks undertaken over 50 years – hence the 8 volumes. It includes maps, sketches of locations and descriptions of what they saw. Amazing.
I loved this because it is a rare example of medieval binding and shows how books were kept back in the medieval day. They were laid flat, not upright as we do today, and the 4 studs you can see meant that any books/items placed on top were raised above the cover.
I had to include the most detailed Elizabethan book on London – and one to which all City guides were regularly referred during our one year course – John Stow’s Survey of London. I also loved the fact that he had so many books in his possession while working on his Survey that he was investigated twice for holding books that were considered dangerous and supporting papacy.
And my favourite? That prize went to the world’s smallest English dictionary, published in 1890 – it is tiny!!