This week on the Secret Library Leeds we bring you a snapshot of a unique treasure held as part of our Special Collections: Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer’s A description of the sea coastes of England between Burnham & Scarborough….This wonderful sea chart was shown to the public during our Local and Family History open day in…
Tag: maps
Thorne’s of Leeds: A Research Jigsaw
This week we’re delighted to publish the first in a series of guest posts for Local and Community History Month. Today, we hear from researcher Andrew Littlewood on his exploration of resources in our Local and Family History department, in his search for information on Henry Thorne & Co. Ltd… You can find out more…
Heritage Open Days 2023
Every September we get very excited about the Heritage Open Days festival, which this year runs from 8th – 17th September. This sees thousands of staff and volunteers across England organise events to celebrate our fantastic history and culture. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE…
A Brief History of Leeds #4: The 18th-century
Part four of a series exploring the history of Leeds, using books and other stock resources held in the Leeds Libraries collections. For all the entries in this series, see our dedicated page. We left our brief look at the 17th-century with a reference to Ralph Thoresby’s place in an impressive national and international network…
Help us map the lost buildings of Leeds
Welcome to Local Community History Month – this month all our blog posts will be focused on the local communities that make up Leeds. Help wanted! Leeds Libraries have recently been experimenting with a fascinating online tool provided by Google: My Maps…and we need your support. We first came across this site while working with…
Early Maps of Leeds: Power and Control
This week Librarian Antony Ramm analyses some early maps of Leeds. This article is based on a recent talk given by Librarians in the Local and Family History department; it draws in part on two previous articles on this site A MAP OF ROTHWELL, OULTON AND LOFTHOUSE, MADE IN THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII (1531)Our…
Learning to see Le Prince
This week on the Secret Library we are delighted to welcome back guest author Irfan Shah, who has previously written for us on Leeds’ contribution to the development of photography. In this article, roughly coinciding with the 130th anniversary of the disappearance of Louis Le Prince (September 16 1890), Irfan shares some exciting news about…
HOD 2020: YOU ARE HERE
In the second of our Heritage Open Day triple-bill, we hear from Rob Kilner of Workers Lunchtime, on a map event for Heritage Open Days 2020…If this is of interest – be quick! The maps will be on display until September 29. YOU ARE HERE is a temporary poster exhibition on the streets of Leeds…