Holiday season looks a bit different this year but we head to exotic climes to explore three important, first-hand tales of travel from the 16th century housed in the Library.
Three books at The London Library are proof that voyage narratives were a very popular genre as early as the 16th century. At a time when there was still so much left to discover and ‘tame’ it is hardly surprising that many Europeans jumped at the chance to travel far and wide in search of territories to survey, shrines to visit and ‘heathens’ to save. Many more literate Europeans could then share in their adventures by reading their accounts and gazing in wonder at depictions of exotic lands and peoples.
The first of these three books is Vier Bucher von der Raisz und Shiffart in die Turckey (Four books on the travel and navigation in Turkey) by Nicolas de Nicolay, printed in Antwerp in 1577. Nicolay was a French mercenary, diplomat, royal cartographer, artist and, according to some, spy who travelled to Turkey as part of the French embassy to the court of Süleyman the Magnificent in 1551. He was tasked with surveying the lands he visited but his book is remarkable for containing over 60 woodcuts of men and women he encountered (images shown above). These include striking images of a Turkish noblewoman perched on platform footwear perhaps to keep her magnificent gown away from the dirty ground or maybe as a symbol of her elevated social status. Others depict a member of a religious sect wearing a chastity ring (this image is often mutilated in surviving copies of this work), a cook in a wonderful chef’s hat carrying exotic fruits and vegetables and a very sober and respectable-looking Arab merchant. The French original, first published in Lyon in 1568, was translated into five languages and Shakespeare scholars believe the English edition, which was based on this Antwerp version, was a source for the Merchant of Venice.
In Il devotissimo viaggio di Gerusalemme we read about the pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1586 by Errol Flynn lookalike, Jean Zuallart, a traveller from the Low Countries, who was also an historian, voyager, judge, knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and self-taught artist. His book was printed in Rome in 1587 and its romantic landscapes with towers, domes, minarets and palm trees nestling in sun-scorched sand dunes became the template that many other artists imitated. Zuallart’s drawings were not only beautifully evocative. Architectural historians today still refer to them for their detail and accuracy. The work was very well received and during its author’s lifetime it was translated into French and German.
By the 16th century travel was no longer restricted to the Old World. Our final book, Histoire d’un voyage fait en la terre du Bresil, autrement dite Amerique, tells the story of an ill-fated mission to the New World by the French Calvinist pastor Jean de Léry. After a theological dispute soon after reaching their destination a few of the more orthodox missionaries, with Léry among, them leave the mission and spend over a year living with the cannibal Tupí tribe while waiting for a ship in which to return to Europe. The experience becomes a journey of self-discovery for Léry whose religious beliefs and European ideas of civilization are tested. While he never fully understands or condones all of the Tupí customs he does grow to admire and respect their beauty, self-reliance and honesty. Léry returned to France after a gruelling voyage during which all supplies where exhausted and the men on board were reduced to eating the parrots and monkeys they had intended to bring back as living mementoes (the parrots were to serve as recordings of the Tupí language) as well as every scrap of leather on the ship.
Léry describes and portrays the flora and fauna of Brazil as well the physical beauty of the Tupí people. While he continues to refer to his hosts as ‘savages’, which is only to be expected from a 16th century European traveller, he does remark upon the humanity and compassion he witnesses during a Tupí funeral. Needless to say, Léry and his companions failed to convert the Tupí. The manuscript recounting his fascinating story of failure was lost and Léry had to write his adventures again from memory. The narrative was finally printed in La Rochelle in 1578, over 20 years after the journey took place. The London Library copy, printed in Geneva in 1594, is a 3rd edition, ‘revised, corrected, and enlarged greatly’, complete with a printer’s note praising the work as well as several testimonials, proof of how well it was received.
Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith and Njambi McGrath, two of Jacaranda Books’ #TwentyIn2020 authors, discuss their astonishing new memoirs, tales of identity, courage, speaking up and speaking out.
Esuantsiwa Jane Goldsmith’s The Space Between Black and White is her unique, and inspiring story of self-discovery, from the isolation of growing up mixed race in a white, working-class family, through her journey into activism. Tackling inequality wherever it exists, she has established a significant legacy in the Women’s Liberation and Black Power movements, all the while piecing together her own identity and the mysteries of her heritage.
