The London Library is a haven for reading, writing and thinking and Remote Access membership is perfect for anyone that would like full access to our collection of over a million books, eBooks via Overdrive and thousands of eResources from the comfort of home. It's the perfect solution for those lockdown blues and now you can win a year of FREE membership!*

To enter our competition share a photo of your cosy home reading nook and tag us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, then leave your email address below.

The London Library promises to respect and protect any personal data you share with us. Your email address will also be used to select a competition winner and send a membership offer to unsuccessful applicants, the data will then be deleted. You can opt-out of most communications or the ways in which we process your data by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For full details of how we collect, store, use and protect your data, see our Privacy Policy at www.londonlibrary.co.uk/privacypolicy.

Our Book Collection and Postal Loans

The London Library has over one million books dating from 1700 to the present day, from rare publications to the most recent fiction and non-fiction releases, all waiting to be borrowed.

Our collection covers history - from ancient to modern: political, ecclesiastical, topographical, constitutional, social, economic, military and more; culture - literature, language, the arts and thought and life - philosophy, religion, folklore, social science, political science, political economy. There are also books in a huge range of niche subjects, from camels to devils, flagellation to human sacrifice, and pawn shops to tunnels. You've not experienced a library until you've looked at The London Library's weird and wonderful books! 

Browse our bookshelves, read in the Library, or take them home - London Library members can experience our collection straight to their door! While our building restrictions are in place we are also posting books to members free of charge, simply search our online catalogue, request the books and we will post them to you.

Our Online Resources

Our extensive online resources bring together millions of pages from thousands of journals, periodicals, newspapers and databases. They comprise over 25,000 fully searchable information sources.

Literary resources

An extensive collection of literary journals and collections is available if you’re looking to stay in touch with the literary world. London Library membership gives access to titles such as the complete archive of The London Review of Books, New York Review of Books, English Poetry, The Complete Prose of T S Eliot archive, Early English Books Online and many more.

Academic resources

Through JSTOR you can access a huge digital library of academic journals, books, primary sources and periodicals. Members also have access to a vast collection of historic research material through hundreds of publications.

Newspaper archives and historic publications

You’ll be able to use the full digital archives of The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, and The Observer, plus the extensive British Newspaper Archive,  the 17th-18th Century Burney Newspapers Collection and more! Our subscriptions to historic publications - such as the Illustrated London News - provide a wealth of information.

Art and languages

As well as access to all of the art journals available through JSTOR we also provide use of the International Bibliography of Art, Oxford Art Online and more. Membership gives access to European language newspapers and publications and we also offer Russian literature, language, history and art publications. 

*Terms and Conditions apply

• The organisation running the competition is The London Library, (Charity No. 312175).
• There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.

By entering this competition, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.

• Only one entry will be accepted per person. Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified.
• The competition closes at midnight on Sunday 8 November. The London Library reserves the right to earlier terminate or withdraw or refuse any competition any time without prior notice and with no liability.
• No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received.
• The competition is to win one year of Remote Access membership, it will begin from the date the membership is processed.
• The competition is not open to current London Library members, staff or relatives of staff members.
• The offer applies London Library membership only and cannot be transferred to other London Library products and services.
• The offer is applicable for a set period of time. The London Library reserves the right to earlier terminate, withdraw or refuse any introductory offer any time without prior notice and with no liability.
• The competition winner will have to agree to the Library's rules in order to accept the prize of membership.
• Email addresses collected will be used to select the winner at random and to email all entrants offering 25% off Library membership and give entrants the chance to subscribe to The London Library newsletter, the email database will then be deleted.

In accordance with the Government restrictions that are being put in place under the newly-announced national lockdown, we regret that we will have to close The London Library’s building to members and visitors from 5.30pm Wednesday 4 November until further notice. We’ll provide updates through our website and e-newsletters to let you know how the situation is developing.

The temporary closure of our building means that members will be unable to come into the Library to borrow books. However, we will continue to offer postal loans so that members can order books online and have them posted to them free of charge. In addition to postal loans, our online services (Catalyst and the eLibrary) will be fully operational throughout at catalyst.londonlibrary.co.uk providing access to millions of pages of information. We have also recently added eBooks to our offering through OverDrive. 

Our staff will continue to maintain core administrative services and will be able to handle enquiries about membership and to provide information and updates about the Library, but inevitably some of these services will be more restricted than previously.

If you already have books awaiting collection at the Library, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you would like these posted to you, or to let us know if you no longer need them.

This is a very difficult period for everybody, but we look forward to when we can resume normal service, re-open our doors and welcome you all back into the Library. In the meantime, we are very grateful for your continued cooperation and support.

The work of Harriet Martineau, founder member of the Library was internationally influential during her lifetime. Today, however, she is more likely to be known for her novel Deerbrook, than for her work in the field of comparative sociology; her progressive politics; or feminist sociological perspectives on marriage, children and domestic life.

Martineau’s absence from the mainstream today belies her 19th century profile. Caroline Darwin sent her brother a copy of  Martineau’s Illustrations of Political Economy while he was aboard HMS Beagle: in her letter she described Martineau as “a great Lion in London”. George Eliot referred to her as “the only English woman that possesses thoroughly the art of writing.” Illustrations was a ground-breaking, bestselling series which catapulted Martineau to national fame in 1832. Her innovative use of popular fiction to address economic issues such as strikes and taxation paved the way for the medium to take hold as a vehicle of social reform.  She may have written novels and children’s stories but she is also responsible for the first systematic methodological treatise in sociology and conducted detailed international comparative studies of social institutions. Her international influence was recognised by the American Wendell Phillips who, in 1877, called this slightly built, profoundly deaf, outspoken woman from Norwich “the greatest American abolitionist.” Harriet Martineau was a trailblazing polymath.

In addition to 50 books, Martineau penned over 1600 leader articles on the issue of slavery. She was considered an expert on America at home, having spent two years travelling the country in 1834. On her outward journey Martineau wrote How to Observe Morals and Manners, a landmark work in the field of sociology.  In America, from the slave market to the House of Congress, she travelled extensively – visiting prisons, schools, plantations, factories and universities – and she talked to an astonishing array of people, from prison inmates to Congressmen. Well known for her opposition to slavery, which she said was “indefensible, economically, socially, and morally”, she arrived in America during pro-slavery riots and was quick to lend the weight of her name to the abolitionist cause – which was seen as a wildly radical move at the time.

When she returned to Britain there was a Molière-type farce as three publishers simultaneously bid for her work from separate rooms in her house. Society in America resulted in 1837, followed in 1838 by Retrospect of Western Travel and by The Martyr Age of the United States in 1839: the first account of the history of American abolitionism. Published over a decade before Uncle Tom’s Cabin, her novel The Hour and the Man was written to support the abolition of slavery. She was foreign correspondent for the Anti-Slavery Standard in America and kept the issue prominent at home in articles in The Daily News.

Martineau was successful and controversial, acknowledging in her autobiography that at least five of her books could potentially have ended her career. She can often be seen, however, head above the parapet when controversial Victorian storms raged. At an unveiling of a statue of her in Boston in 1877 Wendell Phillips, in his last public address, said:

“It is easy to be independent when all behind you agree with you, but the difficulty comes when nine hundred and ninety-nine of your friends think you are wrong.  Then it is the brave soul that stands up, one among a thousand…This was Harriet Martineau.”