The Collections 

Gladstone’s Library has been recognised as the most important research library and collection in Wales, after the National Library of Wales.

The heart of the Library is Gladstone's own collection, the Gladstone Foundation Collection. Donated from his personal library which at one point contained over 32,000 volumes, many of the books that we hold here contain his annotations, some of which are extremely detailed.

In addition to his books, the Library holds the Glynne-Gladstone Archive, which contains the personal, family, business, and estate correspondence and papers of the Glynne and Gladstone families.

We also hold a copy of the Gladstone Papers held at the British Library on microfilm.

Outside of Gladstone’s own collections, Gladstone's Library contains more than 150,000 books, journals and pamphlets on a wide range of subjects and specialising in our core subject areas of theology and religion, literature and literary culture, and history and politics. Although our holdings are strongest in the long nineteenth century (usually defined as 1789-1914), this unique collection is kept up-to-date with the latest publications which readers can browse on the open shelves.

Using the Collections 

To use the collections in person, you must be a Resident at Gladstone's Library, hold a Reader Card, or sign up as a Researcher for the day.

Most collection items are available to use between 9am and 5pm, seven days a week. 

Items from our archives and special collections need to be requested in advance and you can find out more about how to do that here.

Browsing the Collections Online 

All of Gladstone’s Library’s printed collections can be browsed using MainCAT. Readers can access several extra services, including book reservations and saved searches, by logging in with the unique Reader number found on your card. 

The Gladstone Foundation Collection can also be browsed using the enhanced catalogue GladCAT. This catalogue contains Gladstone’s annotations in searchable format. 

You can find out more about our special collections, including enhanced finding aids and guides here.

Information about each of the archives held by Gladstone’s Library can be found here.

Collection Classification Systems 

The printed collections are catalogued using a version of William Gladstone’s own classification system, developed throughout his life to manage his ever-growing collection. The current classification list can be found here. The Islamic Faith and Culture collection is catalogued using Dewey Decimal System. When using the catalogue, we advise Readers to pay attention to the item’s location and classmark. A guide to classmark locations and the Reading Room map can be found here. All guides are available on the Enquiry Desk, found in the Theology Room.

Gladstone’s own books are identified by the prefix WEG before their classmark. 

Digital Collections

Some of the items from our printed collections and archives have been digitised and are available to be viewed online. You can find out more about what is available and find a link to our digitised collections here.