Books

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

C S Hughes

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

C S Hughes

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

C S Hughes

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

Bridget of York is the elusive youngest daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Wydeville. Born in 1480 at Eltham, Bridget was likely named after St. Bridget of Sweden. St Bridget is mentioned in Cecily Neville's h... Read More...

The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones: The Secret Ingredient of Two Bestsellers

Jamie Adair

October 13, 2014

Books, Film & TV, Game of Thrones

Although The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones are both runaway bestsellers, in some ways, they couldn't be more different. Game of Thrones is a historical high fantasy epic and The Hunger Games is a dystopian Y... Read More...

Royal Library: Anciennes et nouvelles chroniques d’Angleterre – Edward IV or Edward V?

October 10, 2014

The British Library houses the surviving manuscripts acquired by King Edward IV that formed the basis for the Royal Library. Part of Edward's collection includes Jean de Wavrin's Anciennes et nouvelles chroniqu... Read More...

Royal Library: Richard III’s Historia Destructionis Troiae and Historia Regum Britanniae

October 2, 2014

Two of Richard III's book have travelled rather a long way from his personal collection to the Russian Public Library where they are housed today. Richard purchased the Historia Destructionis Troiae (History of... Read More...

Banned Books Week 2014: Dr Seuss – Banned I Am

September 24, 2014

Green Eggs and Ham Green Eggs and Ham was banned in Maoist China in 1965 because of its "portrayal of early Marxism" - a ban that was not lifted until the author died in 1991. It was also banned in Califor... Read More...

Happy Birthday Enid! “As Big Ears Said to Noddy Yesterday”

August 11, 2014

Enid Blyton was born 117 years ago today. One of the world's most beloved, and most divisive, children's authors, Enid's works have been banned from more public libraries than those of any other author, yet mor... Read More...

How to Murder the Boleyns