Issue 73 Summer 2011 Quarterly Newsletter FRIENDS www.bl.uk/friends OF THE BRITISH LIBRARY Registered charity no. 328095

Campaign for legacies launched Consider joining our new Codicil Club

At our Annual General Meeting in March Lord Hameed, the chairman, announced the launch of a new campaign to encourage members to remember the Friends in their wills. It is being orchestrated by Stephanie Kenna, our honorary secretary, and Ed King, a member of the Council and head of the Library’s newspaper collections. To set it going, all Council members have been asked to add a codicil to their wills by the end of June, leaving an appropriate sum to the Friends. In difficult financial times, as acquisition budgets shrink, our ability to respond flexibly and quickly to requests for assistance from the Library’s curators is ever more vital. That is why we are asking Friends to consider a donation, however small, as they draw up their wills – or, more simply, to add a codicil to existing wills. Campaign co-ordinators: Ed King and Stephanie Kenna. A leaflet describing the ways in which legacies have enabled us to support the Library’s work, and explaining the details of how Many people die without having made a will – a missed to make such a bequest, will be available later in the summer. It opportunity to set down how you want your asssets distributed is intended that those who have remembered the Friends in their after your death. If you are thinking of making a new will, please wills should, if they wish, inform the honorary secretary and can remember us. As you may have read, the Chancellor of the then become members of our new Codicil Club, entitling them Exchequer, in his March Budget, announced that those who leave to invitations to a small number of special events. at least ten per cent of their estate to charity will qualify for a Members who have already named the Friends in their wills can reduction in inheritance tax from 40 to 36 per cent – a join the Club if they inform Stephanie through the membership considerable benefit for their descendants and other legatees. office. They will not be asked how much they have bequeathed, A legacy can make a big difference to a small organisation such which is a private matter. as the Friends. Even £100 boosts the funds that we can contribute Over the years a number of legacies have enabled the Friends to to the Library’s work, while with £1000 we could give further give valuable support to the Library’s work. Mary Welch’s bequest support to conservation and £10,000 would be a significant of £130,000 allowed us to contribute significantly to the contribution to a major acquisition. construction of the Conservation Centre, one of whose studios As our treasurer, Graham Allatt, pointed out at the AGM, when he is named after her. More recently, a study grant for overseas was discussing ways of maximising the Friends’ income: “Legacies conservators (see page 3) was funded from Isabel Haberer’s are the icing on the cake to let us help the Library more.” And as generous bequest. we all know, the thicker the icing, the sweeter the cake.

Inside this issue Win tickets to Page 2 AGM report Stoppard and Pinter Page 3 Grants Page 4 Foreign fieldwork See pages 3 and 8 Page 5 In the Library Page 6 Visit reports Page 7 New events Page 8 Prize crossword Image above: Mervyn Peake Archive, (by Kind Permission of the Mervyn Peake Estate). AGM report How Friends help ease the Library’s pain

Addressing our Annual General Colindale, when the papers will be moved to a purpose-built store Meeting in March, Dame Lynne at Boston Spa. And she told us that funding had now been secured Brindley, the Library’s chief to ensure the survival of the Business Centre after the loss of its executive, was warm in her former grant. praise for the Friends’ support Lord Hameed, chairman of the Friends, echoed Dame Lynne’s for the Library over the past concerns about the future: “These are difficult times for the Library year, adding that it would and it needs our support more than ever.” He paid tribute to David become even more vital as Marcus, the Council member whose death was reported in the last a result of the severe cuts in Newsletter, and gave thanks to the three departing Council members – the annual Government grant. Amanda Benton, Lord Hemingford and Kathy Wrennall. He also “We have to up our game in thanked the volunteers who man the Friends’ desk in the lobby, fund-raising,” she declared. remarking: “It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of their role.” Lord Bragg and Lord Hameed. Over the next four years the The treasurer, Graham Allatt, gave a bullish report on our finances, Library will lose 15 per cent of with income holding steady because of the loyalty of our members its grant, with the projected annual spending on acquisitions dropping and the popularity of the events programme. Costs were slightly down by £4m to £15m. Staff numbers will also need to be slashed, with on the previous year and our reserves are in good shape. 200 people losing their jobs over the next three years. Finally the author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, a vice-president Dame Lynne gave special thanks for our support of the two major of the Friends, delivered what he described as “a sort of romp – exhibitions of the year – Magnificent Maps, which attracted a record a gallop through the history of words”. He noted that, despite the 226,000 visitors, and Evolving English, which had already exceeded influence of Latin from the Roman invaders and French from the its visitor target with several weeks still to run. “You have contributed Normans, many old English words remain an important part of our very significantly to making them a great success,” she said, while language. Of the 100 most common words, 76 derive from old also acknowledging our grant of £20,000 to help the Library buy English. In Winston Churchill’s famous wartime speech, “We shall the Mervyn Peake archive. fight on the beaches . . . ”, only one word did not have an English Speaking of the Library’s decision to charge an admission fee for derivation, and that was “surrender”. major exhibitions from next autumn, Dame Lynne said there would be Lord Bragg made a brief reference to his forthcoming book about a concessionary rate for Friends. Responding to a member’s suggestion the King James Bible, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the work. that it would be more cost-effective to continue with the former free He heaped lavish praise on William Tyndale, much of whose sixteenth- admission policy, so as to boost membership, she said she would century translation of the New Testament was reproduced almost discuss that option with her colleagues. verbatim in the King James version. “He introduced the rhythm of the She updated members on the Library’s newspaper digitisation word of God into English,” said Lord Bragg, adding that Tyndale and project and the eventual closure of the Newspaper Library at Shakespeare, in his view, were the two true geniuses of the language.

