You may have seen stories we ran on social media recently about two of the world’s most famous actors - Alec Guinness and Paul Robeson.

It turns out that both were members of The London Library, and we are delighted to have recently discovered their membership forms.

Our archive reveals that Paul Robeson joined in February 1934 and his membership was nominated by the acclaimed writer Rebecca West, who Robeson first met in 1925. West - who eventually became a Library Vice-President - remained a friend and firm supporter of Robeson’s celebrated political activism and accompanied him during a famous speech he gave in 1937 attacking fascism.

Alec Guinness joined the Library in 1957 and he remained a member here for over 30 years. His membership was nominated by no less a figure than Daphne du Maurier. Guinness had just started work on Scapegoat - the 1959 film based on du Maurier’s novel of the same name (Du Maurier later claimed that Guinness had been miscast in the role!).

It’s fascinating to see these figures connecting with the Library and we’ll bring you more exciting archive discoveries in future issues.