Njambi McGrath’s Through the Leopard's Gaze, is a captivating memoir chronicling her life as a young girl in Kenya, through to her emergence as an award winning stand up comedian in the UK. Exploring identity, trauma, as well as the history of Kenya itself, this is a remarkable story of survival, courage and a searingly honest examination of human cruelty and strength in equal measure.
The Library’s strategy to create space for growth of new stock moves to its next phase with the removal of foreign government publications, commencing in mid-August. The Library holds around 75 linear metres of both US and Indian government publications, but neither collection is by any means comprehensive, and the Library largely stopped collecting these around the 1950s. The British Library and the LSE have far more comprehensive collections, available for members of the public to access, and anyone using such material for research would be far better served at these libraries. Further information about the holdings of these collections is below. If you have any comments or feedback about the removal of foreign government publications, please do contact Matthew Brooke, Director of Collections and Library Services at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Indian government publications at the British Library
The India Office Library was transferred in 1982 to the British Library, where it was amalgamated with the British Museum's holdings, and the combined collection is described as "the most comprehensive set of Indian government publications possible". Originally received under colonial legal deposit, up to independence, it extends to 14 kilometres of shelves and comprises boxes of archival papers together with 70,000 volumes of official publications and 105,000 manuscript and printed maps. These are public records issued by four main sources: the East India Company (1600-1858), the Board of Control (1784-1858), the India Office (1858-1947), and the Burma Office (1937-1948), as well as a number of British agencies overseas.
This collection may be consulted in the Asian & African Studies Reading Room at St Pancras, although it should be noted that some series are stored offsite at Boston Spa with a minimum delivery time of 48 hours. This collection has not been catalogued online and has to be requested on manual tickets.
Indian government publications at LSE Library
LSE Library has an extensive collection of official publications from pre-1947 India and its provinces. While not as systematic and comprehensive as the India Office Library, there is a wealth of statistical, historical, legal and administrative material, including hundreds of pamphlets from political parties and campaigns. The LSE's collection is catalogued online and has the additional advantage of being stored on open access shelves and therefore available for browsing.
US government publications at the British Library
The British Library holds the most comprehensive collection of federal publications outside of North America. Full information can be found in the collection guide.
US government publications at LSE Library
The LSE has an exchange agreement with the United States, which ensures an extensive collection of federal publications. More information about their holdings can be found in their catalogue and on the website, including their collection policy.
The London Library is renowned as a centre of creativity and we’re always keen to showcase some of the many works that get produced here. A number of our members have been in touch recently, letting us know about new books they are publishing this Autumn.
If you are a Member and have a new book coming out soon then we’d love to here from you, please email us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Please note, the Library does not necessarily hold all of these titles in our collection. Please check Catalyst to see whether we hold the book.
Coming up in Autumn 2020
The Confession, Jessie Burton
Picador, September 2020
Britain and Europe in Troubled Times, Vernon Bogdanor
Yale University Press, September 2020
Life & Love of the Forest, Lewis Blackwell
September 2020
Jeoffry: The Poet’s Cat - A Biography, Oliver Soden
The History Press, September 2020
Lev Shestov: Philosopher of the Sleepless Night, Matthew Beaumont
September 2020
The Museum Curator’s Guide - Understanding, Managing and Presenting Objects, Nicola Pickering
Lund Humphries, September 2020
The Golden Calves of Jeraboam, Adrian Leak
September 2020
Japan's Far More Female Future, Bill Emmott
Oxford University Press, September 2020
Reluctant European: Britain and the European Union from 1945 to Brexit, Stephen Wall