Letter from the Secretary

Stephanie Kenna was confirmed as Honorary out over the coming year. Council is very supportive of this initiative Secretary of the Friends at the AGM, after a year as and, at their February meeting, all Trustees pledged to include a Acting Secretary. Here she sets out the Council’s plans legacy to the Friends, either as a codicil to their wills or in a letter to increase the contribution we can make to the Library. of intent, by the end of June. We hope that other members will be encouraged to make a At the AGM I spoke about our plans to increase the membership similar pledge, and we were delighted to note the Chancellor of the and income of the Friends over the coming months and years, and Exchequer’s concession of a reduction in inheritance tax for those I want to put these down on paper. One of my earliest actions as who leave at least ten per cent of their estate to charity. Acting Secretary was to develop a three-year strategy based on The second initiative is a piece of research, undertaken by fellow work already undertaken by the Council. This re-states our aims Council member Ed King and myself, into the recruitment strategies and objectives – that is, to promote, support, assist and improve of other Friends’ organisations. From this we have produced a series the British Library through providing grants and using our influence of recommendations to Council which we will also take forward to increase public awareness and support. during 2011/12, in close collaboration with the Library. The strategy includes an implementation plan which will be In this context, one activity that members can help us with is to reviewed annually. Each action has a Council lead who is asked publicise the Friends to other special interest groups or organisations to report on progress at each Council meeting. to which you belong. You could, for example, hand out material at Our achievements during 2010/11 included contacting lapsed meetings or say a few words about the Friends or, if you prefer, let Friends to encourage them to re-join, continuing to organise a varied us know of any appropriate groups or organisations that we might and interesting programme of events and refreshing the look of our approach to raise our profile and attract new members. Please let publications. Two other initiatives deserve further mention. me know through the Friends’ Office if you would like to follow this The first is the legacy campaign developed by Amanda Benton up or if you have suggestions for increasing our numbers and funds. and Lord Hemingford, who have now both completed their terms of I look forward to hearing from you. office on Council. As reported on the front page, this will be rolled Stephanie Kenna, Secretary

