Using the Library during Words In The Square
Will I still be able to use the Library during Words In The Square?
The Library will be operate as normal and be open for the usual standard opening hours during WITS. There will be extended opening hours on Friday and Saturday when tours will take place, members are welcome to use the Library as usual during this time.
Thursday 5th May 9.30am - 5.30pm
Friday 6th May 9.30am - 8.00pm
Saturday 7th May 9.30am - 8.00pm
Is the Library expected to be busier?
We do anticipate that the Library will be busier than usual for the duration of the celebrations. WITS is proving popular with members so we anticipate that there may be increased member use of the Library around events. In addition to the events in the Marquee we are offering tours of the Library building throughout Friday and Saturday, and whilst we aim to be as unobtrusive as possible, it is inevitable that there will be some disruption, particularly around the Issue Hall, Backstacks (Science & Miscellaneous), Basement, Art Room and Reading Rooms. The main Reading Room will remain open to members but will be used as a display space and be part of the tours offered, so this means in the run up to WITS (week before) and for the duration, it will not be a designated quiet space.
In light of this, members wishing to work in the Library during the celebrations may wish to consider desks in the Central Stack and Mezzanine as they may prove to be quieter. As always, staff in the Issue Hall will be happy to advise on suitable space.
So other than increased demand on space and potential disruption from tours, it will be service as usual?
We will endeavour to keep up the same levels of service as we offer at other times and will offer all the same services. There is a possibility that an increased number of members visiting St. James’ in this period will result in an increased use of some services and facilities, and we ask you to bear with us if this proves the case.
Reservations
We will still offer a reservations fetching service but since increased demand may mean slower turnaround times for these, please make sure all requests are made in good time.
Invigilation/access to safe material
Yes, offered as usual. Depending on demand for material to be fetched there may be a slightly slower turnaround time. Please order any required material in good time.
Lockers
There is a cloakroom facility at the Marquee and we hope that members attending events will make use of this. There is a possibility that members intending to attend an event and use the Library will mean increased demand for lockers. Please consider what you need to bring with you during this period.
Bike store
The Library bike store in Mason's Yard (capacity 16 bicycles) is available for members' exclusive use; in the general WITS FAQs we have provided information on other cycle parking and the Santander Cycle Hire Scheme in St James’s Square. Increased Library use by members may mean more demand for the bike store; if this proves the case we refer you to the WITS FAQs for information on other cycle parking.
If you have not used the bike store before you will need to have your Library membership card activated at the reception desk of the TS Eliot House entrance.
Cycles are left at members' own risk.
Will it be possible to tour the Library without booking?
As part of the 175 celebrations the Library is offering people the chance to have a tour of the building. These tours differ from the free tours that we run fortnightly as they include the opportunity to view curated displays containing some of our most interesting items.
Members will be welcome to visit the displays in the main Reading Room and elsewhere throughout the period and we will have information about these available closer to the time.
As usual members will be welcome to sign guests in to show them the Library but we would ask you to give consideration to when bookable tours are taking place, avoiding these times if possible (tours and time with display approx. 75 minutes):
Friday 6th May start times – 10am, 1pm, 2.30pm, 4pm & 7pm
Saturday 7th May start times – 10am, 1pm, 2.30pm, 4pm & 7pm
Can I return and/or collect books from the Marquee?
Unfortunately no books can be collected or returned at the Marquee as there will not be the space or equipment to facilitate this. All Library business should be conducted at the Library as usual.
I cannot attend WITS, will you be offering other ways that members can participate/enjoy, eg podcasts?
We understand that not all members will be able to attend WITS but many would like to mark/celebrate the anniversary year in some way. We are exploring costs associated with various ways of recording to ensure at the minimum we have an archive record. We have no plans for podcasts at this time but hope to be able to share some elements of the day with those unable to attend, if possible.
Who should I contact to ask a question not covered by the Member FAQs?
We hope that we have anticipated most questions but if there is anything we have not covered please do contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (020) 7766 4700.
I have a concern or complaint, who should I contact?
