This week on the Secret Library Collections Manager Rhian Isaac tells us about another treasure that can be found in our special collections… This is one of the rare books in the collections that is really a pleasure to look at and read. William Muir’s reproductions of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience (1885)…
Category: Treasures & Discoveries
A Victorian Catering Ledger
This week, Librarian Helen Skilbeck takes a look at an unusual piece of Leeds’ history: Godfrey Wood’s Victorian Catering Ledger. Unassuming to look at but containing a goldmine of information, Wood’s Catering Ledger details events and banquets he catered for in the Victorian era, covering the period 1840s – 1870s. As well as detailing the…
Much More Than Books: Explorations in our Special Collections
This week, Philip Wilde explores some of the more unusual items held in our vast Collections currently on display. The Special Collections here at Leeds Central Library comprises of some 17,000 items. The vast majority, of course, are books. However, the collection holds much more than books. Here we shall talk about just a…
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Moon Landing Reminiscence Session
This week Local and Family History’s Josh Flint will discuss the Moon Landing Reminiscence event held at Horsforth Library to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Moon Landing. This event was designed for people who could remember the Moon Landing in 1969 to share their stories with children. To inspire inter-generational discussion with the guests…
Mining Genealogy Gold – A Hidden Gem in Leeds Central Library
This week we welcome guest author and family historian Jane Roberts, who explores how the Leeds Central Library Collection has shed new light on her own family history and the working conditions of children in mines and collieries. As a family historian, I’m always on the look-out for sources which flesh out the lives of…
Writing in the Margins: The Annotated Nuremberg Chronicle
This week we welcome guest author Dr Nina Adamova, British Academy Visiting Fellow at St Petersburg University, who explores a particularly interesting copy of The Nuremburg Chronicle held at the Central Library. Dr. Adamova will be delivering a talk on the same subject tomorrow at 2pm. Tickets are still available at the time of writing. …
Leeds and the Spanish Civil War
This week Local and Family History’s Josh Flint and Scott Ramsey – PHD Researcher, School of History, The University of Leeds – tell us about the exciting Exhibitions from the International Brigade Memorial Trust and the Basque Children of ’37 Association coming to the Leeds Central Library from the 19 March – 5 April. This…
The Ancient Art of Bookbinding
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…
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