If you visit Leeds College of Art’s exhibition space in their Blenheim Walk site before 26th February, you will find a supernatural celebration dating back almost a century. Based around the Cottingley Fairies series – photographs taken by two young girls near Leeds in 1917 in which they interact with ‘fairies’ – In Fairyland invites…
A Curiosity of Heraldry
Investigating our holdings of heraldry for our display case, we came across perhaps a unique collection, “Engravings of Arms Miscellaneous” bound, no author or date, although the material within maybe dates it c1790. Engravings of Arms Miscellaneous An interesting and curious book which for all intents and purposes is a scrap book collection of heraldry/coat…
A Day at the Races
Did you know that Leeds had its very own race ground in Stourton Park back in the 1820’s? It didn’t last long and faced criticism throughout its life span for encouraging gambling and immoral behaviour. It was situated opposite the former Skelton Grange Power Station on the south side of the River Aire and was…
White Soup
January 28th this week marked the anniversary of the publication of the Jane Austen classic Pride & Prejudice. To celebrate we bring you a staple from any Austen era ball, a recipe for White Soup. We are first introduced to the delicacy by Mr Bingley in Austen’s classic; “As for the ball, it is quite a…
Famous Last Words
When they decided to stage a production of the historical tragedy Jane Shore in the summer of 1817, no one at the Leeds Theatre suspected that a very real tragedy was about to strike. Here’s a scan of the original playbill – now nearly 200 years old – advertising that dramatic night. It’s one of…
2015 Anniversaries
It is well known that the next 12-months see several anniversaries of major significance: the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta (1215); the 600th anniversary of Agincourt (1415); and the 200th anniversary of Waterloo (1815). But those three anniversaries are not the whole story, with 2015 also marking several other events of historical and literary importance:…
Map of Murder
One of the more unusual items amongst our large collection of historical maps at Leeds Central Library goes by the name of ‘Regina v. William Higgins and Others’. The title refers to a court case that took place in late 1850 and the map is a ‘Prosecutor’s Plan’ from the time, showing the part of…
Christmas books
Readers of this blog will surely agree that few things in life go together better than Christmas and reading a good book. And, while there can be nothing held against anyone who chooses otherwise, Christmas is surely the appropriate time to find yourself reading a good book about Christmas. A quick search of our library…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 