We do hope that everyone attending WITS will have a wonderful experience and that members using the Library during this period will not find this too disruptive but we also acknowledge that things can go wrong. Staff will be available in the Library on the day to resolve any queries or you may contact Mary Gillies, Deputy Librarian, by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Words In The Square – a three-day literary celebration from 6th-8th May, took place in beautiful sunshine in St. James's Square. Directed by writer and director James Runcie and by historian David Kynaston, Words In The Square featured 16 fascinating talks, debates and discussions on literature and writing, history, art, comedy, science, cricket and theatre.
The line-up of speakers – which featured a number of London Library members – included:
David Kynaston, Jerry White, Claire Tomalin, Lucy Lethbridge, Ian Hislop and Diane Atkinson who looked at life in 1841 (the year The London Library was founded)
Sarah Dunant, Charlotte Higgins, Bettany Hughes and Tom Holland discussed the importance of the classical world to an understanding of the present
Susan Greenfield, Roger Kneebone and Jenny Uglow looked at making connections in scientific research in a conversation chaired by Rick Stroud
Antony Beevor examined the changing nature of modern warfare
Nick Hornby, Elif Shafak, Joanna Trollope and Victoria Hislop explored their personal motivations for writing with James Runcie
Tom Stoppard featured in a gala evening in discussion with his biographer Hermione Lee
Sophie Hannah, Sebastian Faulks and Alex Clark looked at the increasingly popular genre of continuity novels
Kate Summerscale, Martin Edwards, James Runcie and Simon Brett examined the continued allure of fictional crime writing
Andrew Graham-Dixon celebrated the genius of J.M.W. Turner
Mike Atherton, Tim Rice, Mike Brearley, Emma John and Ramachandra Guha explored the rich literature of cricket
William Waldegrave, Candia McWilliam and Alan Johnson gave their personal reflections on the craft of writing memoirs
Craig Brown, Eleanor Bron and Lewis MacLeod presented a fun-packed gala evening of comedy, satire and storytelling, with special guest Dillie Keane
Juliet Gardiner, Lara Feigel, Max Hastings and David Kynaston examined the history and mythology of London and the Blitz
Simon Callow, Simon Russell Beale, Natascha McElhone and Harriet Walter looked at how they bring characters to life
Philippa Gregory, John O’Farrell, Sara Wheeler, Deborah Levy, Nikesh Shukla and Ned Beauman explained their favourite reads to Tom Sutcliffe
Simon Schama talked about the books that have shaped his style, his storytelling and his life
PUBLIC TOURS
Throughout the Words In The Square celebration, ticketed tours of the Library gave visitors an additional opportunity to find out about the Library’s fascinating history and the unique resources that can be found on its 17 miles of shelves.
SPONSORS
Thank you to our generous supporters without whom Words In The Square would not have been possible: Bisset Trust, Carey Adina Karmel, Coutts, Gabbitas Educational Consultants, Handelsbanken, Haworth Tompkins, Helly Nahmad London, Howard Davies, St James's London and The Reuben Foundation.
