The Libraries at Calke Abbey by Mark Purcell and Nicola Thwaite Family Tree Richard Harpur = Jane Findern (d.1573) (d.1597)

Sir John Harpur = Isabella Sir Richard Harpur of Littleover of Swarkestone Pierrepont (d.1635) (d.1622) line ends 1754

Sir Richard Harpur of Hemington John Harpur of Breadsall Sir Henry Harpur 1st Bt = Barbara Faunt (1580/1–1649) (c.1579–1639) line ends 1622 John Harpur (d.1679) line ends 1679 buys Calke 1622

Sir John Harpur 2nd Bt (1616–69) Henry William (1619–95) Elizabeth Jane Dorothy Isabel Barbara Catherine = Susan West m. c.1640 m.1647 = Alice Coke (1621–73)

Sir John Harpur 3rd Bt Henry Richard Charles Edward Barbara Elizabeth Jane Suzanna Dorothy = John (c.1645–81) of Calke, (d. after 1680) m. 1684 (d.1713) Swarkestone and Breadsall = Anne Willoughby (b.1652) m.1674

Sir John Harpur 4th Bt Anne (1680–1741) rebuilds Calke Abbey 1701–4 = Borlase Warren of Stapleford = Catherine Crewe (1682–1745) m.1702

(1) Sir Henry Harpur 5th Bt = Lady Caroline John Edward Crewe Anne Jemima Catherine Mary (1708–48) rebuilds m.1734 Manners (d.1769) (d.1780) (1713–61) (d.1724) m.1718 (d.1740) = Sir Lester Holt = (2) Sir Robert = Sir Thomas Palmer = Sir Henry Gough, Bt Burdett (1716–97) m.1753

John Caroline Lucy Sir Henry (Harry) Harpur 6th Bt (1739–89) Charles (d. young) = Archibald Stewart = Lady Frances Greville (1741–70) (1744–1825) m.1762

Sir Henry Harpur 7th Bt = Nanette Hawkins (1765/6–1827) The ‘isolated baronet’ (1763–1819) adds portico 1806–8, changes surname to Crewe 1808

Frances Henry Louisa Sir George Crewe Selina (d.1838) Henrietta Charlotte Henry Robert Edmund Lewis Charles (b.1791) (d. at birth) Matilda 8th Bt (1795–1844) = William Stanhope (1799–1819) (1801–65) (1803–74) Hugh = Jane Whittaker Lovell (d.1859) = Frances Jenny = Caroline Need (1805–74) (1799–1881) m.1819 (d.1865)

Sir John Harpur = Georgiana Henrietta Isabel Jane George Evelyn Mary Richard Georgina Crewe 9th Bt Stanhope Lovell Frances (1830–1909) (1831–8) (1832–77) Adeline (1836–96) Frances (1824–86) m.1845 (1824–1910) (d.1829) (1834–1930) (1839–52)

Sir Vauncey Harpur Crewe 10th Bt (1846–1924) m.1876 Alice Georgiana Hugo = Isabel Adderley (1852–1932) (1847–1920) (1858–1905)

Hilda Ethelfreda (1877–1949) Winifred Isabel Richard Fynderne Airmyne Frances Caroline Julia (1887–1960) = Col. Godfrey Mosley (1863–1945) (b.1879) (1880–1921) Catherine = Arthur William Jenney (1866–1934) = Arthur Senior (1882–1958)

Charles Jenney, later Harpur-Crewe Airmyne Henry Jenney later Harpur-Crewe (1921–91) (1917–81) (1919–99) transfers Calke to the National Trust 1985 The Libraries at Calke Abbey by Mark Purcell and Nicola Thwaite

Contents

2 Note on Names 3 Preface 6 The Harpur-Crewes and their Library Introduction The Harpur-Crewes at Calke ‘Well-Stocked With Books in Every Department of Literature’ The Eighteenth Century Decline and Fall The End Might Have Beens The Books I 36 The Gardner Wilkinson Library Sir John Gardner Wilkinson and Egypt Later Career Sir John Gardner Wilkinson and Wales The Library The Books II 46 Suggestions for Further Reading 48 National Trust Libraries: Access and Issues have used thename‘Harpur-Crewe’. referring to thefamily, for sake of simplicity, we name which individuals themselves used, but when South-east viewCalkeofSouth-east Abbey, owner, used by his younger brother, Calke’s last private ‘Harpur-Crewe’ succeeded 12 years previously, adopt thesurname Hilda’s her to baronetcy became extinct and theestates passed Crewe Crewe, without a hyphen: for example, Sir John Harpur dopted in conjunction with their originalsurname, though owners continued to usethesurname Crewe, often the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Calke’s Steane), connection with thedormantbarony of Crewe of (and wanting to emphasise hisfamily’s distant the name was simply Harpur. In1808hisdescendant Harpur, Calke was built–or at least rebuilt –for Sir John Note onNames In thetext that follows, we have used theform of

his

7th husband

elder

10th

nephew Henry Bt, 9th

4th a

hoping

Bt daughter

Bt Baronet

C

Harpur-Crewe

(1824–86) ol. (1846–1924).

C

(with

harles

Godfr

the to

(1680–1741), be

Hilda surname a

ey hyphen), Jenne elevated

and

Mosley.

Mosley English

On

(1921–91). Sir y

‘Crewe’. (1917–81),

V

V to which auncey’s

when auncey

Only School,

(1877–1949) the

peerage

wa T the in

hroughout

who

Harpur

death 1961 s late

family also

had nineteenth

did and

the

attributed Sir John Harpur, 4thBt,

century

to

C harles

A gar

(1699–1723)

2 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 3 The Libraries at Calke Abbey by Sir George Crewe, 8thBt, and hisson John, ‘historical study of themaking and useof books’. broader context: inshort to embark on a full-scale and shouldstart to think about themin a much tasks of cataloguing books and editing their texts, scholars needed to go beyond thetraditional His central thesis was that librarians and literary and status:everything almost writtenbooks about and the Sociology of Texts,has acquired anear-cult lecture, subsequently published as Bibliography connection with Calke goes further. DonMcKenzie’s Wilde, Lenin and Karl Marx would all work. Butthe the the British Museum Library –noneother than outlined hisproposals for a new reading room for pamphlet Calke infactincluded a copy of a now very rare Though no-oneknew it at thetime,books at Victorian the British Library, named inhonour of thegreat (1931–99) same year thegreat book historian D.F. McKenzie The National Trust took over at Calke in1985. Inthe Preface

Ramsay

iconic libraries

librarian

published gave Round Richard

since

the

Reading

Reinagle Sir then

v

ery in

Anthon

1857,

has first

Room

(1775–1862)

been

in Panizzi y

which Panizzi

wher influenced

Lecture 9th Bt,

Panizzi e

(1797–1879).

Osc

1828, ar

a by

had

t

it.

1

homas by Sir HenryHarpur Crewe, 7thBt, aged 21, deliberately designed to tug ontheheart strings. ofthe Country House’ was asell-out, and was demolished almost every week. ‘The Destruction at a time when Englishcountry houses were being around derelict country houses with his Uncle Sid, who had acquired a youthful passion for snooping in Marcus ountry the exhibition were two architectural historians: Director Roy Strong, theother driving forces behind of staged a blockbuster exhibition, ‘The Destruction A (Cambridge: Murray, 1 British Museum:New Reading-Room(London: John and Libraries

decade

the the T

1980s) 1857); C

Binney

earlier C

Lawrence D.F. ambridge

and

McKenzie,

(a House’.

the

John key

Univ

(1769–1830) V

figure ictoria

ersity Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts

Harris, Fronted

Press,

in

&

a the

Alber

1999), by self-taught

rescue

the t

p.11.

Museum

V&A

of

’s

scholar C

alke

had

Voice fromtheHall Country House Petworth Christopher Rowell, Ian Warrell and David Blayney Brown, Turnerat 3 2 Hall was well received. Two years earlier another Upstairs, Downstairs had been running onLondon The results were notpublished until1980 (by then who had lived there, both above and below stairs. centuries, buthow Erddig had been used by those how thehouse and estate had evolved over many largely successful attempt to discover notonly on a meticulous study of theErddig archive, in a quarters,he and and Jackson-Stopsembarked that Trust visitors entered through theservants’ elevision Weekend had lived there. when Turner’s patron, the3rd Earlof Egremont, largely which was much admired at thetime,but which (and been completely reorganised by the art historian Sussex, thegreat picture collection had already as was instructed to doupthehouseto make itlook handed over to a Chelsea interior designer who Ireland was eliminated and theprincipal rooms ´50s. contents were ruthlessly clearly outinthelate Ireland, many of thehouse’s nineteenth-century Springhill, a seventeenth-century houseinNorthern often ere 1940s the Trust had taken over country housesinthe century country houseinnorth-east Wales. When future of Erddig, an equally decayed eighteenth- (1947–95) new architecturalhistorian Gervase Jackson-Stops 1970s on thethreshold of complete dissolution. a oncegreat house and estate seemingly poised the the was as a turning point, and within a decade ‘Heritage’ lost. Inretrospect theexhibition came to beseen visitors wept at theenormity of what had been photographs of dynamited mansions,many with itsbroken classical columns and ghostly Walking through the‘Hallof Destruction’

Roy Strong, Marcus Binney and John Harris,The Destruction of the Belfast, But other forces were at work. From theearly

if

National high

back

people

closet All

quite the and

ate, (London: Public obliterated

evidence points

in

T National

w hames 1950s, (London:

So interventionist

w fashion Record

T ere

T (London: rust’s viet

3 increasingly of But at Erddig Waterson saw to it

still

its

of

O

2002), T the spy) the

T ffice

with

a for rust’s gentry officials

cquisition living John

´80s

wa

of Anthon

nine p.12.

and a Northern

y Murray,

Merlin

v

in Petworth

in heritage

life engeance.

preoccupied

Hudson,

y and

their ears), it.

y

in

of

1998).

A Blunt,

Ireland,

their

W mid-Victorian t

C

appr

1974); Petworth,

aterson

but alke boom

had

staff One

D.3839/B.14; in

oach.

The Servants’ John

Abbe

with been a 2

wa

wa of w and

Harris,

ere

A

s

in y, y the

t

its

No

(London: 7 ale 6 5 Haven: Paul, 4 because thethen Chancellor of theExchequer, centuries. Butoneimmediately striking thing on the country houseinthenineteenth and twentieth chair cover told thestory of thedecline ofand fall every broken china pig, and every worn-out chintz a socialdocument, a house where every matchbox, for Calke became ever more consciousof its value as some years. been working ontheHarpur-Crewe archive for historian and editor of TheKing’s Works,had who from worth preserving. in s and onescepticeven wrote to The Times to say, had stopped’, noteveryone was entirely convinced, the publicclamour to save thehouse‘where time Blaby was in payment to theNational Heritage MemorialFund Nigel books about country housesever printed. and has remained oneof themost widely read found itselfcatapulted into thebestseller lists book, Life intheEnglish Country which House, had published an even more groundbreaking influential government that therulesneeded to beinterpreted and itscontents (and persuading Mrs alkeThatcher’s case, the he library was an artefact of great cultural value that Probably and rust’s Age did mentionclothes,uniforms, a pair of Bronze without breathing a word about them,thoughhe National to write a whole chapter on‘The Contents’ for the Colvin paused decaying furniture, almost no-oneseems to have given reading H.M. Colvin, TheSunday Times, 4March 1984. Merlin Waterson, TheSunday Times, 11March 1984.