2 Grants Exploring fantasy worlds

Do you know how Bovril, the beef extract, came to get illustrations will be featured its name? If not, you might be surprised to discover the in the exhibition, along with answer in the Library’s next major exhibition. examples from the present day. It will be organised as a series Out of This World: Science Fiction but not as you know it opens of spaces depicting other worlds – in the Paccar Gallery on 20 May. The Friends are donating £5,000 alien worlds, future worlds, towards a wide-ranging learning programme that will coincide with parallel worlds, virtual worlds, the the exhibition. end of the world and the perfect But what does science fiction have to do with Bovril? In 1871 world. Among the many authors Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote The Coming Race, in which he envisaged whose works will be represented a race of superior beings, called the Vril-ya, living near the centre of are Mary Shelley, Rudyard Kipling, the earth. They owed their superiority to a form of energy called Vril, George Orwell and Ray Bradbury. giving them superhuman powers of destruction, healing and telepathy. There will be interactive The makers of the beef extract incorporated Vril in the product’s name exhibits, as well as film and sound to suggest that it too was a source of unusual energy. clips that illustrate how far science The first known work that can be described as science fiction was fiction has penetrated our culture. written in the second century AD by Lucian of Samosata, an Assyrian An attractive programme of who wrote in Greek. It describes how a group of voyagers are carried accompanying events includes talks by present-day writers including to the moon by a giant water spout. The earliest edition in the Library’s China Miéville, David Lodge, Iain M Banks, Michael Moorcock and possession, a Dutch translation printed in 1647, will be displayed in the Brian Aldiss. exhibition. One of Britain’s leading authorities on the genre, Andy Sawyer, English writers took longer to embrace the form. In 1516 Sir Thomas librarian of the science fiction collections at Liverpool University, More described, in Utopia, an island that embodied his alternative will be the guest curator, working alongside the Library’s Katya vision of how society might be organised. In the following century Rogatchevskaia. Explaining the significance of the theme, Katya says: Francis Godwin, Bishop of Hereford, wrote The Man in the Moone, “Our view of future worlds is always coloured by our contemporary following Lucian in envisaging moon travel. views. Every image of the future is a reflection of our present desires It was not until the nineteenth century that science fiction began and fears.” to achieve the popularity it enjoys today. In 1897 HG Wells’ The War Running until 25 September, this is the last of the Library’s major of the Worlds was serialised in Pearson’s Magazine and later became exhibitions offering free entry. From the autumn admission fees will an immensely successful novel. Magazines devoted to the genre be charged, as part of the Library’s response to the reduction of its began to prosper, and several of their dramatic, imaginative Government grant (see opposite page).

Avijit bids us farewell Win Pinter tickets Harold Pinter’s One of the us the difference between conservation – Betrayal, his Friends’ the rescue of books and documents in poor classic account innovative repair – and preservation, which involves of a love recent grants using preventive treatments to avoid triangle based has been the deterioration. on personal funding of a Avijit had concentrated principally on experience, is being revived at the Comedy librarian from the latter skills. He told us that there are Theatre in London’s West End from 27 May, overseas to very few facilities for either preservation starring Kristin Scott Thomas. A pair of tickets spend six or conservation in India, and consequently will be awarded for the first correct solution months at not many specialists in the field. He sees as opened to the following questions about the St Pancras his principal task, after his return home in play’s first performance: learning the techniques of preservation April, to impart to colleagues the skills he n What year was it first performed in and conservation, thanks to the generous has learned at the British Library, including London, and where? legacy from Isabel Haberer. The beneficiary, the use of book cradles and archival boxes n Who was the director? Avijit Chakrabarti from Calcutta, made a to keep material in usable condition. n Who played the three main roles? presentation to a group of us explaining He ended his address by thanking the Tickets will be for Monday to Thursday what he had learned from the experience Friends for sponsoring him and urging us performances until 17 June, subject to and how it would benefit fellow Indian to to give further grants in this area. The availability. Entries must be by e-mail only to librarians when he returned home. appeal was echoed by the Library’s Sarah [email protected]. Please include your First we were given a short tour of the Hamlyn, who had supervised Avijit’s membership number and a phone number Conservation Centre by Robert Brodie, a programme and spoke warmly of his where the theatre’s representative can contact Conservation Team Leader. He explained to “unfailing enthusiasm” for all aspects of it. you if you win. Closing date: 2 June.