Books from the Library of Thomas Carlyle donated to The London Library by Professor Newberry 1940
*Titles marked with an asterisk are undergoing conservation work
| Title | Author of work | Publication year | Volume |
| The Agamemnon Of Aeschylus* | AESCHYLUS | 1848 | |
| The Seven Tragedies Of Aeschylus | AESCHYLUS | 1829 | |
| Robert Ainsworth's Dictionary* | AINSWORTH, Robert | 1773 | Vol. 1 |
| Robert Ainsworth's Dictionary* | AINSWORTH, Robert | 1773 | Vol. 2 |
| The Arabian Nights | 1802 | Vol. 1 | |
| The Arabian Nights | 1802 | Vol. 2 | |
| The Arabian Nights | 1802 | Vol. 3 | |
| The Arabian Nights* | 1802 | Vol. 4 | |
| The Arabian Nights | 1802 | Vol. 5 | |
| The Works Of Lord Byron | BYRON, George Gordon Byron, Baron | 1821 | Vol. 1 |
| The Works Of Lord Byron | BYRON, George Gordon Byron, Baron | 1821 | Vol. 2 |
| The Works Of Lord Byron | BYRON, George Gordon Byron, Baron | 1821 | Vol. 3 |
| The Works Of Lord Byron | BYRON, George Gordon Byron, Baron | 1821 | Vol. 4 |
| The Works Of Lord Byron | BYRON, George Gordon Byron, Baron | 1821 | Vol. 5 |
| Letters And Memorials* | CARLYLE, Jane Welsh | 1883 | Vol. 1 |
| Letters And Memorials | CARLYLE, Jane Welsh | 1883 | Vol. 2 |
| Letters And Memorials* | CARLYLE, Jane Welsh | 1883 | Vol. 3 |
| German Romance : Specimens Of Its Chief Authors | CARLYLE, Thomas | 1827 | Vol. 1 |
| German Romance : Specimens Of Its Chief Authors | CARLYLE, Thomas | 1827 | Vol. 2 |
| German Romance : Specimens Of Its Chief Authors | CARLYLE, Thomas | 1827 | Vol. 3 |
| German Romance : Specimens Of Its Chief Authors | CARLYLE, Thomas | 1827 | Vol. 4 |
| Reminiscences* | CARLYLE, Thomas | 1881 | Vol. 1 |
| Reminiscences | CARLYLE, Thomas | 1881 | Vol. 2 |
| Analekta Hellenika Meizona* | DALZEL, Andrew | 1808 | |
| Homeri Ilias* | HOMER | 1779 | Vol. 1 |
| Homeri Ilias* | HOMER | 1779 | Vol. 2 |
| Homer's Iliad | HOMER | 1875 | |
| Q. Horatii Flacci Opera* | HORACE | 1717 | |
| Etymologia Graeca* | JONES, John | 1826 | |
| Justinus* | JUSTINUS, Marcus Junianus | 1659 | |
| Nonnulli È Luciani Dialogis Selecti* | LUCIAN, of Samosata | 1726 | |
| Cornelii Nepotis Vita* | NEPOS, Cornelius | 1790 | |
| An Historical And Classical Dictionary* | NOORTHOUCK, John | 1776 | Vol 1. |
| An Historical And Classical Dictionary* | NOORTHOUCK, John | 1776 | Vol. 2 |
| The Primitives Of The Greek Tongue | NUGENT, Thomas | 1818 | |
| A New Cyropaedia | RAMSAY, A | 1730 | |
| Reliques Of Ancient English Poetry* | RELIQUES | 1775 | Vol. 1 |
| Reliques Of Ancient English Poetry | RELIQUES | 1775 | Vol. 2 |
| Reliques Of Ancient English Poetry | RELIQUES | 1775 | Vol. 3 |
| C. Sallustii Crispi Opera Omnia | SALLUST | 1735 | |
| Griechisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch* | SCHNEIDER, Johann Gottlieb | 1819 | Vol. 1 |
| Griechisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch | SCHNEIDER, Johann Gottlieb | 1819 | Vol. 2 |
| Minstrelsy Of The Scottish Border* | SCOTT, Walter, Sir | 1850 | Vol. 1 |
| Minstrelsy Of The Scottish Border* | SCOTT, Walter, Sir | 1850 | Vol. 2 |
| Minstrelsy Of The Scottish Border* | SCOTT, Walter, Sir | 1850 | Vol. 3 |
| Minstrelsy Of The Scottish Border | SCOTT, Walter, Sir | 1850 | Vol. 4 |
| The Antigone Of Sophocles | SOPHOCLES | 1848 | |
| Hai Tou Sophokleous Tragodiai Hepta* | SOPHOCLES | 1788 | Vol. 1 |
| Hai Tou Sophokleous Tragodiai Hepta* | SOPHOCLES | 1788 | Vol. 2 |
| Des Caius Cornelius Tacitus Sammtliche Werke | TACITUS, Cornelius | 1831-1832 | |
| The Works Of Tacitus | TACITUS, Cornelius | 1777-1778 | Vol. 1 |
| The Works Of Tacitus | TACITUS, Cornelius | 1777-1778 | Vol. 2 |
| The Works Of Tacitus* | TACITUS, Cornelius | 1777-1778 | Vol. 3 |
| The Works Of Tacitus | TACITUS, Cornelius | 1777-1778 | Vol. 4 |
| The Works Of Tacitus | TACITUS, Cornelius | 1777-1778 | Vol. 5 |
| Bucolica, Georgica, Et Aeneis* | VIRGIL | 1798 | |
| Translation Of The Sixth Book Of Virgil's Eneid | VIRGIL | 1877 | |
| [Manuscript Notes]* | WELSH, John | 1794 | |
| Zenophontos Kyroy* | XENOPHON | 1785 |
Charles Hagberg Wright - "Guiding Genius" of The London Library
Sir Charles Theodore Hagberg Wright (17 November 1862 – 7 March 1940) was the Secretary and Librarian of the London Library from 1893 until his death. His 47 year tenure was marked by an extraordinary period of expansion and organisation that fundamentally shaped the Library that we find today and earned him the description as the Library’s “guiding genius” in the Times’ 1940 obituary.