The rescue of Calke was ultimately possible effect, his

did

C

1980); even also swords,

H.M.

the

Y Lawson, first to wa

not

(himself

National

to the

textiles,

the

T Univ that Mark he

urgent the

books

budget

probably think ar Calke Abbey, Derbyshire: A HiddenHouseRevealed even C

6

files

so olvin, chitectural

sundry ersity MP

And

house’s Gir C

T The Servants’ Hall (London:The Routledge Servants’ and Kegan wa

rust, much alke

a

ouard,

think about 1985 is

w necessity for

stuffed

great Press, s

5 certainly

in ent This provoked a sharprejoinder

the that

persuaded 1985),

helpful wa wr the March

coffee-table Life intheEnglish Country House(New V took

to

unmentioned. 1978). brilliant

ecked the

ictorian s book

despite

historian,

nearby pp.111–17.

full mention birds,

of

books. for

T a 1984

rust of

s collector) saving musical

w to granted

O

junk

pictures fire all constituency ell).

xford (the officials make

it; Amazingly Mark book the

extinguishers.

and

C But nonetheless,

And instruments, fact

alke

a

ar

that a managed

ttention

and Gir on wa

despite chitectural

one-off responsible

in that Abbe 4

ouard, s

C

a

an not alke

even historic of

y he

y

7

4 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 5 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Midlands alone, thegreat houses at Belton (acquired instruments and silver puttogether. IntheEast sculpture, furniture, bed linen,bicycles, clocks, musical there were more books ontheshelves thanpictures, tens of thousands of books. Insomeof thesehouses major country houses,between themcontaining the 1980s the Trust had acquired nofewer than11 went rather deeper thanthat. During thecourse of 19 November 2002. the ambridge D.F. McKenzie, drawing on work doneinFrance in (1913–74), by included a fascinating chapter onthem written House’ exhibition. Indeed thepublished catalogue ttention prominently in‘The Destructionof the Country seems rather surprising, as libraries had featured little simply to fall pieces, they attracted astonishingly that many of themore fragile volumes didnot went into tidying upthe Calke libraries and ensuring volumes). in excess of 8,500 titles(and many more physical trumped any other considerations. have with dviser Libraries 8 s dviser file the country in a shaky MorrisMinor fullof handwritten 1950s, buttheoldsystem of onemanscuttling around Libraries alke ever have contended with. The Trust had retained a avalanche of print was far more thanoneperson could on for 30,000 books between thethree of them. This in premature retirement in1991. dviser, with theseriousdrink problem which would force his colleagues, butby themid-1980s already battling clever and rather anarchic manmuchliked by his Libraries well as thepersonal problems of the Trust’s then compounded by thesheer scale of thelibraries, as the newgeneration of architecturalhistorians at around work being undertaken incountry housesby the Book’. The subject had muchincommon with the with a new academic discipline,‘The History of the

Nicolas

In 1984),

the

cards same ´50s

fact

a a the

little C

A Barker,

and C the A endowment

wa A time.

But while

flexibility

Abbe

´60s,

‘Obituary: simply to

despite (1985) a

A the

t by

t

to

the John

y

C

w librarian National

the catalogue contains alke,

ere overwhelmed

and time.

so

John it

the

Fuggles mid-1980s

needed making that

perhaps,

Kedleston

T Fuggles: enormous

rust’,

On A.N.L

the two 8

Butinfacttheproblem its

the

(1949–2002), The Independent,

to great

books Eccentric National

. libraries

(‘Tim’) the scholars face run b

(1986) y

effort

e strides

problem the

vents. ever of

and

Munby

with

T it,

place) had

rust which such

Upr

since this

forward a

w oarious getting wa

could

ell

a

the s s

document. This isour attempt to tell their story for last 300 years of that story they are a remarkable not go back to theNorman Conquest, butfor the a history of landed estates. The Calke books may Norman Conquest to theFirst World War islargely e Calke in1985, thehistory of rural Englandfrom the astutely observed inhisgroundbreaking study of bods would simply have soldup. Butin a sensetheodd against all theodds: a more conventional family eccentricity which kept thehouse and estate going dynasty of hereditary eccentrics, and it was this very have becomeover famous thelast 30 years as a owners, theHarpurs, Crewes and Harpur-Crewes or choosing theupholstery: all life isthere. Calke’s saying your prayers, learning Latin, catching rats, travel, improving theestate, suing theneighbours, novels, big-game hunting, spiritual anguish, exotic a great estate over very nearly 300 years. Music, more nor lessthan a complete socialhistory of but collectively the Calke books provide neither rust Harpur-Crewes’ little corner of southDerbyshire, ‘text’ were probably never muchin vogue inthe back when these –far more –than anyone mighthave guessed for their texts. Inpointof factthere are more of the digital library, people mightstill wish to read books which even inthe age of ‘Google Books’ and substantial numbers of rare and unusualbooks – Of the

course

first

in

ar the

the

time.

just

T the

1980s.

part

two

first

of W libraries

became

ords the

story.

like

a

t involved

‘sociology’ C

A alke s

Sir

do

Howard a

t contain

C

or alke

even

C

olvin

(London: 9 behind-the-scenes stores (a survey carried outin some of themseen by visitors, and many others in Harpur-Crewe books scattered all over thehouse, varied, and all in all Calke ranks notonly as oneof main 2001 take stillmore books in1841. Isaacs Stevens, who heightened thebookcases to 1805, and enlarged by theDerby architect Henry originally designed by William Wilkins theElder in of thecollection isshelved together intheLibrary,ere aris nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The core books inthetwo libraries date from theeighteenth, 8,500 vellum the earliest an illuminated Book of Hours printed on Calke, there are over 8,500 of theminthehouse, Though books have never been centre-stage at The Library Introduction and their Library The Harpur-Crewes H.M. Colvin,

family came

w

in National

P

Calke Abbey, Derbyshire: A HiddenHouseRevealed

up

printed collection).

T

with in rust,

ar

1985),

ound the before

figure

T p.110.

150 hese

1700, 5. 9

Butthere are infact of

ar Only

e 6,947 and

extraordinarily

about

most

books

150 of

in the

o

the f

the

between them and those who owned and read them. real interest comesfrom thesenseof interaction fascinating, quirky and indeed beautiful books, their years. Though the Calke libraries contain many of successive generations over very nearly 300 possible to plotthetastes, interests and peculiarities today gives their library its special interest, sinceitis at thetimethat they were issued. Itisthis which the family simply boughtnew or nearly-new books ultimately that was never really thepoint. one of the wealthiest housesinDerbyshire, but money was never an issuein what was historically collectors have been prone to accumulate. books, or any of thethings that British book (books but are capable of turning up somereal surprises. and is that bothsets of books have ended up at Calke, Crewe Library. Infact all itreally has incommon collection, ithas little incommon with theHarpur- and in Customs of the Ancient Egyptians scholar –thebest-selling author of and Manners library appearance, initsday this was thepersonal research Wilkinson Library. Despite its apparently chaotic but mostof what itdoes own are inthe Gardner he and printed 1875. and distinct Gardner Wilkinson Library, inherited in about War pamphlets, Renaissance books, incunables medieval manuscripts,or Jacobean drama, Civil or rarity. No-one at Calke ever collected selected oncriteria based on age, importance who systematically set outto acquire books a book collector inthesenseof someone Kedleston, Calke has never really produced nearby housessuch as Chatsworth, Belton or interesting libraries. However, by contrast with the National Trust’s largest, but also oneof themost

ddition In Generally speaking, successive generations of There are certainly grand books ontheshelves, and Egyptology,

all both not a

T

another

of manner

printed

in many

a National not

Sar

great

to ajevo, only

more but

1,570

of

before the

(if

sometimes

reflect T in

now

rust

6,947 Dubrovnik in in

books

C the 1501),

optic mostly does

the family

completely

on

colour-plate

lives

exotic not or

antiquities, and

forgotten) (1841)

O books,

own of ttoman

Ale

subjects.

their

– separate xandria, many

there rich

owners,

T V languages urkish, ictorian

not books

A ar

s e

a just

6 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 7 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Ruins, &c. throughoutthe Tour Cumberland, with Minute Descriptionsof thePrincipal Seats, Castles, of Scotland. Including Excursions to thelakes of Westmorland and ayte, . (London: 12 Zouch: 11 [1788], 10 was a favoured hauntfor early tourists, and Lizzie and thehouseisnot a shew-house’. ‘there isnoostentatious display of works of art, and ‘noblesaloon’ inside,thoughhe added that or superb oldmansion’, and praising the‘good rooms’ was a little more enthusiastic, describing it as ‘a A house itself was ‘a spacious, handsomebuilding’. of thesurrounding setting’, butconceded that the secluded setting’, which hefelt ‘excludes the view de-la-Zouch also commented onthehouse’s ‘rather slightly ancient, butin a low situation’. house was ‘a large pileof a building, not very (1762–1802) reactions. Early visitors to Calke were fairly mixed intheir TheHarpur-Crewes at Calke alke when minute hospitality. Melbourne Hallsaved theday and dispensed last- ely fortunately thepublic-spirited owners of nearby and was abruptly refused admittance by thereclusive a rare private coach party to visit Calke, hisgroup was former history objects’. of theextensive and beautiful collection of natural house where they ‘enjoyed greatly an inspection rather to their surprisethey were invited into the 21-year-old the town’s respects onthemajority of Sir John’s called an did a favoured few get in.In1868,for example, house, Ticknall who had never seen theoutsideof the people who had lived all their lives inneighbouring trail. Even inthetwentieth century there were or nearby Kedleston, Calke was notonthetourist into in PridePrejudice and , before unexpectedly running were Bennet A Descriptive and Historical Guide to Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Stebbing Shaw, Sir

visit

official

Richard

unpredictable absolut Mr

taken

p.27. T

C on

let

Horatio W Harpur-Crewe and later Darcy.

who

Sir

Philips, deputation alone In

ar

heir Uncle first

wa John

guide 1787

1831),

ound came A Tour in1787 fromLondon, to the Western Highlands Philips,

But mortified s

A Personal Tour throughthe United Kingdom 13

V gone

opened thoroughly

But as recently as the1960s the

auncey

the p.150.

Harpur

and

14 C to

unlike

Pemberley three 1828),

harles A

historian the

from

inside.

(London: a large A gent unt

II, in

when Harpur

y delights Pemberley, Cr

ears p.93.

Harpur-Crewe the nearby

part

ewe Gar

C underwhelmed. Only

Printed

hristopher by

10 S 1980s having earlier, diner,

tebbing The editor of a

(1824–86) of Cr

the

of v

Melbourne ewe.

the ery for 12

nearby

Derbyshire housekeeper or wa

of arr L.

in

occasionally excitement

C

Davis,

s Perhaps

Sha

course, 1828,

anged Preston

(Ashby-de-la- hatsworth, simply (1917–81);

to

A w

T

shby-

pay

he

for

11

taken muchpart inpublic matters’. Sir John’s son newspaper noted that he‘had notfor many years he died, a carefully worded obituary inthelocal in agricultural improvement thaninpeople. When orge Crewe approved of. By contrast hisson Sir John Harpur Sir On sin’ with her and fathered children outof wedlock. married a lady’s maid,or that hehad openly lived ‘in to think was more disgraceful: that Sir Henry had One his Wife’, theformer lady’s maidNanette Hawkins. would as ‘the isolated baronet’, ‘a jealous little’ man who his Headmaster of Repton School, privately mocked character’, buttheRev. William Bagshaw Stevens, was‘possessedof a veryexcellent amiableand Sir An Life England which had never been written upinCountry it was practically theonly major country housein only had itbeen virtually inaccessible to visitors, but that hardly anyone had ever seen thehouse.Not gamekeeper collection his time at home at Calke with hisgun, vast Vauncey shby,was clearly failing to meet hissocialobligations. Jubilee a coupleof weeks later, Calke’s new owner county face surrounding countryside, and by failing to show his ictorian to A alreadybecoming amisanthrope andarecluse. read from attending’, many readers would correctly have dramatic Crewe were among thepatrons’ of a local amateur readers when Vauncey WilliamBagshaw Stevens J. 15 14 13 Abbey and theHarpur-Crewes

Leslie John Cox,Leslie John Derby, 1 Mercury January 1868.

James

Drewry, Reactions to Calke’s owners were similarly mixed. V

show

John Ge ticle eighteenth-century great-grandson the (the

senses in between

in

Pilkington,

‘not

(1824–86)

A

other meeting

that

1789), the

a first Harpur

may (1846–1924) production

benevolent of

Cr

suffer landowner

that

spring

‘Sir A p.80;

ar stuffed

hand, ewe

Over theHillsto Calke: 150 Years of Memoriesof Calke indeed

the gathos and

A Review of thePresent State of Derbyshire(Derby:

(1680–1741), to V contemporaries

W

wa

an auncey lines. (1795–1844),

larendon

(Oxford: – illiam

mark of

Sir the came y

s more

birds

have

in

(Derby: Man, wa Pegg, 1887 notoriously interest

Henry wa

Bagshaw commentator son Sir A

s Que

shby,

Harpur C

s,

out

more

and preferred

pointedly

the V

Friend Breedon but of of auncey,

en the

Harpur

only

in ‘the

course, S animals

Derby told Mercury its ‘but wa

tevens, in V reclusive

the rebuilder Cr did ictoria’s

Press, s more doing

or Books,

in isolated

ewe generally w

to

a

– a

Ser not

1983). (1763–1819)

ere The Journal ofThe Journal t ffairs thought

missing expected

and 1965), just spend

interested

1989), and vant so

prevented know

still, Golden

of

his of 41, he

baronet’, p.42.

