Books

November 13, 2015

One of Britain's best-loved cats has returned to spread Christmas cheer and raise money for children's literacy. 92 year-old author Judith Kerr has written a new story featuring the beloved Mog, Mog's Christmas... Read More...

Noddy’s Other Half – Harmsen van der Beek

October 8, 2015

The name 'Beek' was once synonymous with Noddy. The words Pictures by Beek graced the covers of the first seven Toyland titles. After the artist's death in 1953, artists Mary Brooks, Robert Lee, Robert Tyndall ... Read More...

Banned Books Week 2015: The Persecution of Pooh and Piglet

October 3, 2015

Even Winnie the Pooh and his adorable pal Piglet are not immune to the long arm of book censors. Only it's not just Winnie the Pooh books that have been banned. The town of Tuszyn in Poland took exception to... Read More...

How To Be Happy By Giving Up Your Dreams And Embracing Your Mediocrity – A Book Review

June 11, 2015

Books, Ridiculam Mundi

Howard P Hohenzollern has been called by some the "Guru of Mediocrity," though Hohenzollern himself disputes this epithet in the new introductory chapter of his book, How To Be Happy By Giving Up Your Dreams An... Read More...

Terry Pratchett Meets An Old Friend On The Way

March 13, 2015

Books, People

https://twitter.com/terryandrob/status/576036599047258112 https://twitter.com/terryandrob/status/576036726046646272 https://twitter.com/terryandrob/status/576036888190038016 Vale Sir Terry Pr... Read More...

Royal Library: Lord Morley’s Tribute to His Daughter Lady Rochford

March 12, 2015

Henry Parker, Lord Morley must have spent most of his career under King Henry VIII with his loyalties torn between his religion, his family and his obedience to his monarch. Having spent his boyhood in the serv... Read More...

Henry VIII’s Last Love: Who was Katherine Willoughby?

March 9, 2015

Books, History

Today we’re pleased to be launching the book tour for David Baldwin's highly-anticipated Henry VIII's Last Love: The Extraordinary Life of Katherine Willoughby, Lady in Waiting to the Tudors. In this exclus... Read More...

How A Lost Sherlock Holmes Helped Almost Save The Selkirk Bridge

February 21, 2015

In 1902 the Ettrick Water swelled and flooded and washed away the Bannerfield's Bridge, an old rickety wooden structure that joined Bannerfield with Selkirk proper. Some two years later, lacking funds to reb... Read More...

The Genius Of The Fable – Four Books We’d Like To See Made By Studio Ghibli

January 6, 2015

Books, Film & TV

The fable is at the heart of storytelling; it is a mystery, an exaggeration, a tall story, a romance, a story that takes us into the shadows, and out again, and teaches us more often than not a sharp, double-ed... Read More...

The Ricardian Volume I October 1961

December 19, 2014

Books, History

I've been sorting through a veritable treasure trove of The Ricardian this evening, having received a very kind gift from the partner of a long-time member of the Victorian branch, Kirk Bradbury, who passed awa... Read More...

Copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio Discovered by a Librarian in France

November 26, 2014

Books, History, News

A copy of William Shakespeare's First Folio, one of only 231 of the first-ever compilation of his plays, has been discovered in the library of a small town in Saint-Omer near Calais. The folio was published in ... Read More...

Royal Library: Catherine Howard’s Books

October 31, 2014

There is some debate over whether Queen Catherine Howard was literate. However, we do have some examples of Catherine owning books which indicate that she was. It is very doubtful indeed, considering Catherine'... Read More...

Royal Library: The Rose and Pomegranate – Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon

October 25, 2014

The alliance between England and Spain was supposed to be the great triumph of the new Tudor dynasty. For Katherine of Aragon it ended in tragedy, twice. Yet the first decade of her marriage to King Henry VIII ... Read More...

Alan Garner Boneland – Finding Magic Through the Wreckage Of Time

October 24, 2014

Do you remember Colin and Susan? Perhaps you remember Cadellin Silverbrow, the ancient wizard, and his ally the dwarf Fenodyree, or their foes the wizard Grimnir and Selina Place - the witch and shapechanger kn... Read More...

Royal Library: Cecily Neville’s Legenda Aurea – The Golden Legend

October 17, 2014