On Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

23 April 2019

On Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

On Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day our thoughts and prayers are with the Armenian people, both the diaspora and those living in Armenia today.

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Gladstone and the Romantics: our new April display

5 April 2019

Gladstone and the Romantics: our new April display

Today when we consider the word ‘romantic’ we think of love and sentimentality, but the term ‘Romanticism’ had a much broader meaning, historically. Romanticism was a period which spanned the late 18th and early 19th centuries, emerging as a response to the disillusionment with the Enlightenment values of reason and order in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1789. It covered a range of developments in art, literature, music and philosophy and William Gladstone himself would have been witness to its peak during his lifetime.

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From the Archives...The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie

1 April 2019

From the Archives...The Gospel of Wealth by Andrew Carnegie

Many of our patrons will know that in January 2018, the Library embarked on a three-year project externally funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York under the title of Digital Gladstone. The project aims to fully digitise and catalogue 15,000 nineteenth-century manuscript letters and 5,390 annotated printed books.

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Spring has sprung at Gladstone’s Library and Easter is not far behind it!

29 March 2019

Spring has sprung at Gladstone’s Library and Easter is not far behind it!

While researching for this blog, I found myself on all manner of websites, from the Telegraph to Clarion Review, and the websites of both Cadbury and Godiva. 

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What libraries mean by Oliver Emanuel

25 March 2019

What libraries mean by Oliver Emanuel

The first time I lied about my age was not to buy alcohol, to jump on a ride at Chessington World of Adventure, or to join the army. 

It was to get a library card. 

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Play time by Oliver Emanuel

18 March 2019

Play time by Oliver Emanuel

My two year old daughter has been with me at Gladstone’s for the past few days. Like any parent of a toddler will tell you, her desire for play is tireless. Tell me a story. Let’s go outside. Shall we dance? I’m a monster. Rrrr. There is seemingly no end to her enthusiasm and joy for making things up and mucking around.

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Susanna Forrest on walking

12 March 2019

Susanna Forrest on walking

After a certain age your body lets you know that sitting for hours at a desk requires a degree of physical fitness. Via carpal tunnel, twanging hamstrings or a classic ‘bad back’, you discover that you are not, in fact, capable of eight hours on what the Germans call your ‘sitzfleisch’ or ‘seat meat’. 

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W.E. Gladstone and nineteenth-century international law

6 March 2019

W.E. Gladstone and nineteenth-century international law

This month’s display in our History Room focuses around William Gladstone and nineteenth-century international law. This is a large topic and this blog aims to add some extra details that unfortunately wouldn’t fit into the cabinet! 

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Sophie Mackintosh on finding a routine

6 March 2019

Sophie Mackintosh on finding a routine

One of the most beneficial parts about coming to Gladstone’s is the opportunity to be far away from your usual daily routine. It’s amazing how much energy and brain-space is freed up when you take away so many parts of every day life – cooking, cleaning, commuting, and even having a television.

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‘A pretty little woman, a flirt and a rattle’: Impressions of Mary Anne Disraeli

6 March 2019

‘A pretty little woman, a flirt and a rattle’: Impressions of Mary Anne Disraeli

The title quote is one by Benjamin Disraeli from a letter to his sister, describing a Mrs Wyndham Lewis that he met at a party in 1832.

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