Lady

p.114. C

to

all

the and

wa

the that alke, wha

see

s

15

t

17 16 CalkeDerbyshire, Abbey,South impression of thehouse(then stillknown as ‘Calke Stephen Glover’spublished accountgives a very vivid time and money doing up Calke, and thehistorian ‘the isolated baronet’, had spent a great deal of in 1819. Despite hisoddbehaviour, George’s father, had unexpectedly succeeded to the Calke estates from 1829, a decade after the24-year-old Sir George one which mentionsthelibrary in any detail –dates most detailed descriptionsof Calke – and theonly Hall’ seriously. as oneof the wealthiest meninDerbyshire extremely depressing ewe spiritual diariesmake fascinating ifsometimes rather of hisown unworthiness inthefaceof theLord (his Evangelical sense whowasa wrackedand guilt with George reclusiveness The great exception to thefamily tradition of ofDepartment Literature’ ‘Well-Stocked With inEvery Books decline had begun. the cataclysm of theFirst World War. Calke’s long contract which would soonbebroken for ever by contract between landowners and their tenants, a was breaking therulesof theunwritten social Sir George Crewe, Derby Mercury are 29 feet 9inchesby 20feet 3inches. This the drawing room, thedimensionsof which and other natural curiosities. To therightis an abundance of well arranged fossils, shells dorned by eminent artists, and thelatter containing former presenting numerous family portraits richly 31 in width, and 29 feet inheight. The saloon is principal apartments, and is46feet inlength, The hallor saloon communicates with the which issupported by four Ioniccolumns. of steps lead to theportico, thepediment of In quadrangular court: itislarge and elegant. The

rather the

house

Cr

a centre 17 Itisprobably no accident that oneof the

reading), than ,

3

wa is

March

(1795–1844).

Extracts fromthe Journals of Sir George Crewe of built of

s C

with Sir

alke the

16 1886;

but of V

south auncey’s 1815–34 paintings, Abbe

fine

16

he

February

freestone, Sir took

y)

front, (Cromford:

in

Ge grandfather

cabinets, his its

1887; orge

two

brief responsibilities

Sc

2 round

wa

flights March arthin,

heyday: s

&c.,

a

Sir

1887. pious a 1995).

the

Mozley, 18 alke the way One al County example, to household servants mighthave been allowed access ery neighbours from gentry backgrounds, and even senior survive which imply that agents, chaplains,friendly Only changed the books incountry-house libraries, and how this and thequestionof who precisely was allowed to use were a shared resource as well ismore problematic, the mostimportant of these. Whether thebooks few shared spaces, and again theLibraryof one was have been 100 years earlier. There were comparatively a seriesof self-contained apartments, just as it would even room inthehouse after the Saloon. The second isthat that theLibrary was and isthesecond largest family true today, thoughitisusefulto bereminded of it–is StephenGlover,

ancestr room,nursery, servants’ and apartments. apartments, seven smaller singlerooms, school- second storey, consisting of four suites of family The extensivepassages spacious and anti-rooms. contains handsomechambers connected by various other apartments. The upper storey consist of theprivate room of Sir George, and ewe, paintings by theoldmasters. The lower rooms 6 inches.Inthiselegant apartment are some Lady Adjoining with works inevery department of literature. length and 19feet in width. Itis well-stocked front. of thesaloon, and with itoccupy thesouthern feet. These rooms are exactly halftheheight is thebreakfast room, which is33 feet by 28 Chinese pagoda carved inivory. To theleft t; vases of exquisite workmanship, and a costly of are adorned with landscapes and otherand worksarelandscapesadorned with spacious room iselegantly furnished: the walls

C

that

of

in v ar

1829),

principal the

the

Down Cr

On

it and

and

a library occasionally

clarifies most Dublin

1820s II,

shelves.

the

the

developed pp.187–8. the

The History of the County of Derby (Derby: Henry in

which

east bedchambers, in interesting library 1774

C sideboards

clergyman

its two alke

A

is

to

heyday. t

is do

the

rather C wa

is

be 17 over astle

little the

s

feet library, incumbent

things still

ar wa time,

T sitting-room important W

scraps he e

9 &c. eff s ard

ornamented

inches

enticed

first ectively

about 44

is ar

in

a

e of feet

Ireland, –

difficult of upon

by which evidence

facts

all

the north

divide in

of 17 this 18

the

estate

feet about with

for is one.

is to

d still

the

int

o

8 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 9 The Libraries at Calke Abbey pp.92–4. of England 20 Annual Trust Libraries in Wales’, National Trust Historic Houses& Collections 19 22 (Sheffield: 21 pp.1–2. Houses Law as to itsPrinciple and Practice Swarkestone to usethelibrary. have riddenover to Calke from hishouse at nearby precisely thesort of trusted retainer who might But Calke was a large estate, and theHarpur-Crewes never have dreamed of bothering to write itdown. so muchtaken for granted that mostowners would of-the-ordinary, or a way of doing things which was borrowing weresomethingnotingout- whichwas fleeting course, isthat we donotreally know whether these subscription of a penny a month. The problem, of books ‘every Thursday at three o’clock’ and paid a Library’ to thisday with theticket of the‘Calke Lending at library orke’s the Mrs the whence of a decent horse and ‘a key to a large library from church of Ballyculter with thepromise of theloan suite which belonged to Sir George’s and ancient example, there were Bibles and prayer books inthe the personal books of theoccupants. In1821,for bookcases and books, mostof thempresumably subsidiarythe apartments at Calkecontained also that many landowners choseself-indulgence. Self-Indulgence and Self-Denial’, deploring thefact orge, Evangelical in print as ‘oppressive and unjust’. Inline with his Sir took his own right, owning 490 acres at nearby Dishley employer’s estates, and was an improving landlord in took an intelligent interest intheprogress of his was regarded by hisneighbours to be a gentleman, learning and education. Nomere employee, he George’s agent William Smith was a manof some is that we donotknow butthefactthat there is Were similar things happening at Calke? The truth railway, coal mining and limekilns. century a substantial industrialsettlement, with a the inhabitants of Ticknall, intheearly nineteenth contrast, he and his wife funded a pair of schoolsfor Samuel Bagshaw, Samuel

Sir George Crewe, Mark Sir s ell As

least

Ge

borrowers; library Richard Y

w a

(Swindon: (2011), Purcell,

paternalistic borrowers’

one

harles references is Printed I (London:

a might

highly Phillips, had

pp.12–19

beliefs for lady’s The Big HouseLibrary in inIreland:Books Ulster Country the book

National for

a example, more History, Gazetteer and Directory of Derbyshire

books C select A Word for thePoor, and Against thePresent Poor

borrowers’ A Personal Tour throughthe United Kingdom,II, suggestive. the

in

maid,

books (p.18).

he to

interest A the

T than

uthor, saw country-house

rust,

Knight, an in

C Betty

a y a the .

alke (Derby:

ttacked

life 2011),

t a book 1846),

T

century in

book

1840), yntesfield, Readers main

a

Radcliffe, library their

s p.34;

pp.270–1; W I a

pleased’.

p.60. in ‘struggle

the Rowbotham, library, 21

Mark staff

In additionIn Sir later the

(Calke books could

1834

in

The Journey-Book Purcell, wa

1770s, and

there

many Somer

A s

Poor between

sign

and 5.a.21) t among

tenants. 1843),

20

Erddig ‘National

and wa By By

of out Law set.

s 22

a :

19

(‘Miscellaneous’, ‘Divinity’, ‘Medicine, Surgery and was well-organised, in1819 arranged by subject era was already extremely varied, and theLibrary brandy after dinner, or was there simply nowhere else (were thesereally for sociablereading over cigars and still more bookcases in Sir George’s Billiard Room novels and travel books intheDrawing Room, and had spread stillfurther, and there were fashionable publications, notably a pamphlet onthereform of architect William Wilkins theElder in1805. Hisown created for hisfather, ‘the isolated baronet’, by the in theelegant Neo-classical Library which had been the time, probably they were thelatter. matter ere. employers pious and improving books chosenby theservants’ century no-one else wanted (as at Cragside, a late nineteenth- what Servants’ Hall,thoughunfortunately we donotknow More intriguingly still,there were 19books inthe to ommon doubt used for thehouseholdprayers. a private study. In addition there was another Bible and and a pair of painted bookcases in Sir George’s own bookcases inLady Crewe’s bedroom and sitting-room, godly Davies inthe second decade of the nineteenth have split across 23bookcases, much as today. Chemistry’, Isabel Jane. Godwin up all nightthere while thefamily’s accoucheur Mr 1830, for example, the35-year-old Sir George waited Library Georgeas waswell-read high-minded. Thehe was as but father was notconventionally well-educated (hiseccentric Sir Henry Harpur, ‘the isolated baronet’, seems to these books were nodoubtpurchased inLondon: 26 25 Richard 24 23 servants’library at Cragside.’

Extracts fromthe Journals of Sir George Crewe Felicity Stimpson, ‘Servants’ reading: an examination of the

Book Matlock, Matlock, The range of books ontheshelves in Sir George’s Sir George himselfclearly spent a good deal of time

put

Game had

preferred they

grandmother had Phillips, them?),

for of could

industrialist’s prevented supervised

Derbyshire Derbyshire

C

Laws

w speculation; packed (as 25

‘Latin,

A Personal Tour throughthe United Kingdom, II,p.93.

also

a

and the t

published

Whe Felbrigg

Record

Record be

him Gr fashionable him in

the Prayer

Lady

ther called eek

a house

off school

a from Library History

difficult

O O t

&c’, in

ffice, ffice, they

C to Frances in

in

alke on Norfolk)

in 1834,

going a

the

D2375/296/8/8. 2375M/272/3.

‘French’,

room

w

private for Northumberland) bookseller

birth in ere

Entrance

other

Sir

suggests

19.1 Harpur to 24

;

cast-offs

on pp.68–9. must

of Ge

(2003), university) tutor 23

‘Italian’),

the By 1845 books

his purposes; orge

26

C

remain Hall,

(d.1825), Some of of Some

first daughter adell that

in pp.3–12;

that Cr

Suff

no floor. ewe’s

all

if Sir

& or

a olk,

he

in

Sir

30 p.87, 29 28 27 be proved from booksellers’ and binders’ tickets in been boughtnearer to home.Now and again thiscan often, however, Harpur-Crewe books seem to have and even soldmusic and musical instruments. and national newspapers, ran circulating libraries, them soldbooks and stationery, supplied local there were three booksellers in1831, who between a coupleof bookshops. librarian’ andagood collectionoffossils, as well as ‘very thriving’ subscriptionlibrary, with ‘an intelligent to Loughborough in1828noted theexistence of a were ‘numerous and opulent’. Notfar away, a visitor wealthy and recently industrialised, ‘book buyers’ right, while inthesurrounding county of Derbyshire, Derby Mercury, were also publishers intheir own the Drewry family, who ran thelocal newspaper, booksellers’ at that time. Several of them,including In Derby itselfthere were half a dozen ‘active the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. there was noshortage of bookshops inthe area in leaving no written record of thetransaction. Certainly the purchasers paying cash inhand, and consequently purchases would have been made inthe actual shops, archive seems puzzling, butprobably many everyday receipts from local booksellers inthe very large Calke At local channelsfailedto comeup with thegoods. firm bookseller’, perhapsto make itclear to theLondon in 1818, Sir Henry mentioned ‘Mr Drewry hisDerby books, issues of works hehad subscribed to were late. about books published inparts when theindividual the Magazine and newspapers or from periodicals like The Gentleman’s abreast with current publications –presumably from Pompeii) description of the wonders of Herculaneum and fromSir WilliamGell’s century, writing to themto demandeverything the favourite myths of bothcountry-house visitors was true.Books ‘boughtby the yard’ are oneof never read, butitisquite clear that theopposite books were boughtmostly for show, and were spines in a houselike Calke to assume that the

