Jewish Collections Guide

Since its foundation in 1841 The London Library has been amassing books and periodical volumes on a broad range of subjects across the humanities and social sciences, in more than 50 languages. With material dating from the sixteenth century to the latest publications, the Library maintains international-standard research collections for use by the widest range of writers, scholars and general readers in the humanities, including its Judaica collection. The collection comprises materials from the general, open access collections, as well as the Montefiore Pamphlets.  For forty years, the Library looked after a Torah scroll from the community of Domažlice in Czechoslovakia.  In 2019 the scroll was handed to the care of the Memorial Scrolls Trust 

Books are readily accessible to members and are arranged on the shelves according to the Library’s unique classification scheme. It is important to note that the arrangement was devised in the 1890s and is very much a product of its time.  We regularly make minor adjustments to the scheme and at present we do not have the resource to undertake major changes to bring it up-to-date, such as creating sections for Israel in our History and Topography collections, but very much aspire to do so.

We hold titles from the late 18th century onwards on the open shelves.  As a result, our collection reflects the evolution and changes in thinking in a particular subject and does mean that you may come across titles which contain ideas and vocabulary that would be considered abhorrent today. The collection continues to grow with some 5,000 new titles being added each year. As we develop the collection, we seek to ensure that the controversial topics of today are represented from all sides of a debate.