Oxford University Press, September 2020
The Fragrance of Tears, Victoria Schofield
Head of Zeus, October 2020
After Ancient Biography: Modern Types and Classical Archetypes, Robert Fraser
Palgrave, October 2020
My Dearest Martha: The Life and Letters of Eliza Hillier, Andrew Hillier
Hong Kong City University Press, October 2020
After Ancient Biography: Modern Types and Classical Archetypes, Robert Fraser
Palgrave Macmillan, October 2020
Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, Alexandra Campbell
Flammarion, October 2020
My Berlin: The Story of a City, Sir Barney White-Spunner
Simon & Schuster, October 2020
Art, Memoir and Jung. Personal and Psychological Encounters, Juliet Miller
October 2020
The Walker: On Finding and Losing Yourself in the Modern City, Matthew Beaumont
November 2020
Dangerous Lunatics: Trauma, Criminality, and Forensic Psychotherapy, Professor Brett Kahr
Confer Books, Autumn 2020
Beyond the Secret Garden, Anne Thwaite
Duckworth, 2020
(Revised version of Waiting for the Party, the life of Frances Hodgson Burnett, Secker and Warburg, 1974)
Juvenal: Satires Book V, John Godwin
Liverpool University Press, Autumn 2020
Industrial Letchworth: The First Garden City 1903-1920, Philippa Parker
University of Hertfordshire Press, Autumn 2020
A Dirty Broth: Early Twentieth Century Welsh Plays in English
Parthian Press, November 2020
Heads and Boxes: A Prop Art Exhibition Collaboration, Essay by Jill Longmate
Published in ‘Brigid Brophy: Avant-Garde Writer, Critic, Activist’, edited by Richard Canning and Gerri Kimber. Edinburgh University Press, 2020
At the Edge of the Desert, Basil Lawrence
Penguin, Spring 2021
The Novotny Papers: Prostitute/Provocateur, Lilian Pizzichini
Amberley, Spring 2021
Published recently in 2020
Those Who Are Loved, Victoria Hislop
Paperback published by Headline Review, August 2020
Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind, Tom Holland
Paperback published by Little Brown, August 2020
Elitism A Progressive Defence, Eliane Glaser
Biteback Books, August 2020
The Financial Times Guide to Business Coaching, Anne Scoular
Financial Times, August 2020
If I Don’t Have You, Sareeta Dominga
Jacaranda, July 2020
The Tastemakers: British Dealers and the Anglo-Gallic Interior, 1785-1865, Diana Davis
Getty Research Institute, July 2020
Madeleine, Euan Cameron
Quercus, July 2020
(Hardback published by MacLehose Press, June 2019)
Bad Love, Maame Blue
Jacaranda, June 2020
Liminal, Caroline Maldonado
Smokestack Books, April 2020; sequel to be published 2021
Night of the Bayonets: The Texel Uprising and Hitler's Revenge, April - May 1945, Eric Lee
Greenhill Books, April 2020
The Straits of Treachery, Richard Hopton
Allison & Busby, April 2020
Night of the Bayonets: The Texel Uprising and Hitler's Revenge April - May 1945, Eric Lee
Greenhill, April 2020
Arthur Jeffress: A Life in Art, Gill Hedley
Bloomsbury, April 2020
Mediating Empire, Andrew Hillier
Renaissance Books, April 2020
Smoke and Mirrors, Gemma Milne
Little Brown, April 2020
Magnificence and Princely Splendour in the Middle Ages, Richard Barber
Boydell & Brewer, March 2020
Dionysus after Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy in Twentieth-Century Literature and Thought, Adam Lecznar
Cambridge University Press, March 2020
Magnificence and Princely Splendour in the Middle Ages, Richard Barber
Boydell & Brewer, March 2020
The Girl with the Louding Voice, Abi Daré
Sceptre, February 2020
Strange Antics: A History of Seduction, Clement Knox
William Collins, February 2020
Escape Routes, Naomi Ishiguro
Tinder Press, February 2020 (Paperback January 2021)
John of Garland’s ‘De Triumphis Ecclesie’, Martin Hall
Brepols, February 2020
Along the Amber Route, Chris Schuler
Sandstone Press, February 2020
Escape Routes, Naomi Ishiguro
Tinder Press, February 2020
Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein: A Biography, David Beattie
van Eck Publishers, 2020
The Earliest Views of Budapest, Andrew Alchin
2020
The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, Victoria Dowd
Joffe Books 2020
EW Hornung: The Emergence of a Popular Author 1866-98, Peter Rowland
Academic Press, December 2019
Nourishing the Nation: Food as National Identity in Catalonia, Venetia Congdon
Berghahn Books, December 2019
EW Hornung: The Emergence of a Popular Author, 1866-1898, Peter Rowland
Academica Press, December 2019
Nourishing the Nation: Food as National Identity in Catalonia, Venetia Johannes
Berghahn Books, November 2019
Excellent Essex: In Praise of Britain's Most Misunderstood County, Gillian Darley
Old Street Publishing, Hardback 2019; Paperback, Spring 2020
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