A Descriptive and Historical Guide to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, p.150. Matlock, Sir Matlock, It is all too easy onseeing therows of gilded

first

Richard 125.

that

but sight

Derbyshire Derbyshire

their through

Philips,

in

the

fact

services

A Personal Tour throughthe United Kingdom, II, comparative

Record Record Quarterly Review, grumbled and when to

novels. Pompeiana (a best-selling

w 29

O O writing ere shby-de-la-Zouch, t ffice, ffice, A

A He only

D384/B7, D384/N/12.

absence

to also

required

C

adell clearly

B9,

of

B10,

& bills

when

kept Davies D12–13.

and 30 27

More

28

(London: 33 32 31 to itsPrinciple and Practice. read, with Sir George quoting thephilosopher and His only gradually by sensory experience of the world. began thinkers, in which Locke argued that humanbeingsalke Understanding, an important book for Enlightenment t also reading John Locke’s Essay ConcerningHuman still the recently published six-volume edition which is Canterbury excellent for example, henoted hehad ‘read today a very he also mentioned hisreading inhisdiary. In1815, are more numerous still, and from timeto time totime. Sir George Crewe’snotes inscriptions and Vauncey of positive evidence of use.Even thereclusive Sir of thefamily. Inthesecond place we have plenty but were intheprivate rooms of various members the Calke books were notkept inthemainLibrary, house. In any case an appreciable proportion of simple reason that few outsiders ever got into the for reasons of conspicuousconsumptionfor the most unlikely to have wanted books for show or first medieval descended back more than a century earlier. The Harpurs were this was notthebeginning. For that we mustgo The present Library at Calke dates from 1805, but TheEighteenth Century books: on-site. s month, and this was not boughtin,butbrewed something between 216 and 300gallons of ale each back well-stocked libraries inthe area, all thispointsto the value of a And various legal works, among several other texts. economist the word ‘myth’ isexactly theright word. Inthe and country-house guides,butfor themostpart

Crewe, Matlock, Pamela

published

a

place,

despite a

C with

A Word for thePoor, and Against thePresent Poor Law both as self-sufficiency

Sambr Hambledon 33 1739

Derbyshire

liked What was true of beer was equally trueof manor sermon’

the A

from their T

ook, dam the

today. the library homas

w to

majority

orks

Country HouseBrewing inEngland,1500–1900

existence house

household Press, minds the scribble

Record Smith

by

A

in

Se confirm

Harpurs t

the 1996),

about a

wa cker O

near

a

of (1723–90), big ffice,

former blank in s

C

of p.194. important.

(1693–1768), a the country alke’s

W

D2375/40/1–14.

the

t that reading of

alsall C

canvas,

margins alke

Rushall,

Ar same

he owners chbishop

the in

house. got wa

clubs

S

time

to Bible taffordshire. s

from a through

perhaps w

ar be fortified

ell-

and

A e he

of

and filled s

time

far wa 32

s in

31

10 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 11 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Great Britain: A Listof Books. Supplement (London:Surviving Royal Historical Historical 34 Lampeter hands houses at theDissolution and are today inthe monastic houses which were converted into country monastic libraries. Several even survive from though by contrast, books dosurvive from many its Calke would have owned books at somepointin it is a reasonable assumption themonastery at than time the had acquired abaronetcy, moved and to Calke, the endof thecentury, theDerbyshire Harpurs the remains of their great housestillsurvive. By River Trent a few milesnorth of Ticknall, where had settled at Swarkestone, onthebanks of the By theseventeenth century a branch of thefamily with oneof her children, The Hon. Catherine Crewe, wife of Sir John Harpur, 4thBt, the factisnotimmediately obvious. some of these are still at Calke today, thoughifso at Swarkestone, and there is an outsidechancethat today). manuscripts survive, oneof which isstill at Lacock (at N.R. Ker, MedievalLibraries of Great Britain (2ndedn. London: Royal

history. Hereford

site

of a

of dependency 34

Socie Socie the of

Probably, the

Univ

a If

Dissolution,

ty, ty, former

C it National

1987), 1964),

athedral) ersity did,

p.51. too,

pp.28, none A of

and harles by ugustinian

T nearby

rust:

C

the

and C

107.

has in alke

T

Harpurs

N.R.

Lacock

Nostell oronto), ever

Repton

Priory

Jer

Ker,

Priory.

come vas MedievalLibraries of

Abbe Priory owned

wa

C Priory, ( c.

anons A

s 1675–1739) to

t no y

the

light; (now (two

books

more but

A

shby

a t

covers musthave struck a surprisingly up-to-date apparent aura of shabby comfort, theglobesintheir and ‘two globes with leathern cases’. Despite the a pair of tables and –more surprisingly –‘a spinitt’ matted which also contained ‘an oldelbow chair’, and ‘6old Study, a plainbutcomfortable-sounding room, locations, with ‘a large deal bookcase’ in Sir John’s space, thesebooks were splitbetween at least two Rather thanbeing shelved together inonegrand alke; by at there seem to have been a decent number of books descendants. are stillhiddenunderneath thebookplates of their bookplates belonging to Sir William and his wife nineteenth centuries, and in all probability country-house libraries intheeighteenth and rather oddhabit was surprisingly commonin bookplates of their predecessors. This apparently Calke to paste their own bookplates ontop of the atherine to have been customary for successive owners of e many may stillbeontheshelves today. Itseems fact thecoupleowned more books thanthis, and his and about thesame number which had belonged to 4th Calke which clearly belonged to Sir John Harpur, On the London intheshort interval between thetaking of bookcases which had migrated from Derbyshire to pieces of furniture were actually a singlepair of possibility isthat theseremarkably similar-sounding the wallnutttree chestof drawers with book cases on case with glass doors and brass mouldings’ and ‘a Square, where there was ‘a small wallnuttree book bookcases in Sir John’s London housein St James’s of furniture may have gone with another pair of glazed doors. Itrather sounds as ifthesetwo pieces atop a set of chest-of-drawers, oneof them with Room had two ‘wallnuttree’ bookcases, each set Revolution. In addition thenearby Red Dressing study note 36 (November Bookplates 35

Peter Matlock,

C

later

wif

the two top Bt

in

Hoare, of

(1680–1741),

other Sir

chairs’, with standards, C

inventories:

Derbyshire

a and 2002), not,

man John’

‘The

Ob a

35

hand perhaps,

glass fuscation

pp.225–34.

Perils By brought a s

looking y Record

the

outh: Cr

but

there

the of and

w ewe

Provenance:

time e a

t not an O

builder

cannot

up Belton brass

a

ffice, ar

glass, (1684–1745).

fitting enormous

e insignificant during of

a D2375/294/8/5.

House’, t Sir mouldings’.

of

least fire-irons be Serial

a John’

the dornment

the sure). Library History, 18,3

O

14 collection

wnership, present

Scientific s Probably

books

death either. 36

and It is not Itisnot

(Another

for

shovel,

a house, in

t

in the

1741

39 38 37 stand upon a claw’ and ‘a wainscot reading desk fact that rooms inthehousecontained ‘a reading draw many conclusions about how thebooks catalogue Calke, described indetail in a recently discovered unlikely that books were justboughtfor show. that itmightbe. a normal activity –or at least that it was assumed upon less reading, was for many thenorm. in a culture when fewer books, butnotnecessarily guidebook ‘little usefor books’ as an early National Trust houses inDerbyshire: notthat theHarpurs had quite modeststock of books inoneof thelargest provide a plausibleexplanation as to the apparently through a large range of them. This, initself, would least, (including, obviously, theBible, and for men at and inwardly digesting a smallnumber of key texts people moved from reading, marking, learning ‘intensive’ and ‘extensive’ reading, when many books at thetail endof a long transition between the eighteenth century, theHarpurs were buying alke deal of explanation. Living intheearly years of at of the Calke library. works was regarded as oneof thegreat treasures as (1672–1719). of t college in Cambridge, and that hehad been a pupil before there as a 16-year-old boy in1696, justseven years studied remembering that Sir John Harpur had actually connections seem too itisperhaps fanciful, worth College, Cambridge. Ifthesesmart metropolitan for which themselves closely resemble theset made Blathwayt those which belonged to thecivilservant William have looked like. They soundremarkably similar to difficult

Calke Abbey,Derbyshire

Matlock, Matlock, The comparatively modestnumber of books t By

C the stolen,

the

1748,

a the

influential

Pepys pillar diarist

a to Derbyshire Derbyshire in

classics),

an

compiled a

Magdalen (1649?–1717) the visualise suggested,

A & an

inscribed bequeathed

s

Samuel

early claw’

y late 39

rate, Record Record poet y t A

rather (London:

37 a wha

in 1740s

rather

an s

C

there

but

that

Pepys,

and 1889, O ollege, O copy

a ffice, ffice, t

event, t

than

these

does National his that

Dyrham

essayist y implies

wa

D2375/272/4. ear. D2375/296/8/6, when of

now library

O reading

s

they

A

not

a xford, bookcases

a It ddison’s

gain T

library

rust,

it a is

that

Park, Joseph

need t

w

38

wa

difficult to

Magdalene

it ere Indeed, the 1990),

arriving extensively

s reading seems his

fol.

of

reported bookcases a

operating complete

great

p.55. A may 5v, old sorts

ddison to

23v.

wa

a

t s

41 40 fter effects may have taken away someof Sir John’s personal (1716–97), widow and her new husband, Sir Robert Burdett after the5thbaronet’s death, as itseems that his that someof thesebooks may justhave left Calke considerable format), recorded drawer’ (which may, indeed, haveanged: been oneof those with Clossett’ described in an inventory of that year, were Sir HenryHarpur, 5thBt, generations, as they are stillontheshelves today. least didremain at Calke and passed to subsequent seems clear that several dozen Harpur books at is confused, and however things turned out, it in total (88folios, 163quartos and 108insmaller

Matlock, Matlock,

its arr

a

‘walnutrie

Derbyshire Derbyshire and

back

the

their

their sum.

owner in

quite

Record

1741). Record marriage

total book T he

of possibly anderbank by 40

O a

O v

nearby John Butthere were 399 books vailable caise, ffice, ffice, alue

in

D5054/16/2.

D2375/296/8/6,

V

came

1753.

in with

Foremarke

evidence the 41

to sash Butthepicture

‘Studdy

£169

doors

fol. (1694–1739)

suggests

Hall,

15 21v.

& , a s 5d,

&

12 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 13 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 42 metropolitan world. operated onthefringes of a surprisingly fashionable words Sir Henry, despite his apparent isolation, Greek vases, andaofstudent volcanoes, and at the Court of Naples,famous as a collector of William Paddington collection of minerals, which hekept inhishouse Horticultural Society, and theowner of a renowned Fellow of theRoyal Society, co-founder of theRoyal botanist Greville Warwick. Belvoir Castle, and thenephew of the2ndEarlof a great-nephew of the3rd Duke of Rutland, of but respectable. Buthe was also well connected: maid seemed to contemporaries to be anything polite company, and hismarriage to a lady’s Harpur, assumed. The 5thBaronet’s grandson, Sir Henry have been lessisolated thanhas sometimes been Despite appearances,eighteenth-century Calkemay and background and entertainments were playedward out against the Darwin – and theEnlightenment physician Erasmus Anna own very lively socialscene,dominated by thepoet Johnson and of the actor David Garrick, had its south west, known as thehometown of bothDr scientific canvases of provincial gentry at play and conducting Wright the three. Twelve miles away inDerby, Joseph scientists, musicians and literati moving between Midlands, with a circle of Enlightenment poets, there was a greatthe dealof goingcorner oninthis and by thesecond halfof theeighteenth century Birmingham, eight years later, Charles was hisheir. married long-term mistress, Emma Harte, who eventually intellectual pursuits, butthefavours of Greville’s especially eville; ‘Charles Calke’s location within thecharmed triangleof

a

Se flourishing

(1734–97)

(1731–1802).

Hamilton Gr (1749–1809), 7th

Sir and

experiments.

