by Antony Ramm, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library “Winter is coming”, they say. Well, it’s not just coming—it’s here. And, while Winter may be cold and dark and seemingly never-ending, the upside is that these characteristics surely make Winter the very best time of year to really indulge the yearning common to all readers:…
Category: Art & Literature
The Dutchman’s Leetle Dog: A Surprising Tale
by Gilly Margrave, Music and Performing Arts, Leeds Central Library When I was very small, small enough for grown-ups to be able to distract me by singing funny little songs, I remember my great aunt Ethel singing a song about a little dog which was lost. Aunt Ethel had been a teacher for all her…
Folk Hero: Frank Kidson
by Karen Downham, Local and Family History, Leeds Central Library Earlier this month, Leeds Central Library hosted Kidson Day, an event celebrating the folk song collector Frank Kidson, his legacy to Leeds and his significant contribution to the world of music and folk song. Visiting artists Pete Coe and Alice Jones had been researching, learning…
#explorearchives: A Tale of One Manuscript and Two Lords Irwin
by Gilly Margrave, Music and Performing Arts, Leeds Central Library One of the rarest items in the archive of our Music and Performing Arts Library has to be the manuscript of a Cantate di Camera à Voce Sola written by Giuseppe Montuoli of Lucca and dedicated to “Signor Milord Eduardo Irwin and dated 1706. This refers to…
When Industry and Art Meet
by Vickie, Art Library, Leeds Central Library This week’s post returns to the theme of an Industrial Leeds – specifically the title of ‘City of Industry’ – a name that is also title to the current exhibition devised and co-curated by local illustrator Drew Millward in the gallery space at Colours May Vary. After previously touching…
The Rugby-Playing War Poet
We’re currently in the process of putting together the upcoming Rugby Union exhibition at Leeds Central Library, which opens on 4 September, and it’s giving us a great opportunity to look through some related resources from our library collection. One of these is the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union Commemoration Book 1914-1919, which profiles dozens of…
Meet Alan Peters: Playwright and Novelist
A recent enquiry brought the name ‘Alan Peters’ to our attention. While our customer knew that Peters was a pseudonym for a Leeds-based author of the 1930s and 40s, he was keen to know the writer’s real name. The only information he could provide was that the author was a doctor of some description –…
Walking and Watercolours
“It is inconceivable that people in our big cities should prefer to stay grubbing in the hot and dusty streets instead of getting out into the green fields and the breezy country side, unless there were some real hindrances in the way of their doing so.” So opens Thirty-six Country Rambles Round Leeds by local…
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