Tales from London Libraries and Archives

Today, the class visited the Royal Geographical Society Library and Archive.  As we walked up to the Royal Geographical Society, it was mentioned that the corner was called the "Hot and Cold corner" in which I looked up and saw two statues - one statue was dressed for cold weather and the other statue was dressed for hot weather.  I thought that very strange but it made sense. We were ushered into a large room with a table in the middle of it.  There were several items, maps and pictures laid out.  One side about Dr. David Livingstone and the other about  Dr. Ernest Shackleton.  Dr. Ernest Shackleton explored Antarctic while Dr. David Livingstone explored Africa.  The mystery of why the corner is called the "Hot and Cold corner" was solved.  We were not allowed to take any pictures inside but the information was very interesting.  I enjoyed visiting this library.  

Today, the class traveled to Oxford to explore the Pitts River Museum and Christ Church Library. The Pitts River Museum is very unique for they have over 500,000 items.  It is located in the rear of Oxford Natural History Museum so as we walked in we were greeted by dinosaur bones but quickly we were lead to Pitts River.  It reminded me so much of an organized attic.  As I was looking at some of the items on display I was thinking that I have some the same items at home!  There were drawers full of items, as well! The second stop in Oxford was at Christ Church Library.  This is where the Harry Potter dining hall was modeled after and the stairway was used in the Harry Potter film.  The librarian was the third one in 60 years.  Talk about a coveted position!  The library was exquisite with gold on the ceiling and beautiful colors.  I was very excited about seeing Lewis Carroll's library office and the Dean's garden where Alice in Wonderland was inspired.  It was beautifu

Today, the class went to the Middle Temple Law Library.  This is one of the four law libraries in London and a lawyer must join one of the four.  Each of the law libraries has a royal sponsor and the Middle Temple Law Library has Price William is its sponsor which encourages fundraising.  Each temple has a hall and a library.  It survived the fire of London, the war and the hall was established in 1570.  It is very beautiful.   

Today, the class traveled to Bletchley Park.  It was at Bletchley Park where the British worked as codebreakers during WWII.   We took a tour of Bletchley Park and discovered that it is Crown property (53 acres) but registered to Admiral Sinclair  since he bought it for 6000 pds.  It began with 130 people but it expended very quickly and by the end of the war there was 99,000 workers.  It reminded me of Los Alamos in New Mexico. Also, at Bletchley Park there is two computers that are on display.  Both computers were rebuilt on site and work.  I couldn't believe how large they were.

Today, we went to King's College Maughan Library.  As we walked up to the library, the buildings were beautiful.  King's College University was founded in 1829 and the Maughan Library has the Foyle's Special Collection.  I found it interesting that the Foyle's Special Collection does not hold any of the University collections.  There were many rare books in the Foyle's Special Collection like a book owned by Ben Franklin, a copy of Treaties of Eclipses by Charles Ledbetter, and a copy of Common Sense by Thomas Paine which is a London version.  One aspect that surprised me was that Professor Moltrom, who passed in the 1990s, bequeathed his collection of 20,000 items.  He was the first person to popularize American literature.  There were some interesting items within the collection. As we continued the tour, we were shown the Westin Room which is a beautiful room that is used for displays at the college.  Also, King's College has a round reading room that is

Today, I visited the National Maritime Museum Library/Archive, Greenwich.  We traveled by boat along the Thames River.  The library was beautiful and modern.  It is the largest maritime museum and they get 5,000 visitors per year. The museum holds the Journal of Jeremy Roch which is one of the "Three Stuart Sea Journals", which shows the personal side of life at sea.  One of the most unusual items in the museum is the "The Chicken Sandwich letter"  which was written by John Ibbeston the the fourth Earl of Sandwich complaining that the food and writing things are mixed together. One thing that was very impressive that the National Maritime Library/Archives does is that they have a section called "Treasures"  which has 51 items - highlighted item from each collection that the library/archives holds - these items are the best things from all the collections. The library collection was funded by Sir James Caird who was Scottish (1864-1954) and was the l

Today the class visited the V&A Blythe House.  This is where the archives are stored and viewed in the reading room.  The Blythe House will be sold within the next five years and the collections will be moved to the Kensington location.  The V&A Archives holds 10,000 items, including the Children's Book Collection.  It is open to the public, therefore it has a reading room since it is a public insitution. Most of the collections are in good condition and most of the pictures are mounted which is the best way to store them.  Many of the collections are not catalouged because many collections were given before computer systems were brought in.  The V&A Blythe House is known for its Beatrix Potter collection.  We were shown a lot of Beatrix Potter items which I enjoyed but it would have been neat to see other items from other collections. While at the V&A Blythe House, we met Andrew Wiltshire who is a member of the Beatrix Potter  Society in England.  This group w

The British Library was the next stop on the list of libraries and archives.  The British Library was originally part of the British Museum in 1753 and in 1972 it separated from the British Museum.  Sir Colin St John Wilson begin in 1980 in building the British Library building that is used today.  It looks similar to a ship!  The British Library moved to its present building in 1997 and in 1998 it was officially opened by the Queen. The British Library has the largest stamp collection but it is only 1% of the library's collections.  Since it is a reference library, the British Library has 11 reading rooms.  The British Library is very similar to the Library of Congress because the reason for this is that any book, newspapers, regional books that are published in the UK and Ireland - a copy must be given to the British Library.   Just like the Library of Congress the British Library must legally keep everything! One of the most impressive collections that the British Library o