Another of

W

Bt Gr

of

V Lichfield

antiquarian, illiam (1747–1809) esuvius.

een. Sir (‘the the

W musical

wa (1731–1803),

maternal illiam

cathedral, Gr in

isolated T s

wa

eville’s he 1791. and painting

T

Lichfield, Hamilton, he s

town’s

scene

a

a – Derby

two

When famous V

uncle, ‘the

baronet’) uncle, ice-President

its

British

his

ODNB men

organised

fashionable

S prosperous wa 23

Hamilton wan

marvellous C

in man, s

miles harles . shared

also

42 Amb

turn,

shunned of Inother

an Lichfield’

important, to by

assador and Francis

wa died

not

eminent salons the

clergy the

s

Sir only

amusement enjoyed him. the house visiting which was going on all around the have been unaware of theplays and concerts, detached from external events, and hecannot baronet’ doesnotseem to have been completely but cannot conquer’,butfor all this‘the isolated ‘a disease of themind, which heissensibleof was his illness, which forced himto communicate even with contemporaries for what itclearly was: a mental described as ‘eccentricity’, butrecognised by some with all of thisby hisown crippling shyness –often as ork well as of industry and manufacture. of the world, and at centre of Enlightenment culture was already forging itsreputation as the workshop was 1806). former observed, ‘there isnobargaining with sucheminent As and were copperplates from which they were thenprinted – Harpur Bart. Two Marches Composed by J. Haydn M.D. for Sir Henry the Derbyshire Yeomanry. The manuscriptscores of Greville to commission a pair of military marches for Haydn,even and approachedHaydn via Charles distinguished composers, including J.C. Bach and John aimed higher and also owned musicby more printed one’, hemused. character should besointrepid in an assumed Agility’. enthusiasm, coaxing his gouty legs into ‘Harlequin and that Sir Henry played hispart with great his acquaintance had ‘gone to the Calk Theatricals’, unexpectedly, ‘the isolated baronet’ appears to have obvious pursuit for a winter evening. Butinfact, hint at family readings of fashionableplays: an library, someof themmarked upfor performance, Culture intheEighteenth Century, p.591. pp.82–3. 45 1922–27), 44 43 Eighteenth Century e John Brewer, John Joseph Farington, Joseph Se Sir Henry Harpur was prevented from engaging

Sir

servants

public

its a completely 44 catalogue

one

Boundsets of theatre scriptsinthe Calke Henry’s 43

w

contents

cathedral

VII, way, music

‘Odd Not ama

of

debates, p.127;

Pleasures of theImagination: English Culture inthe

by the in in (London, no. teur far

enough

(London:

mother by

May the

Brewer, letter. 10;

The Farington (London: Diary Hutchinson,

45 clear a

more w

The Calkelibrary includes also John dramatics. organist

The Journal of William Bagshaw Stevens,

ere P

1793 scientific otteries,

that

Pleasures of theImagination: English Harper

One that unexpected first

Josiah 1794) Frances Alcock

that

Sir

Dr sympathetic investigated a

C

– man

A

ollins,

while W John experiments, a Henry

together

of

neighbour Harpur married edgwood

Lichfield

so 1997),

finds Alcock B

suffered irmingham shy

correctly pp.573–612.

with

in couple

observer when in

(1730–95)

noted though the (1715–

his and

the

from

1980s. C own

of

alke

itself with

Sir

Library Record, House Revealed, John 49 (1742–86), 48 47 subject, copperplates, printed impressions and correspondence onthe 46 Electricity Galvanism Sir HarryHarpur Crewe, 6thBt the Calke copy have never been opened. have been judged too hard, as many of thepages of Giovanni arwickshire Abbey hadowned a‘lectrifyng apparatus’ at Stoneleigh Midland enthusiasm of theperiod, and another eccentric copies survives, butprobably muchof itdoes. of thehouse,itisnotclear how muchof thisstill books has penetrated into thefurthest recesses until thecurrent project to catalogue the Calke ere music for theband of theDerbyshire Yeomanry: keyboard music, dances and, of course, military It includes a wide-ranging selection of vocal and separate catalogue of their scores to becompiled. his substantial sumof 24 guineas. Composers’, and thetwo short marches costthe work. an elementof cultural patronage and local pride at bookseller John Drewry, sothere may have been the book was published by theDerby printer and curate of theDerbyshire parish of Wirksworth, and had anything similar. Bennet was a local man,the Disappointingly, there isnosignthat Sir Henry isolated baronet’ and hismother subscribing to

aham atalogue Matlock, Abr Mark C Science was another interest, with both‘the

family

Drewry,

49 Purcell,

see

in of Butif Sir Henry was theoriginalowner of

and

Derbyshire

Bennet, nobleman,

Matlock,

W Aldini (Derby,

no. Abr

w

1789),

(London, 17,

the p.54. ‘A

16;

3–4 aham Lunatick

Refounding

H.M.

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‘the isolated baronet’, butthelargest and mostimpressive isnow Matlock, 53 52 Boothby’, Oxford Dictionaryof National Biography. Jackson, 51 166, 311. 50 Hele Henry Harpur’s major legacies to hissuccessors oddities and foibles, itseems clear that oneof Sir and social activities, and indeed hisexpensive Prejudice his annual worth welcomed landowner book’s publisher John Jackson and theDerbyshire The society’sorks three members included Darwin, the under the auspices of thecity’s Botanical Society. the medical advice. back Sir Harry wanted tilesfor a fashionablenew dairy betweencontact Calkeand Josiah Wedgwood when in appears to have been a regular houseguest at Calke Erasmus Darwin, who, somewhat surprisingly, copies of letters, developed by noneother than ‘Polygrapher’, been somehow involved intheinvention of the Harpur, On continue into thenineteenth century. subsequently – and perhapssurprisingly – were to organised, habits which despite what was to happen only large, butit was methodically run and well- of all kinds. What ismore, thelibrary was not interesting, important and improving books up-to-date Neo-classical room, and packed with was several persons’. dining alone ingreat state ‘at a table covered for hounds while being too shy to go outhunting, and did so, even to theextent of keeping a pack of tastes and foibles. Sir Henry, inparticular, certainly observer reckoned that ‘the isolated baronet’ was but Calke was a richestate, and in1812 an informed family, as the Calke library stillcontains a copy of must have been familiar enoughto Sir Harry and his CarlLinné, von There are several catalogues and booklistsfrom thereign of Farington, The Farington Diary, The Collected Letters of Erasmus edited Darwin, by DesmondKing-

None of these activities would have comecheap, the

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Sir 53 1766.

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Harry

Harry

have pp.155, ( Pride and

51

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who in

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their John of

Brooke and 159, 1787

14 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 15 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Collectors 55 54 were sentfor auction in1924. 412 his elief even more glass-cased specimens were sold after only a smallpart of hisoriginalcollection, and that birdsseen andanimalsat Calketoday represent sharper The sheer extent of themania comesinto even and especially taxidermy on a truly heroic scale. say Vauncey alke did notcease with him.Infactitexpanded. t succeeded to theestates in1886.Butthelibrary literally) set Despite thefoibles of earlier generations, therot DeclineFall and Calke for smoking inher room, and demolished (Vauncey oddness of hisbehaviour. auncey infatuation with natural history, butthesheer Sir taxidermy assembled an even more prodigious collection of neighbour his wealthier cousin.Henry Harpur Crewe’s near with them at a scholarly level some way beyond and in Buckinghamshire, also collected birds, insects Crewe ornithologist’, while hisnear relation Henry Harpur wasregarded as‘a skilful andaccomplished landowners. Hisfather Sir John Harpur Crewe means point to a man well along the autistic spectrum. relentless pursuit of hischosenobsessions– all unwanted visitors,single-mindedthe and and Calke woodlands with hisgamekeepers to avoid the desire to hoard and to organise, thehiding in to communicate or engage with other people, sensibilities hisoddbehaviour –thereluctance Vauncey’s perhaps pointlessto try too hard to analyse

Derby Mercury, Michael Vauncey’s His bizarre persecution of family members

V

death. in infamous

lots butterflies

a

(1828–83), bizarre (Colchester:

A.

r when

C with

has

expelled Salmon,

Excess motives, a Lionel

t 10 Harpur pet

become

T

Sir when – March

Sir

ring or (certainly

on a

The Aurelian Legacy: British Butterflies andtheir enthusiasms

s

Harley V

unusual V

W butterflies

his auncey Rector the

a auncey’s

Park.

1886;

but alter one Cr prodigious

daughter

famous

Books, frenzied ewe

Salmon,

to r 55

Rothschild figuratively emembers

What was curious about curious What was of among Harpur

twenty-first-century wa

2000), surplus

Drayton alone

w

54 s – TheLegacy, Aurelian

Airm

collector

ere

not scale, It one

V pp.183–4. Cr is

ictorian ran

not

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his

lepidoptera difficult tha might ewe,

(1868–1937)

and Beauchamp

and

to

schoolboy by from t

of

the probably who some

an

engaged

almost geology

and y pp.181–2. stuff

ed

the ornithologist and taxidermistornithologist and the John Gould somewhat earlier: thesplendidplate books of books at Calke seem to have comeinto thelibrary ounty’, know how to behave like a gentleman’. 1904. ‘It vexes meterribly …hedoesnot seem to in completely heislosing or rather has lost all position world thanof failing to noticethat itexisted. ‘How was less a questionof refusing to accept themodern auncey’s his own crazed kingdom behindthepark walls. It to turnhisback ontheoutside world, and to create is obsessions started quite early. does which manuscript ‘Natural History of Calke and Warslow’ rather oddchildoutof thepubliceye. Certainly the consequence of hisfamily’s desire to keep a perhaps his homeeducation, or whether this was itselfthe difficult Syndrome might, the for hiscollections, clearly went considerably beyond ostensibly a matter of providing suitable ventilation workers. apparent popularity with histenants and outdoor extremely strange, and contrasts sharply with his John nearby (1804–81) libraries. papers includesales catalogues of ornithological did notrely onlocal booksellers, and hissurviving alke, sufficiently for £7 and Eggs inhalfmorocco, for a notinconsiderable 1889, for example, hebought a copy of British Birds shooting, his subjects, certainly, but also grander books on of books, fairly ordinary books onfairly ordinary of printed matter quite as much as glass cases full 58 57 56 pp.70–4. H.M. Colvin,

Matlock, Matlock,

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Story of Audubon’s Birds of America Library Removed fromEttington Park, Stratford-upon-Avon (London: Association, Quartich, 61 60 Sotheby’s, Chiswick 59 Important and Rare Books on RareBooks andZoologyImportant andGeology The volumes onmotor-cars, submarines,skiing Calke, including a considerable number of books. many of hispossessionsfound their way back to in 1905, visiting Calke only occasionally. Indeath, ewe had inherited an estate at Hemington from an uncle relations with hiscranky father, perhapsbecause he life, Richard had enjoyed surprisingly harmonious Harpur the huge doubleelephantfolio bindings. interesting alke library somewhere inthe United States. It would be currently unknown, thoughitispresumably in a (lot was form. of thesheer scale of thecollection initsoriginal the housetoday initselfgives someimpression in 1924. The enormousquantity of material stillin collection was soldby hisexecutors after hisdeath A The End ictorian Irish properties. exceptionally great and Lough Fea, County Monaghan, oneof the Shirley to of a reader, and itcomes as a considerable surprise It acquired in publisher’s cloth,mostof which were clearly enormous But even more striking, at least enmasse,arethe udubon’s financially among thelargest, themostspectacular (and now James may have been trueof the Calke copy of John came from other libraries. The singlegreatest loss in 1924 actually came from Calke, and how many by theLondon booksellers Bernard Quaritch Ltd many of the1,956 lotsset outin a catalogue issued though inpointof factitisfar from clear quite how

The Era, H.M. Colvin, Matlock,

auncey Sir significant seems

discover

1190), the

V

60 V

A

The sales also included someof thebooks, Press, (1812–82), 1924). Cr 14

Derbyshire C 1947).

unlikely,

by 1973). June

which the numbers

Calke Abbey, Derbyshire: A HiddenHouseRevealed, to

that

1872); Sir W

part

1868; aldemar

fine

know

outlived copy most (1880–1921)

V bibliophiles,

59

his

auncey Record Catalogue of a Selection fromthe Valuable sold

however,

of Catalogue of theLibrary Lough Fea (London: Birds of AmericaBirds of libraries

father-in-law

of

how v of

Sir H. Ettington

aluable) for

A Fries, O mid- his

V ffice,

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and auncey’s

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in by that

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Birds of AmericaBirds natural

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Sir

s

W ictorian (London: Bernard ever

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Library

61 wa

published. history

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–

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much and

p.75.

