This week we hear from Library and Digital Assistant Ruairí Lewis who talks us through the fascinating history of the Leeds Arts Club through library stock and collections… Among our local history collections are a few volumes on the history of the Leeds Arts Club, and its fascinating founder, Alfred Orage. Very little has been…
Category: Art & Literature
The Golden Wedding | Frank Kidson & Arthur Grimshaw
Part two from guest writer Agnes Leonowicz The Golden Wedding was a play written in 1910 for the City of Leeds School of Music by Frank Kidson and Arthur Grimshaw, which was said to be to raise money for Leeds Infirmary. The play was a musical collaboration of folk and romanticism, combining Grimshaw’s musical skills…
The Golden Wedding | A Musical Context
Today begins a two part article from guest author Agnes Leonowicz. Part II follows on Friday The Golden Wedding was a play written in 1910 for the City of Leeds School of Music by both Frank Kidson and Arthur Grimshaw, which was said to be to raise money for the Leeds Infirmary. The play…
Rare Books Round Up – Big Garden Birdwatch Edition
Each week our Collections Manager Rhian, brings you our ‘Rare Book of the Week’ on our social media accounts, too good to be lost in the daily deluge of tweets and Instagrams we wanted to bring you a round-up of some of our favourites. This week it’s the turn of Birds. This weekend marks the…
Winter Wear
For Day 3 of our Heritage Advent Calendar our Library & Digital Assistant Jude Ramm gives you… formal winter wear in ‘Hand Coloured Fashion Plates 1770-1899’ from the Sanderson Collection. Anyone would be hard pushed not to be the talk of the town in this beautiful ensemble. From the dainty shoes, complete with pom-poms, to…
Snowy Tramscapes by Peter Lapish
We’re kicking off the 2021 festive period with our Secret Library Leeds Advent Calendar. Everyday in the run up to Christmas we will bring you something from our heritage & special collections, all with a seasonal feel. Day 1 – Prints from the Leodis.net photographic archive as chosen by senior librarian Louise Birch Impressionistic watercolours…
Comic Art and Caricatures in our Collections
In today’s post our Senior Librarian for Special Collections, Rhian Isaac, explores the connection between comic books and some of the library’s prints, books and periodicals from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. This weekend is the annual Thought Bubble Comic Convention, a two day celebration of comics, their creators and their fans. We have…
Paintings of Burley
This week on the Secret Library we hear from guest author Jonathan Hooper. Jonathan is an incredible painter, who is here to share some of his paintings of Burley and the inspirations behind them. You can see more of Jonathan’s artwork and process on his website. I am a painter – my subject is the…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 