This week Central Collections Manager, Rhian Isaac discusses The History of Book Illustration through our collections here in Central Library. Illustrated texts pre-date the printed book by thousands of years but unfortunately much has been lost from early civilisations, such as Greece, China and Rome due to the fragility of the material. Ancient Egypt is the exception…
Category: Child Friendly
The Golden Age of Childhood
Join us on an exploration of classic children’s books from our collection and the evocative illustrations that accompanied them. Many books that we now regard as children’s classics, such as Aesop’s Fables and the stories of Grimm and Anderson, were originally written for adults. They were simply tales intended to inform and instruct. In 1860,…
When Football Did Come Home
Librarian Antony Ramm looks at a Central Library book of autographs that record the still-unrepeated success of 1966… So, in the end, it didn’t come home – and I think most of us knew it wouldn’t. But – as most of us do know – it did indeed come home in July of 1966, when…
The Monopoly Man in Leeds: Waddington Plc
University of Huddersfield history student and library volunteer Haaris Mahmood continues his series of articles for The Secret Library, by looking back over the achievements of the Waddington company in the first-half of the 20th-century… In recent years the evolution of gaming has proved to be revolutionary with many new platforms being established such as video games and virtual…
Tales from Circus 250: A Topography of the Circus in Leeds, Part I
To mark the 250th-anniversary of Philip Astley’s leap into show-business with his ring of entertainments near to Waterloo in London, the Secret Library presents a short series of stories from the glory days of the Circus in Leeds and the surrounding area. NEW BRIGGATE Charles Adams opened his Grand Circus on the site in New…
Demanding Recognition: Butch and Mates in Woodhouse, 1970
This week, Librarian Antony Ramm provides some context for a popular 1970 photo of Leeds. Our Leodis archive is home to thousands of historical photos of Leeds, but one in particular caught a lot of attention on social media over the last few weeks: this 1970 image showing a group of children in the Servia Hill…
Chilling Memories
Temperatures may have improved a little recently but last week’s cold snap was nothing compared to the icy conditions experienced by Leeds in times past. Local history librarian Ross Horsley looks back on some of the city’s cruelest winters… “The Wharfe and the Aire are frozen to a depth capable of bearing anything,” reported the Leeds Mercury in…
Tales from Leeds Pantomimes
This week on the Secret Library, local history Librarian, Antony Ramm, brings you three of his favourite stories from Leeds’ rich pantomime tradition. Oh yes he does! In May of 1986, J. Ingle of Otley wrote to the Yorkshire Evening Post to ask how long pantomimes had been taking place in Leeds – and was…
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