3 Foreign fieldwork

Not a bit like St Pancras

Michael Leapman reports on a elicit the necessary research trip to sunny California. references and our applications were The Huntington Library in San Marino, a approved. northern suburb of Los Angeles, has a strong Next we had to holding of important British manuscripts, make an advance some of which the British Library would give appointment to register, its eye teeth for. The collection was begun a process that involved in the early part of the twentieth century signing pledges to by Henry Huntington, a fabulously wealthy behave properly and – railway tycoon, and the eponymous Library as at St Pancras – having our photographs material to the issue desk, where it remains is still a well-funded, aggressive purchaser taken so that they could be mounted on until one o‘clock. Still, this did give us a of both ancient and modern documents electronic passes. We had to hang these chance to explore the museum, art gallery and archives. They are stored in a palatial round our necks while on the premises and and gardens: our reader passes allowed us building in Beaux Arts style near the grand they were swiped twice every day, once free admission and even a generous house where Huntington lived – now an when we entered the building and again discount at the garden café. art gallery and, together with its extensive when we picked up our first items from The Library’s museum displays some of and immaculate gardens, a popular visitor the issue desk. its most valuable holdings, including the attraction. The reverential reading room was oh, Ellesmere Chaucer and an earlier second For an so different from its teeming St Pancras quarto of Hamlet than the British Library ongoing equivalents. There are seats for about 90 possesses. The exhibition takes you through research readers on both sides of rectangular tables, the history of literature up to the present, project but only a dozen or so were occupied while with material on display from the archives I wanted to we were there. The walls are lined with of, among others, Kingsley Amis and Hilary consult the bookcases and above them are niches Mantel. One case is devoted to items that papers of containing sculpted heads of an eclectic have been funded by the Library’s Friends James Brydges, the first Duke of Chandos – selection of literary and historical figures, organisation – something we have been an important figure in the social and political including Lord Byron, George Washington, vainly trying to persuade the Library to do life of the early eighteenth century – which Dante, Jack London, Abraham Lincoln and for years. The art gallery has the largest reside in the Library. So I began the elaborate of course Huntington himself. collection of British portraits I have seen process of applying for reader privileges for The issue process is efficient, with about a anywhere except the National Portrait myself and my wife, who shares my research. half hour wait for ordered material to arrive Gallery, with keynote works by such as The hurdles to be cleared are even more after submission of the request slips – no on- Gainsborough, Reynolds, Constable, formidable than those that used to apply at line requesting here. Readers are assigned Hogarth and Ramsay. the British Library before the more permissive seats: we were placed close to the issue desk, Although it was early February, the warm policy was introduced at St Pancras a few so that the staff could keep an eye on this sun beat down throughout the three days years back. First we had to provide letters odd British couple: they duly pounced when of our visit and the Huntington garden from two reputable academics who would they caught me looking at a book without was already in full spring colour, with vouch that we were sufficiently serious people using the required support apparatus. magnificent magnolias, camellias, ceanothus to gaze at the Huntington’s precious holdings. The most irritating aspect is that they and daffodils. And our research? Well, we Although we know few academics – some close for lunch. At 11.45 precisely a discreet learned little new about our subject, but distinctly disreputable – we managed to bell is rung and readers have to return all we relished the experience.

Royal Society of Literature membership offer

The Royal Society of Literature is offering are William Boyd, Ali Smith, Colin Thubron and Candia McWilliam); Friends a year’s subscription at the discounted and to receive the RSL Review, the annual magazine. Members are rate of £40 (the normal rate is £50). The offer is also invited to the summer party and awards ceremony. Speakers valid until 31 July. Membership would entitle coming up in the summer include Michael Cunningham and you to attend all regular RSL events (around Sebastian Faulks. 24 a year) free of charge; to have priority To learn more about membership benefits and the Society’s booking to partnership events with work, visit www.rslit.org, where you can also listen to recordings organisations including the London School of Economics, the Royal of past events. To take up the offer, please contact the Society, the European Cultural Commission and Kings Place; to Membership Secretary, Hazel Tsoi-Wiles, on 020 7845 4677 have priority booking for writing master-classes (tutors this year or [email protected], quoting your Friends’ membership number.