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In

e

pp.74–5. 63 62 house of her husband’s family, theMosleys. least part of it–from Rolleston Hall,thenearby books to Calke, intheform of thelibrary –or at by John James Audubon from hisbookof America Birds auncey’s the of 27 world father. The reduced circumstances of thepost-war of a griponthemodern world thanher eccentric evidently rather other-worldly, and with hardly more meaning woman, admired by her land agent, but Hilda was thechatelaine of Calke, a pious, well- the previous 200 years. From 1924, Richard’s sister private, closed world which ithad been for muchof alke house, and, ultimately, theendof theestate as the auncey’s capsule, but also theslow inexorable decay of the only invaded A glimpse of thebrave new world that mighthave and international power politics give a tantalising But infactRichard’s premature death ensured not H.M. Colvin, Calke Abbey, Derbyshire: A HiddenHouseRevealed, H.M. Colvin,

handsome

Sir to

finances.

C

about V

led

V

to

Abbe Calke Abbey, Derbyshire: A HiddenHouseRevealed,

half flamingo the 63 Hilda’s marriage brought yet more

collections y’s a reduction

dozen,

kingdom survival

(Phoenicopterus ruber),

and

of

a could

had s

the

even a

mid-Victorian

his

indoor not

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fill

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gap

from

lived. parts time

p.75. in

62

16 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 17 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Kedleston Hall 64 old order. Elsewhere, it was a matter of servants, or catalysts which led to thesteady dissolutionof the military during the war against Hitler were the or theoccupation of a once-great houseby the death of a cherished heir inthemudof Flanders, necessary to retrench to survive. For others, the suited either themor their families, andthat it was were living an archaic lifestyle which nolonger pressures, many owners were happy to accept they political power. Quite apart from theeconomic slow butinexorable lossof socialprestige and ever-increasing taxation, unpayable bills and a hundreds of years found themselves faced with landowners who had ruled thelocal roost for country went century, British landed estates and country houses and During thelast 15 years of thenineteenth century, Might Have Beens ground tent infront of thehouse, and thebare patch of sprouting round thepark gates, the auctioneer’s the fields ears unaffordable 50 inconceivable inEdwardian times,but was possible a rapid promotion which would have been while heended up as butler and general factotum, making himselfindispensable, within a short a shocking state of decay and squalor. Quickly decades, and that despite itsgrandeur it was in house 1960s, a dynamicnew houseman was appointed inthe rather felling of trees inthepark, theploughing upof the others did.Ittakes little imagination to see the and estate would surely have vanished as somany wealthy and rather lessother-worldly, bothhouse of itsowners. Had the Harpur-Crewes been less into an extraordinary survival because of theoddity ways a very ordinary country housethat turned dams, Roy Despite thesize of theestate, Calke was inmany

y

garden the

A

under for

had the and

wher

first (and

later, war

(Derby: lack

Tantrumsand Tiaras: Twenty-Fiveat YearsService in

been in wa

in

e time 60

or even the

the s enormous

when of

a

unobtainable.

or operating Derby

stonished

´40s

a them. Abbe

more griculture, 70

able

Books,

y and ears y

A

in

had numbers. staff t

´50s,

on 2010). Kedleston, neighbouring

to of

once

open-cast

a find 64 w the

skeleton the ere

twentieth stood. that

All light often

for over

the

mining

industry

staff

Ireland) T either example,

he

great the

for

in

with been scattered, severing their connection both any event, suchbooks as were sold would have record would consequently have provided only a partial not have made itinto a formal sale catalogue, which very readily, though a fair number would probably an impact. Many of Calke’s books would have sold Century Fiction by Michael Sadleir’s seminalbibliography of XIXth Victoriana had come a little later, thegrowing enthusiasm for uncertain Victorian way into thetrade, butmany of thethousands in eighteenth-century books mighthave found their property of a lady’, and someof themore ordinary grand books mighthave gone for auction as ‘the the have been when it was broken up. Ifhad been in crucial questioninthiscounterfactual history would a a, antiques trade, and thegrander pieces perhaps to mundane furniture mighthave made itinto the in in very bestfamily portraits mighthave ended up to a not-so-very-distant, yet now very remote past. cheek-by-jowl ontheshelves, a fascinating witness and trivial,mainstream and unexpected – all stand intact. Books sublime and ridiculous,important remained insitu, and they seem to be almost entirely great value of the Calke libraries isthat they have

local

Americ a

´40s, junk

the

museum of

shop, place

the

wha publisher’s fate.

of

the

comparatively all t

ould

and (1951) or

On had

stuffed

or kinds

perhaps

the the with

once

– cloth

–

V&A. other

w birds

one for

been

on w

books

small

another; ould A hand, and

a surely s

on

bonfire. for

animals

have

the number stoked,

the if

have

the

ultimately shelves.

had library,

T

dissolution he

had either

of of

a

more

more course, really

quite

A the

t

the

hidden by theselater plates. at Calke acquired by Sir John and Lady Harpur is therefore likely that theprovenance of other books bookplates of thecouple’s sonor grandson, and itis that books with their inscriptionsoften contain the Catherine identified ogue five in at least ninebooks and hisinscriptionin around was His family The 4thbaronet istheearliest member of the Bookplate The Books I

bookplate

more. in

whose v

with of A Cr

similar Sir ewe

from books

– the

John

in

(1682–1745).

the ar inscription

number

can Harpur, ound

‘Early

still

1695

of

be 4th Armorial’

of It books

identified to

is

Bt Sir

w 1720

(1680–1741)

John’ orth

have

style

–

noting

s survives a

been wif t

which C alke. e,

(named for itsresemblance to late seventeenth- were moving from theformal ‘Jacobean’ style indifference cloth relatively outdated with itssymmetrical shield and oodwork) baronet’s mantlebookplate therefore seems shields and natural-looking foliage. The 5th ‘Chippendale’ style, typically featuring angled century bookplate When the5thbaronet commissioned his Bookplate

mantling,

w

of in

to

Sir the

fashion.

and Henry

1740s,

perhaps to

Harpur,

the

bookplate

a symmetrical

suggests

5th

Bt

fashions

(1708–48)

a

certain

18 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 19 The Libraries at Calke Abbey manual: there are notes onharnesses and pencil – and was apparently used by thefamily as a practical to gentlemen, butcoach-makers and spring-makers’ for coaches –‘being a work of universal use,notonly it was notfor show but a functionalbook of designs Catalogue. Despite its visual appeal to moderneyes, two other copiesrecorded intheEnglishShort-Title This work is an extremely rare survival, with only the True Choice of their Wheel-Carriages TheNobleman andGentleman’s Director and Assistant,in whether theHarpurs boughteither or both. sporty carriage onplate 28,but we donotknow horses. on four oversize wheels, drawn by oneor two of a sports car: fast, opencarriages, highly sprung similar. the family were considering purchasing something noted alongside, which probably indicates that and This True Choice of their Wheel-Carriages The Nobleman and Gentleman’s Director and Assistant, inthe shby-de-La-Zouch; been boughtfrom them. Barker The family apparently had thebook boundlocally by carpenters, cabinetmakers and similar tradesmen. specialised inpractical designbooks for architects, publisher Ignace Fougeron after a M.Meillianor Meillan. The have been attributed to a French émigré engraver, the modifications

carriages

costs engraving

of

Modifications Phaetons

A A.

in

W figures

has

on ebley

has

not

plates w

modifications ere

and for

been

w

the

a 28

ere his

‘phaeton

identified, and contemporary

partner, also

it

35.

(London, made may,

drawn

T

and (London,

he Henry

but indeed,

to

designer harness’

in 1763) the a

equivalent

W

similar pencil

1763)

ebley,

plates have

of

covered carriage, drawn to scale. Plate True Choice of their Wheel-Carriages The Nobleman and Gentleman’s Director and Assistant, inthe near Hounslow. and daughter died editions indicate that helived in Turnham Green and ‘Rat-Catcher known of the author, who describes himself as: and otters, and birds of prey and carrion. Little is larger mammals,such as foxes, feral cats, badgers wide-ranging term: itincludesnotjust rodents, but – Robert Winged Vermin and Destroying Rats, and all other Kindsof Four-Footed and intended for thegentleman, farmer and warrener on country estates, sothemarket for thisbook – Rats and other vermin were a constant problem

must

owned

before

30

Smith, have

shows

of

a

1786.

Ge been

to country

(London, The Universal Directory forDirectoryThe Universal Taking Alive

orge

an the

Princess

considerable. engraving

Princess II,

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1763) s

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sedate

later

Park

20 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 21 The Libraries at Calke Abbey catching the animals, alive inthiscase. Figure 1shows The plates inthis work showed practical traps for and includesdetailed accounts and plansof prisons introducing thepractice of singlecellsfor prisoners, Prisons inEngland and Wales – which iscredited with and Wingedand Vermin and Destroying Rats, and all other Kindsof Four-Footed abridged as became seriously involved after his appointment by sparked by hisown experience after hiscapture Howard’s interest inprisonreform may have been John but inorder to set them against dogs for sport. Rats would betaken alive notfor humanereasons, rat has been caught and isbeing removed into a cage. the Robert pamphlets, cheap reprints, ephemeral publications, Calke were, intheir day, very ordinary indeed: catalogues, but a great many of thebooks at ‘Ordinary’ (London, John present present-dayed, Ukraine. His work iscontinued to the died from typhus contracted during a prison visit in to thephysical and mental health of prisoners. he of thePrisons inEngland and Wales Howard visited prisonsthroughout Europe and

High French had

trap

Howard Philip

Smith, visit

day Sheriff set

1789) edition

privateers

books Kemble

and by

(1726–90),

The Universal Directory forDirectoryThe Universal Taking Alive

the with of

a

waiting of rarely

(London, Bedfordshire

Howard (1757–1823),

his suggestions

in

1756, first

make An Account of thePresent State

its

1768)

League

w victim.

although

ork it

The Farm House

(Warrington, in

into

for

– 1773.

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the an

Library in libraries inthe United Kingdom: intheBritish only two copiesof thisedition of The Farm House their more Mrs famous Siddons, were hugely popular in actor-manager quite as shy as has sometimes been supposed. Henry, nicknamed ‘the isolated baronet’, was not Mansfield Park like at Calke. Itistempting to imagine this as rather (1763–1819), ‘Modely’) names of thoseplaying various roles: ‘HH’(playing list for a comedy ismarked upinpencil with the how they were used by their owners. Here thecast Annotations John plays and other odds and ends. The works of the

the

Philip day.

in private

Ap London, stands

Kemble,

so art in t (1814).

John theatricals books this

from

for

and

The Farm House wa

Sir Philip

A this

often s

the

Henry probably an

copy

held

y Kemble, Bodleian

give event

Harpur,

a in

t us

a Jane C

(London, it

performance alke, brother an

shows in

insight A the O

usten’s there xford.

7th 1789)

that of

into

ar the Bt

Sir e

of mortar which set underwater and was a forerunner granite blocks and hydraulic lime, a pioneering the shapeof an oak tree. It was builtof dovetailed aton Smeaton’s designfor a stone lighthouse,inspired by John with Stone a Descriptionof the Construction of theEdystone Lighthouse

Portland

Sme (London,

cement.