Within only three years of his appointment he and then President Sir Leslie Stephen (Virginia’s Woolf’s father) had masterminded the complete refurbishment of Beauchamp House, the building in St James’s Square that the Library had acquired in 1879 but had rapidly outgrown. In 1896–1898 it was rebuilt. The façade, the Issue Hall, the Reading Room, and the grille floor bookstacks all date from this extraordinary period of transformation that was effected in just three years and that involved closing the Library to members for only three weeks!
Remarkably, while construction work was going on, Hagberg Wright embarked on a project of even greater complexity. Aided by just one full time assistant, he set about cataloguing the Library’s entire collection of close to 200,000 volumes. When his assistant died in 1901, Hagberg Wright took on the entire project himself. The result was a new Author Catalogue which was published in 1903. It was a remarkable achievement and well received. The Spectator remarked, however, that the “ideal catalogue would be one in which every book would be found under its author’s name and also under the subject to which it refers. This ideal is manifestly beyond human reach”. It was not beyond the reach of Hagberg Wright who with the assistance of CJ Purnell (later to succeed Hagberg Wright as Librarian), began the Subject Index in May 1905 and saw it published in 1909.
Hagberg Wright also oversaw the introduction of a new Shelfmark system that is still in use at the Library today. Its subject headings of History, Topography, Literature, Art etc are easily recognisable and intuitive. These are broken down into alphabetical sub-divisions giving rise to the glorious juxtapositions to be found in Science & Miscellaneous, where Pleasure, Poaching, Poisons and Police nestle together as closely as Wine, Witchcraft, Women and Wool.
“Looking back”, he commented, “I don’t remember any great difficulties but the work had to be done with method as the members had to be provided with books. All I really remember was that I worked hard and kept my eyes and fingers in touch with every book as it got rearranged…it was a big job. I was young, full of energy. It seems greater now than it looked then, but I daresay I could do it again.”
There was to be little let up. In 1921-22, an entirely new set of bookstacks was added – seven floors, again designed by architect Osborne Smith, featuring opaque glass floors rather than metal grilles.
More expansion followed in the 1930s as the Library’s collection approached 300,000 volumes. 9 Duke Street – the adjoining house that had provided office and staff accommodation from the 1880s - was completely rebuilt. The development saw the creation of the North Bay of the Reading room (now the Writer’s Room), the Art Room and the room now known as the Sackler Study.
In 1934 Hagberg Wright was knighted – he was four decades into a career that had seen the Library emerge as one of the world’s most revered libraries and had seen every aspect of its buildings and its operations overturned. It was a fitting realisation of the vision that had inspired Carlyle when he founded the Library nearly a century earlier in 1841. Sadly, Hagberg Wright didn’t live to celebrate that landmark – he died of bronchitis in March 1940, at the age of 78, employed to the end as Librarian of the institution to which he had given such extraordinary service.
Read more: Charles Hagberg Wright - "Guiding Genius" of The London Library