4 In the Library

Celebrating Rattigan Olympic fever

In the Sir John Ritblat Gallery, until July, are Over 1,700 images of London’s previous Olympic Games exhibits celebrating the centenary of the birth of in 1908 and 1948, together with British Olympians and the playwright Sir Terence Rattigan. They include Paralympians through history, can be seen on a new website the original scripts of Cause Célèbre and Flare www.winningendeavours.org. The images have been taken Path – two plays currently being revived in from documents, newspapers, journals and ephemera in the the West End to critical acclaim. In the 1950s care of the British Library and 24 other archival repositories Rattigan was the most successful playwright in in London and south-east England. The project was led by Britain. Two of his plays – French Without Tears in 1936 and Separate Archives for London Tables in 1956 – had West End runs of more than 1,000 performances. Ltd. in partnership Last year’s revival of After The Dance at the National Theatre won four with London Olivier awards. The display, drawing on the Rattigan archive and Metropolitan Archives several of the Library’s major theatrical collections, helps to illuminate and the British Library. his “life of disguise and concealment”, from his cricket-playing Unique items that schooldays at Harrow to his bitter feud with the critic Ken Tynan that can be seen include began in the late 1950s. photographs and souvenirs of the marathon from the 1908 games; Writers and their secrets programmes dating from 15 July 1908; What is the writer’s life really like? A new a special Olympics set of two CDs released by the Library gives edition of Picture Post a glimpse into the lives of some of Britain’s from 14 August 1948 most celebrated authors, while offering and photos of practical advice and inspiration to aspiring Paralympians taking writers. The Writing Life: Authors Speak part in archery. features excerpts from 25 unpublished interviews with novelists, children’s writers, poets, biographers and historians. They include Paul Bailey, Simon Picture Post online Brett, Maureen Duffy, Michael Holroyd, Howard Jacobson, P D James, Penelope Lively, Ian McEwan and Philip Ziegler. With the oldest The Picture Post Historical Archive, 1938-1957, is now available interviewee born in 1920 and the youngest in 1965, the CDs offer to search online in the reading rooms at St Pancras, Colindale and a fascinating insight into contemporary literary life. Boston Spa. The magazine was notable for its ground-breaking use Highlights include Michael Morpurgo describing the chance of photo-journalism, and the archive provides a remarkable visual encounter that gave him the courage to write War Horse; Hilary record of daily life and defining moments over two decades. Mantel on why “in the ideal world all writers would have a Catholic childhood”; Michael Frayn on the teacher who changed his life; Ian Rankin on an early plan to become an accountant; Victoria Glendinning on why all writers are “clinically insane” whilst waiting for Wendy’s world reviews and Beryl Bainbridge on meeting readers: “When somebody says, ‘Oh, your book has given me so much pleasure,’ I just think The Library has bought the archive of the popular ‘How peculiar’.” contemporary poet, Wendy Cope, OBE (who also features in The CD set is compiled from the British Library’s Authors’ Lives the CD set described above). The archive cost £32,000 and collection of in-depth life story interviews, which has been supported encompasses material in both paper and electronic form, by the Friends. The Writing Life: Authors Speak costs £16.28 in the comprising 15 large storage boxes as well as some 40,000 Library shop, and Friends get the usual ten per cent discount. To order e-mails and Word files. At its core are 67 poetry notebooks from the shop call 020 7412 7735 or order online at www.bl.uk/shop dating from 1973 to the present. They contain drafts of entering the code “Friends” in the voucher box at the checkout stage. poems, jottings of ideas, notes on form and rhyme scheme juxtaposed with glimpses of everyday life, such as her meticulous “to do” lists. The correspondence includes letters from Andrew Motion, A N Wilson, Anthony Thwaite, Carol Boston Spa update Rumens and Craig Raine. A postcard from Ted Hughes congratulating Cope on the success of Serious Concerns reads: Since the end of last year some items stored at Boston Spa have “I like your deadpan fearless sort of way of whacking the nail been unavailable to readers because of an asbestos removal on the head – when everybody else is trying to hang pictures programme. Although this is expected to last for much of this year, on it”. A letter from Kingsley Amis expresses his delight with the Library reports that about half the most heavily used material is the success of Cope’s first published volume of poems, Making now back in use. Readers are recommended to order material in Cocoa for Kingsley Amis. A notebook containing drafts of the advance to confirm its availability before setting out for the Library. title poem is now on display in The Sir John Ritblat Gallery.

