A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY
The London Library is now the world's largest independent lending library. It owes its foundation in 1841 to the vision of Thomas Carlyle, who in many ways remains its tutelary genius. But he was not alone in his desire to establish an institution which would allow subscribers to enjoy something of the wealth of a national library for use in their own homes: the Earl of Clarendon, that enlightened early-Victorian politician, was the Library's first president, Thackeray its first auditor; Gladstone and Sir Edward Bunbury were on the first committee. Early members included Dickens and George Eliot. The Library's long-standing role at the centre of the intellectual life of the nation is reflected in the roll-call of its past presidents and vice-presidents, which include Tennyson, Kipling, T. S. Eliot, Rebecca West and Isaiah Berlin. The Library's current president is Sir Tom Stoppard.
The real architect of the London Library as it is today was Sir Charles Hagberg Wright (1862-1940), librarian from 1893 to his death. It was he who devised the unique and flexible system by which books are shelved in a subject order which can be readily and fruitfully browsed by casual reader and professional researcher alike. The compilation and maintenance of the original printed catalogue were also his achievements and, though the Library now takes advantage of the latest online technologies for providing access to its collections, many of the systems and arrangements that contribute to the Library's efficiency today are due to his sense of order and method.
The Library stands at the north-west corner of St James's Square, as it has since 1845, after briefly occupying the first floor of the Travellers Club in Pall Mall. The present premises were originally rented, but in 1879 the Library bought the freehold and has subsequently added to the site in 1913, 1931 and 2004, so that it now extends to Duke Street westwards and into Mason's Yard on the north side. The building was entirely reconstructed in 1896-98, as one of the first steel-frame buildings in London, when the present eclectic facade, the Main Hall and the Reading Room above it, and the grille-floored bookstacks above and immediately behind were erected. The building has since been extended several times, in the 1920s, the 1930s and the 1990s. In 1995, the Anstruther Wing - a new building fronting Duke Street - was completed; this has been equipped with five floors of book storage with special environmental controls to allow for the safe housing of 30,000 of the rarest and most vulnerable volumes from the Library's rare book collection. Yet another much-needed major addition to the premises was acquired in 2004, increasing the overall capacity of the building by 30% and extending the site along Mason's Yard, to allow for the accommodation of the Library's ever-growing collections; and the Library's largest development project in over a century has been launched to ensure that the research needs of its 21st-century members are as well met as those of previous generations.
FURTHER READING
The London Library edited by Miron Grindea, London: The Boydell Press/Adam Books, 1978
Rude Words: a discursive history of the London Library by John Wells, London: Macmillan, 1991
Founders & Followers: literary lectures given on the 150th anniversary of the founding of the London Library, London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1992
Library Book: an architectural journey through the London Library by Tony McIntyre, London: The London Library, 2006 (available to buy in the Library or via the online Shop)
