This week we hear from Library Officer, Philip Wilde, who highlights some amazing examples of bookbinding in the Central Library collections… The ancient art of bookbinding has been a craft for over 2,000 years. Originally the binding served the purely practical purpose of protecting the book however, book coverings were later to be seen as…
Author: Leeds Libraries
The Sheepscar Triangle – the Irish community in Leeds
This week, as part of Irish History Month, Librarian Helen Skilbeck looks back at some of the local haunts of the Irish community in Leeds and the specific importance of the Sheepscar triangle. 1968, bottom of Roundhay road. Sheepscar Library is in the back centre of the photo and the Pointer Inn is to the…
Women of Leeds
In celebration of International Women’s Day 2019 we are launching a new series using items from our collections to highlight the women and events that shaped Leeds. From the Barnbow Lasses of WWI and the Suffragettes that fought for a woman’s right to vote, to prominent and pioneering female politicians Alice Bacon, Maud Dightam and…
Jewish Leeds in the Central Library Collections: Jacob Kramer
A brief overview of an important Central Library collection relating to the history of the Jewish community in Leeds. The Jacob Kramer Collection This is a small selection of personal material belonging to Jacob Kramer, the influential Leeds-based artist. The box contains, among other items, a framed photograph of Kramer, taken by Hatley Bacon in…
Cross-dressing in Yorkshire
This week we welcome guest writer Lauren Wells, Post-Graduate Researcher at the University of Leeds, who explores the history and meaning(s) of cross-dressing in Yorkshire… My research examines men who cross-dressed in Yorkshire from the end of the nineteenth century until the eve of the Second World War. When I first conceptualised this project, I…
Double, double toil and trouble – What inspired the witches in Macbeth?
This week we hear from Collections Manager Rhian Isaac on some sources for Shakespeare’s witches… It’s a month until Shakespeare Week and to start getting people in the mood I have been bringing out some of our collections to explore why Shakespeare may have incorporated the supernatural into his plays. Monsters, fairies, witches, demons and…
“Who was David and why should we remember him?”
This week’s article is written by Nina Whitfield, a BA History student at Leeds Beckett University. Nina was one of a student group who visited the Central Library in late 2018 for a workshop utilising books and other resources in the Local and Family History department to research the life and times of David Oluwale……
Speed-dating our Library Treasures IV
Last Wednesday night saw the latest instalment of the Speed-date a Library Treasure event, this time taking place in the cosy upstairs room of Further North in Chapel Allerton. Leeds Libraries staff brought along a number of treasures from the special collections and with 3 minutes between each bell they hurried to extol the virtues…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 