(1724–92),

1791)

A Narrative of theBuilding and with Stone Description of the Construction of theEdystone Lighthouse s eatshown) several thousand people. The second lighthouse(not damage to buildings, forests and ships and killed in Winstanley. He was killed when it was destroyed aton, The John was between in thedevelopment of lighthousedesign.Built south-west built thethird lighthouseontheEddystone rocks in aton, The ‘father of civilengineering’, John Smeaton John with Stone Description of the Construction of theEdystone Lighthouse

the

first dismantled

Sme Sme

Gr

wa

Eddystone

1756 (London, (London,

England, built S

torm and

A Narrative of theBuilding and a A Narrative of theBuilding and a

and

in

1759, 1791) 1791)

of

1709 lighthouse

rebuilt

which 1703,

it

and

survived

which on wa

burnt

s Plymouth wa

hugely

s caused

until

built down

influential 1877,

by

Hoe. major in

Henry

1755.

when

it

22 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 23 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Quadrupeds Warwick July 21st:1804’. George Greville, 2ndEarl ‘George Harpur’s book given to himby theEarlof natural history at Calke, bears theinscription: Harpur, later Sir George Crewe, the8thBt. the maternal uncleto thenine-year-old George arwick Society of he comes the wood editions. commercial success,quickly running through several by has equally charming wood engravings, with text works, butit was preceded by Quadrupeds, which Bewick’s Thomas This book, part of a wide-ranging collection of

W his

motto

engraving partner

from

of Bewick

T Birds isperhapsthebest-known of his

on Antiquaries (Newcastle,

(1746–1816), abo

title

the Ralph

(1753–1828),

ve; of

stone page

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1790) and

of can

s wa

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orks It s be A General History of

a

wa first

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both

wa

a here s

ty,

great ‘All terfall;

the and

has

good

a

handwritten continuonotation insomepieces. well as the various glees collected here, which contain Price. Hecomposed instrumental and church music as a semi-autobiographical novel The Life of MissFanny his mostindolentcolleagues, which hedescribed in ears improve thecathedral’s musicstirred a rumpus among , master of thechoristers there, buthis attempts to several (singing organist John John containing similar unbound music. up thelibrary, as there are several uniform binders been part of a nineteenth-century attempt to tidy ‘E.J. Wilson, maker, London’. This appears to have nineteenth-century spring binder, with thelabel: never bound,they were eventually placed into a ‘temporary’ survive inthe library at Calke, bothintheir original the would a limited market. Either way thedown-payment they were essentially local productions aimed at for the capital to commissionluxurieslike copperplates luxurious and expensive and thepublisher needed issued by subscription,either because they were Eighteenth-century publications were frequently John Voicesin Score of Canons; Cheerful & Serious Glees & Catches for Four &Five Voicesin Score of Canons; Cheerful & Serious Glees & Catches for Four &Five

lavish five

Alcock Alcock Alcock

have y

copies man) John

illustrations,

helped (1715–1806), (1715–1806),

grey

in who (Lichfield, (Lichfield,

S a

tanley t the bought

Lichfield

paper wa

1750s

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in appr

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1791) 1791) by wr London,

HarmoniaFesti or a Collection HarmoniaFesti or a Collection the

he

C (as

‘the appers. enticed athedral

wa

cash in

s isolated

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also wa

flow.

to Although

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for case)

organist a the

V

56

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because y ears.

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For

24 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 25 The Libraries at Calke Abbey given to Greek coloniesinsouthernItaly, founded Magna Graecia,or Greater Greece, name wasthe Graecia y Calke theatre designer, and also designed thelibrary at William Wilkins theElder, made hisname as a working theatre, inBury St Edmunds. His father, the National Gallery and theNational Trust’s only College Cambridge, University CollegeLondon, his classically inspired buildings includeDowning as a leading architect intheEnglish Greek revival: oncord a brownish ink made from soot. of views of classical monuments–such as the Temple for learned gentlemen. Itcontained landscapes and the listof subscribers, indicating its wider interest collection: this work isnotfrom the Gardner Wilkinson from ilkins William Wilkins made useof his knowledge of antiquity

C

the

Abbe

(Cambridge,

W

eighth

Sir

a

t for

Henry A

(1778–1839),

grigento

century ‘the

1807)

Harpur, isolated

BC. in

The Antiquities of Magna Sicily

Perhaps

the baronet’

7th –

printed

Bt, unexpectedly,

in

appe 1805.

in

ars bistre,

in

Literature, Commerce will picture-frames’. The rooms of many country houses screens, card-racks, chimney ornaments, boxes, abundant amusing here recommended to ladies as ‘an innocent and for use inthefashionablepastime of fancy-work, from the1810 volume shows papers recommendedckermann samples for clothes,upholstery or crafts. This plate some coloured, itoften contained pasted-in fabric by dresses: many of theseproducts couldbesupplied whether infurniture, homedecoration or thelatest acted as a catalogue for thefashionsof the time, Rowlandson orsatire, as Thomas workingsuch artists with coloured plates, particularly topographical prints publishing; ckermann carriage-maker, who later turned hishandto Ackermann, Rudolph This

the

have

monthly A

A

occupation, been

scope

he

originally (1756–1827)

specialised filled

magazine,

for

(London, firm.

(1764–1834), with new

which from

A

and inventions

such in s

published

w Sa

books 1810) daily

ell W xony,

decorated .H.

a

The Repository of Arts, s

a

numerous Pyne with ffords

wa …

from s

[as]

hand-

(1769–1843). a

such items. successful

1809–28,

fire-

plates,

Commerce hair were felt to be as important as thedress itself: reproducing infull as itindicates that accessories and while seated in your box. The descriptionis worth was apparently important to make an impact even show were generally pictured with themodelstanding to similar from their tailor or dressmaker. Costumes which would allow subscribers to order something ckermann the Fashions for men and women were illustrated in Rudolph with amethysts. – Slippers of fawn-coloured satin, with with a diamondcomb, and ornamented of swansdown. Necklace, ear-rings, and bracelets coloured satin, trimmed entirely round with of bodice, trimmed with gold or silver, or a border imperial net, or muslin, with white satin A with accompanyingRepository with descriptions

round

the pearl. small

a silver

A

full Persian (London,

flowers. robe Hair

effect,

clasps.

in of

wr

dishevelled 1810)

whit

A eath but The Repository of Literature,Arts,

Oper

wr

e for apping

of

or a

this blended

fan coloured

curls,

of mantle opera

carved

pearl confined

crape, costume,

of

amber and fawn-

. it

26 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 27 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Commerce Beltonand Saltram. Trust’s libraries, including thegreat libraries at The Repository –can stillbeseen inseveral of the library chairs – which featured in another issueof of the Strand. Examples of their metamorphic Regency furniture-makers, Morgan and Sanders with the works referred to’. tables of thelibrary are, from necessity, strewed research close at handto avoid those‘occasions of literary notes that itcouldbeused to keep selected books unstable when fully shelved, butthe writer helpfully elegant contrivance’, it appears likely to berather inspiredlamp.Described as‘ingenious an and ckermann. Chinese pagoda, although topped with a classically This circular revolving bookcase isreminiscent of a Rudolph The bookcase was made by thefashionable

A and (London,

reference,

1810) The Repository of Literature,Arts,

on

which

the

floor

and

Royal Residences were usefulsources inthisregard. information about lostbuildings and lostinteriors. today’s readers they can be invaluable inproviding interested inhistory and antiquities, and indeed for alke interior noticeably smart and upto date when itcame to 1880s, inearlier periodstheHarpurs had been Although William Royal Residences They Most great houseshad a chapel,butnone was

could Henry design.

C

also Pyne

(London,

Picture wa

fire s

(1769–1843).

allo

the

books

wed 1819)

imaginations

to

like

decline

The History of the

Pyne’s

from

of History of the

those

the

way swept George III’s alterations, they were subsequently Benjamin shown here were relatively recent additions by for GeorgeIII. The altarpainting and windows aftermath of itslate eighteenth-century restoration der as any other, and thisplate shows thechapel inthe course just as muchsubject to changes of fashion the dimensions associated sinceitsfoundation with Windsor, an independentbuilding of cathedral anythinglike asgrand as St George’s Chapel,

Or

a

W of

est in

the

the

(1738–1820);

Gar

reign ter.

of Religious

Que

along en

V buildings

with ictoria.

many

w

ere of

of

28 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 29 The Libraries at Calke Abbey frontispiece was notinthehouse at that date, soitssatirical in the1820s,butperhapsfortunately thisbook It isthoughtthat pictures were stillbeing added artistssuch asRowlandson, Gillray andCruikshank. 1790, The CaricatureRoom at Calke,created around (London, Hudibras

has

1820) the walls

of

Y ounger,

Ge covered orge Sultan Sham and his Seven Wivesand Sultan Sham

IV

with

by

John satirical

Lewis

prints

Marks

by

who became king in1820. and pro-Caroline inthedisputes with her husband, a Calke in1924. The publisher, William Benbow, was née (1863–1945) was acquired in1906by Colonel Godfrey Mosley bound in a volume of satirical pamphlets which was notremoved to add to thedecoration. Itis state banquets. survived s orked Gothic revival architect. The Windsor kitchen largely the who Castle (issued riskybusiness, and wrote. Illustrated books onthissort of scale were a aquatints to accompany thetext, which hehimself team of skilled artists to produce the100lavish Ackermann. lithographer who did a great deal of work for W.H. (London, William

prolific This plate of themedieval kitchen at Windsor

French Harpur-Crewe

w

Pyne

wa

in Henry

producer the 1819)

25

wa drawn émigré

of

But 19 for parts)

s

Pyne,

Rolleston 92 a

Pyne

in skilled

by fir

of A. (1877–1949),

this

The History of theRoyal Residences wa The History of theRoyal Residences e

C. James popular

included and s

Pugin, case wa a

Hall,

financial

is tercolourist

S

still he

tephanoff;

anti-R husband

father

C who commissioned

use harles

disaster. egent

d inherited

of

when

of and W

the other

ild Hilda, literature

great

ther and

ar

a

e tists

ar

e

Devonshire also supported theconcerts. festival programmes, indicating that theDuke of at nearby Hardwick of another collection of 1828 festival for thelocal area isshown by thesurvival and marbled paper. The socialimportance of this account for theornate binding of red morocco among vice-presidents of theFestival, which may local Derby Triennial Festival, 1828,heldin aid of the programmes for theDerby Musical Festival and from a volume containing seven concert A Derby Musical Festival

programme

infirmary.

for

Sir

a

Ge

(Derby, concert orge

Cr 1828)

a ewe, t

All

Saints

8th

Bt ’

C is hurch,

listed

Practical John the pious Sir George Crewe, 8thBt, show. popular intheir day, as thesemarkings inthehandof been muchread inthelast 150 years, butthey were of theIrishbishop John Jebb have probably not exercise in a profoundly religious age. The sermons literary genre, but above all a vital form of spiritual for whiling away thetime,read for pleasure as a important part of any country-house library, useful Like plays and pamphlets, sermons were an

Jebb

(London,

(1775–1833],

1838)

Sermons on Subjects Chiefly

30 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 31 The Libraries at Calke Abbey of keeping up with thelatest discoveries: comments years and wasstill a mysterious creature. Gould had only been known to Europeans for around 50 When (London, John in which opinionsexpressed in gonebyyears the present work, theremay besomeinstances between thecommencement and termination of of eighteenAn interval havingyears passed away

Gould,

this

1845–63)

image in

The Mammalsof Australia

his

a wa ccompanying s

first

published,

text

on the

the

w ombat

difficulty

in the Zoological Society of London, has sincebeen Phascolomys wombat, drawn here from a specimen reclassified published inparts by subscription.Herealised the best-known for hislithographed folio bird books, all The taxidermist and ornithologist Gould isperhaps for attracting subscribers but was valued by zoologists volume work. It was oneof hisleast successfulin Richter to England,so Gould turned to Henry Constantine she died of puerperal fever soon after their return order to produce theplates for hisearly works, but Gould’s wife, Elizabeth, had trained inlithography in while collected material for books onbirds and mammals potential (London, John

quite distinct wombats … feel confidentthat there arethree, ifnot four, species of thegenusPhascolomys. Inow, in1863, was uncertain whether there was more thanone reduced figures of this animal,Iremarked that it now require modification. When Ipublished the its

Gould

on

clear

(1821–1902)

an 1845–63)

in

a

(1804–81),

depictions extended the s

the

little-known

common

for

The Mammalsof Australia family

of

this

A

w ustralian

spectacular ombat,

visit wildlif

from e

Vombatus ursinus.

fauna. of

1838–40. A

three- ustralia

and

ultimately extirpated’. certain to become gradually more scarce, and to be of pessimistic when henoted ‘Like too many others prescient, although he was fortunately too importance of recording themseems remarkably immigration onthenative species and of the foliage of theEucalyptus trees. ustralia, the of John described by Gould as found only inthesouth-east The koala bear (Phascolarctos cinereus) was wareness His

