by Amy Sumner | Friday, 20th April 2018 | 0 Comments
21st April is World Curlew Day, the first annual international event with the aim of raising awareness of the Curlew, one of the most recognisable of wading birds (numenius arquata). According to the RSPB, there are 66,000 breeding pairs in the UK, with 140,000 individual curlews wintering on our shores and estuaries each year.
by Amy Sumner | Thursday, 19th April 2018 | 0 Comments
A few of the many things I loved about my stay:
The rook convention outside the library; window sills so wide you can organise your life on them; the giant woodpigeons; the mushroom quiche; that there is a book called The Best Books which Gladstone wrote his name in (some things seemed simpler in the late 19th Century); treacle tart; that I thought a lot, read a lot and wrote quite a lot. That I worked out on the last day my villain’s bad, bad secret. Guilty pleasure: watching both series of The Hour again in the evenings. I love Romola Garai.
by Amy Sumner | Tuesday, 17th April 2018 | 0 Comments
Before World War II, when the library was only 30 years old, Alec Vidler, the then Warden of St Deiniol’s Library, was preparing for a 'decrease in the number of ordinary visitors', which he called 'inevitable' is his 1938 report to the board of trustees.
by Amy Sumner | Wednesday, 11th April 2018 | 0 Comments
I've recently put together a display of books from our collection to illustrate the arrival of the new season - spring! This got me thinking about the meanings of the spring season itself.
by Amy Sumner | Thursday, 05th April 2018 | 0 Comments
Here at the Library we mourn the death of Sir William Gladstone Bt, great-grandson of our founder, William Ewart Gladstone, and formerly our Chairman of Trustees. We also celebrate the long and fulfilled life of a person who contributed so much to the Library, as well as to his country and his county.
by Amy Sumner | Friday, 30th March 2018 | 0 Comments
Here at Gladstone’s Library is where, alongside other collections, the personal collection of William Gladstone himself can be found. A collection that the public can come to peruse and enjoy at their own leisure in such a wonderful setting.
by Amy Sumner | Friday, 16th March 2018 | 0 Comments
At the beginning of April Gladstone’s Library welcomes Debbie Lewer from the University of Glasgow to deliver a course exploring art, faith and failure within visual art from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Debbie is an art historian who lectures on topics across the field, including on wider media such as photography and architecture. As we edge closer to April, we spoke to the her to find out a little more about her ideas, her work and what we can expect from 'Utterly Human: Art, Faith and Failure'...
by Amy Sumner | Friday, 16th March 2018 | 0 Comments
William Ewart Gladstone, a lifelong student and scholar, is well known as a voracious reader and collector of books: Gladstone built up a remarkable personal library, reflecting the wide range of interests of a true Victorian polymath.
However, Gladstone is perhaps less well known for collecting paintings, sculpture, fine porcelain and ivories.
