6 minute read
A HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Archivist Nathalie Belkin has inventoried the Library’s institutional archive for the first time – and made some fascinating discoveries
“I am much flattered that the Committee of The London Library, doubtless under the instigation of their august chairman, should have invited me to address them at the Annual Meeting. I should very much like to accept, but I don’t see how I can since… just at that time of the year, my house is, as usual, pretty well full of visitors.” So wrote Somerset Maugham in May 1954, in a letter to the diplomat and Library committee member Harold Nicolson. It’s among the items to be found in the Library’s own archive, fully catalogued for the first time by Nathalie Belkin. Since 2019, she has scoured 14 St James’s Square to inventory thousands of items, which span meeting minutes to member lists. Here, she reveals what she has discovered so far about the Library and its orbit.
What’s in the archive, and can you name any highlights?
There are many highlights, but a particular favourite is member correspondence by people like EM Forster, Rudyard Kipling and TS Eliot. We also have minutes, beginning with the Library as an idea and a desire; and the early subject catalogue, which is unique and created from scratch by Secretary and Librarian Charles Hagberg Wright and his deputy, Christopher J. Purnell. It’s in use to this day. There are visitor books – one entry shows Ralph Waldo Emerson visited in 1873 to meet founding members on his last ever trip overseas. I’ve always loved Emerson and found this quite exciting. It shows how the Library had a far-reaching effect around the world.
Who had the worst handwriting?
A great deal of 20th-century handwriting was difficult to read. Aldous Huxley’s is a little bit all over the place, but EM Forster’s was one of the hardest. I’ve used Transkribus [AI-powered text recognition software for historic documents] to read his and even that had a spot of bother.
Was the Library aware of this material before you started work?
People were aware of the minutes, annual reports and membership books, but not the full extent of what was here. As an example, one of my first finds was a Victorian deed tin in a cupboard – probably one of my favourites because it is so of the time and the place. A number of leases and deeds were folded inside, but still in excellent condition. These included the Library’s first agreement for premises in Pall Mall from 1841, which features a handwritten list of everything the rooms contained.
Are there documents relating to the fabric of the building?
One example is a handwritten volume titled a Specification of Works by the architect James Osborne Smith, which outlines the Library rebuild in the late 1890s. We have the only copy in existence and it’s just beautiful. We have old blueprints covering extensions and remodels that architecture students regularly request.
Architectural blueprints help trace the Library's long history of refurbishment and redevelopment
The original Specification of Works detailing James Osborne Smith's plans for the Library's 1890's rebuild
Member correspondence offers intimate insights into reading habits and more
What do people want to use the archival material for in your experience?
Fiction writers may ask about correspondence I think partly for that Victorian sensibility they reveal: What were the staff like? What was the organisation like? The interaction? Biographers and historians are interested in things like the issue books, which cover the 1840s to the 1850s and contain borrowing records for people including Charles Dickens, Josiah Wedgwood, John Stuart Mill and Charles Darwin. Formal membership forms took over from handwritten ledgers in the 1870s and some come with character references or letters saying, “Reserve these books.” It’s the story of the social and cultural history of Victorian London. It shows what books were popular, and that it wasn’t just men here, or just the gentry. Many women became members, including Annie Kenny and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson; we had coal miners in the 1930s, civil servants, clergy and teachers.
Now safely archived, Annual Reports provide a wealth of detail on the Library's history
Is there anything you’ve been particularly surprised to find?
That so many Suffragettes were members. I knew families like the Pankhursts and the Fawcetts did belong, but to know that their daughters, and their daughters’ daughters became members and encouraged friends – the Library was a hub during a time when so many places were not accepting of women. My big thing that I tout to everyone is finding Mark Twain was a member. Barbara Cartland was another surprise, not that she was a member, but that she wrote in a letter that she was well-known enough not to need anyone to nominate her.
Are there any non-documents?
There is a large collection of artefacts and ephemera, from book labels to seal stamps, and some recordings of readings and lectures, including an homage to TS Eliot with the BBC from 1965. Stravinsky wrote a piece for it, Groucho Marx was there. This is all mostly on obsolete media so we’re planning to transcribe it and make it accessible.
How can people access the archive in general?
I have created a full inventory and all the holdings are in locked stacks in the basement – rehoused in acid-free folders and boxes. Scrapbooking was such a popular thing to do in the Victorian era, but the letters for instance are already degrading because of the glue used and the very cheap paper of the time. The plan is to make it accessible digitally, which will be the first time most of it has been open to researchers.
We also hope to expand access beyond Library members – to schools, for instance. The archive contains many writers’ and members’ personal papers meaning we have primary source material on things like the Battle of the Somme and Dunkirk.
What makes this archive special?
It’s incredibly rich. It touches on day-to-day Library business but also upon various aspects of London, and England’s artistic and literary circles – and there are always discoveries. Once this all becomes digitised I think we’ll find more. Who are the members with stories as yet untold?
A decorated seal stamp is one of many surviving objects from the Library's early years
What’s the best thing about being an archivist?
I was originally a history and classics major with the intent to go into academia, but I wanted to be more hands-on. Archivists get to dig in, find the stories and conduct research – you take what you have, you look at the history that surrounds the institution and you build a historical record. I also love giving access to people who might have no idea what we have here or how to use it. I get very excited about sharing knowledge.
Is it usual, on beginning work in a new archive, to be unaware of its full contents?
Not at all, and that goes for all types and sizes of organisations. Bigger places have so much information, it’s almost impossible to work through it all – and have enough people to do the work. I was born in the UK but lived until 2019 in America, and worked as an archivist at the New York City Municipal Archives where I catalogued and created a finding aid for the Brooklyn Bridge blueprints, and worked on NYPD surveillance materials. I also worked on large pallets of mouldy books from the 19th century that had been flooded, and would be in a full hazmat suit looking to see if there was anything salvageable. It was very hard, but also one of the best projects I’ve ever done. I did have to have a tetanus shot afterwards. You could show me the state of any archive – nothing will surprise me. •
All images Hanna Gabler