5 Visit reports

Shakespeare’s Southwark In the print

Most people know Southwark Cathedral for its connection with Shakespeare, although it What better way to introduce St Bride’s Library, was not a cathedral in his time – just the church of St Mary Overie – and there is no proof a prime source of information about printing, that he ever went there. However, it was close to the Globe Theatre and in the cathedral’s than for the librarian to trace the origins of the south aisle is a memorial and stained glass window dedicated to him and his plays. Three craft from its beginnings in China 1000 years of his theatrical contemporaries were buried there: the playwrights Philip Massinger before Gutenberg in Europe? and John Fletcher and the impresario Philip Henslowe. Gutenberg was a native of Strasbourg and But there is more to the cathedral than that, as 40 Friends learned on an intriguing tour. probably did his first printing there. The great The choir, built in Caen stone, remains intact from the thirteenth century and there are advance that he pioneered was the use of several medieval monuments. But the nave was rebuilt (for the fourth time) in the 1890s, moveable type. William Caxton was the head after it collapsed from disrepair. There were further additions when it became a cathedral of the community of English wool traders in in 1905, serving a diocese of 350 churches in and beyond south London. Bruges. Encouraged to publish his store of The original church was part of a priory and in 2000, to mark the millennium, a modern anecdotes he gathered information about the extension was built on the site of the old priory buildings, containing a refectory, a shop and new printing process and the first book in offices. Nelson Mandela performed the opening ceremony in 2001. It was in this extension English was published in Bruges. Seeing the that we gathered for our tour and were divided into three groups, led by expert and commercial opportunity Caxton returned to enthusiastic guides. Afterwards we repaired to the basement for tea and scones, generously England and established a printing business stuffed with whipped cream and jam. in Fleet Street, close to where the St Bride’s Institute now resides. Newspapers were first produced in the seventeenth century in Fleet Street because At home with Handel Palace on the Park it was near to Somerset House, where they had to be stamped. They continued to be On a clear winter’s day, we assembled Among the treasures of the British Library printed there until the introduction of digital at the entrance to the Handel House are the papers of John, the first Earl Spencer, technology. The Institute was founded to Museum in Brook Street, Mayfair . We great-grandson of Sarah, Duchess of broaden the education of printing apprentices were taken first to St George's Church in Marlborough, and his descendants. These and included baths and a swimming pool in Hanover Square, where for many years were acquired from the family in 1984-1985. the basement. These are now a theatre, and Handel was the organist: he came to live In February 50 Friends toured the town teaching is done elsewhere, but the reference in Brook Street in 1723, as the church house Spencer built in St James's Place, one library, founded in 1891, remains. was nearing completion. of London's last surviving great aristocratic residences. The Earl began Spencer House in 1756. Magic moments The previous year he had married Georgiana Poyntz and this was to be their London Nothing is as it seems at the Magic Circle’s home. His first architect, John Vardy, headquarters near Euston Station. The clock designed the shell of the house, with its in the downstairs museum runs backwards. A magnificent Palladian facade facing Green display about Chung Ling Loo, the Chinese Park, and decorated the ground floor. But magician whose main trick was to catch bullets Spencer, a member of the Society of (he died when the trick went wrong), discloses Dilettanti, in 1758 replaced Vardy with James that he was not Chinese at all. Harry Houdini Stuart, who completed the decoration of the was born Erik Weisz, and the mock-up of the staircase hall and the upper floor. water tank in which he regularly immersed The organ at St George’s Church. Subsequently, Henry Holland worked on the himself suggests that there was no way he Back in Handel House, our guide told house for the second Earl. The most striking should have survived. us about the composer’s early days in room, nevertheless, is by Vardy – the ornately The Circle has been in existence since 1905 Italy and how he managed to charm and carved and gilded Palm Room. and now has 1500 members in 38 countries. impress wealthy patrons. In 1710 he was What makes Spencer House so remarkable Over the years the Circle has amassed thousands appointed Capellmeister to the Elector is the nature of its preservation. During the of original posters advertising magic shows, of Hanover, George Louis, who in 1714 last war, many fixtures and fittings were many displayed on the walls of the converted succeeded to the English throne as George I. moved for safety to Althorp. When Lord warehouse it has occupied since 1998. Other Handel followed him to London and in Rothschild, chairman of the company that exhibits celebrate the work of such household 1726 became a naturalised British citizen. acquired the lease in 1985, decided to restore names as Tommy Cooper and David Nixon. He lived at the Brook Street house for the state rooms to their original condition, he Yet if the 50 Friends who visited on a sunny 36 years and it was here that he composed had to commission new fireplaces, doors and April morning thought they were going to learn some of his greatest works, including the skirting boards from the original designs. So how the tricks were done, they would have been Messiah. Towards the end of the visit we the modern visitor sees Spencer House as the disappointed. The Circle’s Latin motto translates were joined by Bridget Cunningham, who Spencers would have seen it when they first as “Not apt to disclose secrets”. Yet our genial explained how Handel rehearsed with lived there; its paintwork fresh, its gilt hosts – Henry Lewis, Michael Alderman and artists and then played two pieces on glistening anew. It was built to impress and, Richard Saunders – performed baffling tricks for a reproduction harpsichord. as we discovered, it still does. us, ensuring that we all had a magical time.

