by Adam Barham, Art Library. Throughout history, death has inspired artists to create stirring and thought-provoking work. As death affects us all and invokes a whole range of emotions, there are myriad examples of death-inspired art. These include explorations of the nature of death, depictions of deaths and funerals, as well as dedications and monuments…
Category: Art & Literature
What the Moon Saw
by Ross Horsley, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library We’ve been thinking a fair bit about chimney sweeps recently at Central Library… Not because the chimneys here need attention (it’s a long time since any of our various original fireplaces held an open fire) but because our student-curated Sweepiana exhibition is currently occupying Room 700 until…
Once Upon a Time in Leeds Central Library
by Rhian Isaac, Collections Manager, Leeds Central Library “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” – Neil Gaiman During Library Fest in February we delivered an array of fairy tale related events from children’s theatre performances to film…
A Giant, Grade II* Listed Work of Art
By Ross Horsley, Local and Family History, and Adam Barham, Art Library, Leeds Central Library For this year’s Library Fest, we decided to create a tour of the beautiful Leeds Central Library that reimagined the building as a huge work of art. Looking to its many and varied architectural features for inspiration, we drew on the works of…
The Ghost Stories of Lord Halifax
by Ross Horsley, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library Last Monday, I accepted an invitation from Bob and Jacki Lawrence of the East Leeds History and Archaeology Society to speak at their monthly meeting, and decided to take along one of my favourite items from our Local History collection as my inspiration. Lord Halifax’s…
Sweeping Through Time
Two weeks ago, we let you in on some of the secrets of the Henry Collection in Oliver Twist with a Twist. This week it’s over to our two experts on the subject, Jonathan and Natascha, to share a few of their favourite finds. Did you know that Leeds Central Library holds extensive collections on the English…
It’s Oliver Twist… with a Twist
by Rhian Isaac, Collections Manager, Leeds Central Library Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be welcoming two new bloggers to the Secret Library. Natascha and Jonathan are students from the University of Leeds, who joined us on a Faculty of Arts Research Placement a few months ago to experience working with our collections and bringing them to a wider…
Chicks, cigars and wine-drinking toddlers: A Victorian Christmas
by Vickie Bennett, Art Library, Leeds Central Library In the Art Library we currently have one of our favourite handmade items on display to coincide with our charity Christmas card shop – the ‘Victorian Scrapbook’ of scraps and greetings cards. A donation to the library in the 1990’s, and a visual feast for any fan…
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