The London Library and the Intelligentsia of Victorian London
While almost wholly absent from scholarly discourse the Library is present in members' fictional output over three consecutive centuries appearing in works as disparate as A Rose in June (1874) by Margaret Oliphant to Enduring Love (1997) by Ian McEwan.10 A further indication of the Library...
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| Published in: | Carlyle studies annual 2015-01, Vol.31 (31), p.183-216 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | While almost wholly absent from scholarly discourse the Library is present in members' fictional output over three consecutive centuries appearing in works as disparate as A Rose in June (1874) by Margaret Oliphant to Enduring Love (1997) by Ian McEwan.10 A further indication of the Library's national profile can be seen in the national and regional press coverage of its annual general meetings during the Victorian era;11 in the outcry in the press in 1960 when Westminster Council removed its exemption from rates;12 and in twenty-first century reactions to a membership fee increase in 2007.13 To investigate claims about the significance of the Library to the Victorian intelligentsia I created a dataset of Victorian members by transcribing institutional membership records including Membership Registers 1841-1900; Membership Application Forms 1874-1900; Minutes of the Committee 1841-1900; member lists in London Library catalogs 1842, 1847, 1856, 1865, 1870, 1888, 1896, and data found in published rules and member lists. [...]Carlyle wrote 2,343 letters to at least 100 people in the dataset, sending between 1 and 765 letters to each. [...]the involvement of this group in the Library has been overlooked. 11 The Times regularly reported the Library's annual general meetings in addition to the appointment of presidents; calls for subscriptions to fund building works in 1896; the opening of newly constructed stacks and reading room in 1898 and the publication of its catalogs during the era. 12 For press reports and reactions to the removal of rates exemption in 1960, see "London Library Not A Closed Circle" (Daily Telegraph, 27 July 1957), "The London Library" (Financial Times, 12 Aug. 1857), "Advancing Letters or Amusing the Cultured" (Manchester Gazette, 23 Aug. 1959), "A Rate Demand To Ruin The London Library" (Evening News, 30 June 1958), "Rate Would Bring Ruin: £10,000 Plea by London Library" (Daily Telegraph, 1 July 1958), "London Library Faces Ruin Through Rates Call" (Manchester Gazette, 1 July 1958), "Debt to London Library" (The Times, 2 July 1958), "Fighting for Life" (The Observer, 8 July 1958), "London Library Loses Rating Appeal" (The Times, 30 July 1958), "London Library loses rating Appeal" (The Bookseller, 7 Nov. 1959: 872), "M.P.s Concern Over London Library" (The Times, 20 Nov. 1959), "BBC Gives £1000 to the London Library" (Sunday Times, 27 Dec. 1959), and "Art Sale to Help Pay the £ 20,000 Rate" (Evening News, 3 March 1960). |
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| ISSN: | 1074-2670 2643-3834 |