6 Future visits Dogs, drugs and a brush with the law

Book for these late summer and autumn visits on the enclosed form.

KENWOOD HOUSE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL Hampstead, London NW3 PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY Tuesday 16 August, 2pm, £12 1 Lambeth High Street, London, SE1 Limit 50 places Tuesday 18 October, 1pm, £10 Set in the midst of Hampstead Heath, Limit 20 places Kenwood House is one of the most The museum, established in 1842, is a elegant stately homes in London. The must for anyone interested in the history villa, remodelled by Robert Adam in the of medicine. Its collection of around 45,000 eighteenthth century, houses a superb objects covers all aspects of pharmacy and collection of paintings, including works includes a magnificent collection of drug jars. by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Turner and Our group will see the current exhibition, Gainsborough, as well as the Suffolk Drugs for Pleasure, Drugs for Pain, exploring collection of Elizabethan portraits. We how controlled drugs have been used shall have a private guided tour, focusing throughout history: many now considered a on some of the most important paintings threat to society were initially believed to have and providing details of people who have no harmful side effects. The display explores lived in the house and shaped its history. how substances such as cocaine, cannabis, opium, morphine and heroin, were used Parliament Square, on the site of the former as treatments for a range of ailments, until belfry of Westminster Abbey. The guided knowledge about their addictive qualities tour will last about 50 minutes, involving a become more widely known. walk through each of the three courtrooms (if not in use) and to areas not usually accessible to the public, including the library. KELMSCOTT HOUSE (William Morris Society) 26 Upper Mall, Hammersmith, SOUTHWARK WALKABOUT London W6 Start at Southwark Cathedral, Saturday 22 October, 11am, £13 London SE1 Limit 15 places Monday 26 September, 2pm, £15 The house THE KENNEL CLUB Limit 40 places dates from 1-5 Clarges Street, Piccadilly, London W1 Following the popular visit to Southwark the 1780s Tuesday 23 August, 10.30am, £11 Cathedral in February (see opposite), the and is now Limit 25 places cathedral guides will escort us to Guy’s chiefly The club is Britain’s largest organisation Chapel – with the tomb of Thomas Guy, associated dedicated to the health and welfare of the hospital’s founder – and along Borough with the dogs. Founded in 1873, it offers dog High Street. Formerly known as Long Lane, designer owners an unparalleled source of this street was the medieval equivalent of and author information and advice on the welfare, Victoria Coach Station, with long-distance William health, training and breeding of their pets. coaches arriving and departing at the Morris, who Visitors will be briefed on all aspects of the numerous inns: one of them survives and, lived here club’s work and, on a guided tour, will from another, Chaucer’s pilgrims set out from 1878 spend time in the art gallery and library. for Canterbury. We shall visit the site of until his Refreshments will be served. Marshalsea Debtors’ Prison, where Charles death in Dickens’s father was an inmate and where 1896. He the heroine of his was not the only distinguished occupant: in THE SUPREME COURT Little Dorrit was 1816 Sir Francis Ronalds constructed the first Parliament Square, London SW1 born. Before the electric telegraph in the garden and in 1867 Wednesday 21 September, 2pm, £12 tour, Friends can the writer George MacDonald moved in: two Limit 25 places enjoy the free of his most popular childrens' books, At the In October 2009 the Supreme Court organ recital in the Back of the North Wind and The Princess replaced the Law Lords as the final court of cathedral, starting and the Goblin were written here. Friends appeal in Britain for civil cases. It also hears at 1.10pm. Tea will will see items from the collection that are criminal appeals from England, Wales and be served in the not usually on display, including textiles, Northern Ireland and rules on cases of cathedral complex wallpapers, original watercolours and public or constitutional importance. It after the walk and Portrait of Charles Dickens Kelmscott Press books. The garden will by Finden, after D Maclise, occupies an ornate Edwardian building, we shall leave at from The Life & Adventures be open as well, weather permitting. originally the Middlesex Guildhall, in about 4.30. of Nicholas Nickleby. Refreshments are included.

7 Win Stoppard tickets or a shop voucher

The sender of the first correct solution opened to this quarter’s crossword will win a pair of top-price tickets to the West End revival of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, his first major hit, originally performed at the National Theatre in 1967. The play will be at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, directed by Trevor Nunn and featuring Tim Curry as the Player. The tickets will be for Monday to Thursday performances, from 16 to 30 Send entries to the Friends’ office at the address below, marking June, excluding 21 June. The winner will be contacted by the the envelope “Crossword”. Include your name, address and theatre’s representative and asked to select the performance they telephone number and/or e-mail address, so that, if you win want to attend, subject to availability. There will be a second prize the tickets you can be contacted easily. of a £25 voucher to spend at the British Library shop. Closing date for entries: 9 June

Across 9 (with 10) Novel approach to knowledge in Library’s new show (7,7) 10 See 9 (7) 11 Shakespeare’s plot is blessed, and most of us are in it (7) 12 Prone to dissemble in descent (3,4) 13 Troops perform assignment with vigour (4,5) 15 Muddled retiree loses direction twice, but is a battler (5) 16 Mostly, 13 does this (7) 19 Feeling ill? Take these and 12 (7) 20 Island of Maugham’s lotus eater (5) 21 Appearing thus sends rude mixed signal (9) 25 Sketchy image (7) 26 Something amiss in their confusion, the monkeys (7) 28 Retainers at the zoo (7) 29 What Maggie had us do in '82 (7)

Down 1 Approval – but it sounds like quite a climb (6) 2 Gerbils lose right to mingle below decks (6) 3 American company has an article for southern emperor (4) 4 He genuflects, then goes on spree (6) 5 Can end up in 2 (8) 6 Current delicacy on board? I'll take it (10) 7 Stimulant soon going under the counter (8) 8 Nearness confuses and traps us (8) 14 Sporting body needs 100 figures of speech to make copies (10) Solution to spring puzzle: 16 Grand entrance renders nobleman even nobler (8) Across: 1 Tea party, 6 Egg cup, 10 Too, 12 Glisten, 13 Rumbled, 14 Ibsen, 17 Restaurateurs lose bottle and serve it in jugs (3,5) 15 Recession, 16 Caravanserai, 20 Quantitative easing, 23 Inflation, 18 The pest is slow to get ahead of the silent film star (8) 25 Nyala, 26 Ironing, 27 Tooting, 29 Owl, 30 Sikkim, 31 Tredegar. 22 A traveller told Shelley that two stone legs stood here (6) 23 Just a tick, nothing's moving in there! (6) Down: 1 Tigris, 2 Amidst, 3 Attendant, 4 Roe, 5 Toner cartridge, 7 Games, 24 Fast reindeer (6) 8 Colliers, 9 Pedantic, 11 Procrastinator, 17 Sevenfold, 18 Equities, 27 A short time before start of journey, Haig denies he's lost it (4) 19 Half cock, 21 Easing, 22 Banger, 24 Alibi, 28 Owe.

Winners of spring puzzle: Cyril Aydon of Banbury, Mr and Mrs Blackwood of Beckenham and Pete Brown of Northampton.

Members of the Council Council Members Vo lunteer Co-ordinator Jean-Anne Ashton Jean-Anne Ashton (ex-officio) T +44 (0)20 8964 2292 President Peter Barber Legal Advisor John Holroyd-Doveton The Marquess of Salisbury PC DL Dr Peter Beal Deputy Treasurer Alan Cushnir Vice-Presidents Dr Ruth Coman The Rt Hon the Lord Bragg of Wigton FRSL Nina Evans Friends of the British Library The Lord Jones of Birmingham Frances Hawkins The British Library The Rt Hon Frank Field MP Ed King 96 Euston Road The Rt Hon William Hague MP London NW1 2DB Sir Geoffrey Leigh FRSA Robert Kirton T +44 (0)20 7412 7734 Penelope Lively CBE FRSL Michael Leapman Prof Sir Andrew Motion FRSL Prof Kate McLuskie F +44 (0)20 7412 7017 Cdr Michael Saunders Watson CBE DL Dr David Shaw [email protected] The Rt Hon the Lord Steel of Aikwood KT KBE DL Paul Stevenson www.bl.uk/friends

Chairman The Lord Hameed of Hampstead CBE DL Officers Registered charity number 328095 Deputy Chairman Dr Christopher Wright OBE Membership Secretary Nichole Chapman Treasurer Graham Allatt FCA Editor Michael Leapman Secretary Stephanie Kenna Activities Co-ordinator Nina Evans

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