A the

day

Gould,

a

larger

and

The Mammalsof Australia

v largely A ery ustralian

of difficult

the nocturnal,

effect mammals,

to

detect

of

v

ery mass

this (London,

in slothful

the European

species

thick

1845–63) during

is

term collaborator H.C. Richter. This book included lithographic stones by other artists, such as his long- his sketches were worked up and transferred to the but hedidnotproduce theplates himself:instead author, publisher and collector of thespecimens, are beautifully drawn, yet highly accurate. Gould was printing theplates, which are lithographs with hand- subscription, to cover thehuge costsinvolved in 1910); Crewe and a second for his wife Georgiana (1824– to have subscribed to two: onefor Sir John Harpur 750 in colouring. udubon’s James generally regarded as theonly seriousrivals to John large folio volumes, covering much of the world and led –over nearly 60 years –to theproduction of 50 Gould Himalayan birds at the Society’s museuminspired variations oological different speciation provided vital evidence for Darwin’s theory of island the Gould was appointed in1828to themuseumof The sonof a royal gardener, thetaxidermist John

The images –usually taken from dead specimens – The books were published inparts by 25

new copies

Gould, parts)

only A to

Z

Galáp publish

in T

when one w

The Birds of Great Britain wa his

their ere s

agos

five-volume copy

Gould’

produced,

he his

Birds of AmericaBirds size

Socie

correctly

specimens

first survives

and s

penultimate

ty illustrated

beaks.

of of w

identified ork

in which London.

a

the s

(367 (London,

A finches (1827–38).

collection w library

C production. ork,

alke plates

In several

1837 with

which

1862–73)

appe today.

issued

of

he ars

32 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 33 The Libraries at Calke Abbey century books ontravel and exploration, Calke has excellent collections of nineteenth- and Adventures in Equatorialin and AdventuresAfrica (London, William includes thenest, described by Gould: shown here –long-tailed tits(Mecistura caudata) – featuredin Gould’s perhaps excused therepetition of birds previously many images of nests and young birds, which including Paul ork to thecaricature-loving family at Calke isobvious. and the alke bookseller’s ticket of Rowbottom inDerby. This was evidently boughtlocally by the9thBt, as ithas the The to July 1848 –before being issued inbook form. initially Thackeray’s classic satire onRegency England was In common with many nineteenth-century novels, more beautiful. to thelight, whereby theexterior isrendered still the glaucous side of the lichens are always placed lichens. Ifclosely inspected, it will befound that lined with feathers, and externally spangled with construction of itsclosely felted nest, so warmly skill displayed by theLong-tailed Tit inthe Wonderful, indeed, isthe architectural

first

featured C Belloni

Makepeace serialised

w

1848)

this copy

du

his issued

C a

ccount haillu of

humorous

in

T the

Birds of Europe hackeray parts

under

(1831–1903),

first

of

– an

edition

T

illustrations; from

hackeray’s (1811–63),

A (London, frican

Januar Explorations he

(1837). of

1848 expedition

Vanity Fair

1861)

own y

the

1847 T

wa

name

appe s

plate

al

accused s popular publicspeaker, although sometimes the existence of gorillas. Hebecame a who by

a

French-American wa

of the

exaggerated

first

non-native

anthr

traveller’s opologist,

to

confirm

tales.

with itsgiltgorilla, istypical of many at Calke. trade historians. This originalpublisher’s binding, issued, adding to their interest for social and book marketing material, but Calke’s copiessurvive as half-calf and marbled paper, often removing the books were rebound in‘higher status’ morocco or or publisher’s catalogues. Inmany libraries, such In addition, books often contain advertisements images representing thecontents of thebook. s colours, embossed with giltdecoration or coloured Westleys – are generally of clothin a rainbow of such bindings –produced by specialist companies designed to catch theeye of thebrowser. The quickly became an additional marketing tool, cheaply on a large scale, and attractive bindings mechanisation made iteasier to produce them increasingly from themid-nineteenth century, as excellent condition. This type of binding appeared books intheir originalpublisher’s bindings, often in holdings of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century One Paul Equatorial Africa

Belloni

of a

the Leighton

glories du

C (London, haillu,

Son

of

the

& Explorations and Adventures in Explorationsin and Adventures

1861)

Hodge,

library

a Bone t

C alke

&

Son

is

its

or

the Quest, Rescue and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria Vauncey and has themonogrammed bookplate of Sir particularly from anti-slavery organisations. King, and led to muchcriticismof Stanley inBritain, including furthering the interests of theBelgian Pasha, fter German governor, Eduard Schnitzer, known as Emin The expedition had the avowed aim of rescuing the cut expeditions into theinterior. is his account of oneof thelast major European made ‘Dr Livingstone, Ipresume’. But Stanley also whom hefamously claimed to have greeted journey The (London, Henry This copy isinitsoriginalpictorial clothbinding, Equatoria was part of Sudan, which had been

off journalist

Morton several

but a

to

1890) Harpur

find wa

the

S other s

S

tanley

the confused tanley

fall Cr

ewe,

missionary

journeys of

(1841–1904),

is Khartoum

10th best-known

by

several

in Bt.

David

A

frica InDarkest Africa: or to

other the

for Livingstone,

and

Mahdists.

his

objectives, this

1871

34 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 35 The Libraries at Calke Abbey even onhis pet subjects. Vauncey seem to have read quite widely round thelibrary, unopened pages. Ifearlier generations at Calke ork, Interestingly, which isthelargest member of thegrouse family. dedicated to the Scottish game bird thecapercaillie, typical more exotic wildlife inother continents. This fairly of animals ontheestate, while others dealt with sports. Some of thesehad relevance to theupkeep overrun auncey animals, while theshelves of thelibrary were crammed of taxidermy, but during thelong and eccentric reign xander Calke had always been known for fossils and Thein Scotland Capercaillie John

Sir

Ale

V

w

with

evidently

to

the

containing books significant

Harpur Harvie-Brown

gunnels

did

on

Cr not

natural (Edinburgh,

Sir portions ewe with

necessarily

V

(1844–1916)

auncey’s the

stuffed

history

house of

1888)

the

birds

bookplate, open and

.

became book

field and

books

have

is

Crewe acquired simple legend ‘RFH Crewe’ indicating that they were they are often marked with a book labelbearing the . jarringly Some of thetwentieth-century books at Calke seem Robert fterpublication as itissigned ‘R.F.H.1918’. Crewe June Richard Harpur Crewe clearly boughtitsoon after 1918 shortly German The Red Air Fighter Manfred, Firstthe Worldand War. and theTitanic, aeroplanes, international politics, covering subjects such as skiing, U-boats, wireless Vauncey’s at themodern world which mighthave invaded Books such as thismanualof car engineering hint This Englishtranslation of the autobiography of the A Practical Manual

(without

W (1880–1921),

a

fighter

different Freiherr by

A.

eccentric

Brewer Sir

the

permission

V

a

(London,

(London, author’ v auncey’s ce,

on from . Motor Car Construction:

who

empire ‘the Richthofen

the s

died

Red 1918)

1912) death from eldest

rest had

Baron’,

in

German

(1892–1918),

of in

Richard his son

battle the

father’s

Richard wa

collection; y,

s

lived,

in

of published

April

lifetime. course).

Harpur

65 not a smalllibrary –itisthepersonal collection books were stillintheroom which had housed by himto Sir John Harpur Crewe, 9thBt. Gower 1875). antiquarian of Crewe library –but with nearly 1,600 books the library the mainfamily collection, mostly housed inthe and historically distinct libraries. In addition to in having notone,buttwo completely separate Calke isunique among National Trust houses Sir Wilkinson Library The Gardner Turkish Dress,

Not When the Trust took over at Calke, Wilkinson’s

the John

second

all

Previously

of nineteenth-century

on Peninsula

Gar the

the

books dner

floor. Sir by

first

Henry John

ar W

kept

in e Rather

ilkinson in floor,

south

the Gar

W

in

showroom; yndham

dner W there smaller

W

(1797–1875), ilkinson’s Egyptologist ales,

W

is

Phillips ilkinson some

another

than it

wa

ar house e

the s

aged 46,in

stored (1820–68)

bequeathed (1797– and

library

Harpur-

on

elsewhere.

65 still

the

on

Historic Buildings Secretary and Director-General of the rust, National 66 was acquired precisely because it was such an the chaos and clutter of unrestored Calke, which and sometidying up, but always trying to respect Since thenthe Trust has done a lotof conservation and sometimes surprising one. have a history of their own – a fascinating, exotic Calke indecline, but at thesame timethebooks Its history isinonesense a part of thehistory of of a remarkable window into thelife and career of one with interesting, unusual,even uniquethings, and Wilkinson Library is a remarkable collection, packed disorder tends to mask thefactthat the Gardner major getting outsomeof thelarger volumes can be a no longer inimminentdanger of falling to pieces, a certain pricefor thelibrary. Though itsbooks are stages of collapse and decay. Butthishas been at evocative sold or discarded, butneither was itlooked after. into action: the Gardner Wilkinson Library was not important, butunsurprisingly thisdidnottranslate the history of thelibrary, and knew that it was owner, Henry Harpur-Crewe, was well aware of across them were already intrigued by reports of the wonders of up hand itscultural impact was enormous,opening and abandoned and shortly afterwards thesoon-to-be Emperor French was something of a disaster: Nelsonsmashed the between of Napoleon’s military expedition to theMiddleEast attention of European travellers, principally because dner Revolution the start of theFrench Revolution. It was thissame was borninBuckinghamshire justeight years after John and Egypt GardnerWilkinsonSir John

Personal

the the

plot

Gar

since

operation.

great

T the Nile fleet

information

his 1798

example

floor

which

V V 1973–2001.

his a intellectual rise alley ictorian t

W and

the beleaguered

in ilkinson to

And

ultimately to

from

1801. great

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Enlightenment

times,

a

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once

figures In disorder. (

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On travellers

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other to England. the

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36 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 37 The Libraries at Calke Abbey before Champollion went to press, that the25-year- Arts accompaniedby a times. The Napoleonic expedition had been had notbeen seen by outsiders sincelate Roman while than a script which mightberead like any other, pregnant with power and hidden meaning, rather believed that hieroglyphics were magical symbols, in theearly nineteenth century, it was still widely interpretations learned, butpreoccupied with hermetic and occult the ere like Herodotus, and from Baroque scholars like derived as often as notfrom classical authors and thedetails were often confused and sketchy, travellers about these,butfew had been there – western Ancient University 67 British travellers, Wilkinson came into contact with Italy, events thentook a curiousturn.Like many extendedGrand Tour. WhenWilkinsonreached much of continental Europe, by setting outon a the protracted exclusion of British travellers from he celebrated theendof theNapoleonic wars, and Oxford. educated atHarrow ExeterSchool and College, of dner household –hisfather John Wilkinson was a Fellow in November 1821. The childof a well-to-do clerical old inscription ontheRosetta Stone in1822. cracked theriddleof hieroglyphics, publishing the Jean-François was Gardner Wilkinson’s French contemporary and other was by British troops: theRosetta Stone, for example, France, for European hegemony between Britain and activities Nile most famously theRosetta Stone, dug upinthe a number of important archaeological discoveries, Thompson, Sir Gardner Wilkinsonhis Circle and For thelife and career of Sir John Gardner Wilkinson, see: Jason It was against thisbackground, and justmonths

the

Gar Jesuit

of despite placed delta

some

hand,

Socie 167

and

Press, Like Egypt.

became

w in priest

technical

in

of

ty

many the continuing

W

1799. many 1992).

the C

of Egypt’s ilkinson

not

European

of hampollion

French A

Antiquaries

British thanasius Inevitably tangled of the

Commission des Sciences et des y necessarily

oung

experts, its

land most

first

interest Anglo-F finds

Museum

scholars

men up

of

found

(1790–1832) famous Kircher the

whose

w – in the

w

of ere W

rench

in the elcome C

ilkinson his

Pharaohs.

ommission’s

his

Egypt had in ultimately exas

(Austin:

wider (1601–80), monuments members

1802. generation,

wa

rivalry,

long

in

y continued, who 67

wa T struggle to

Egypt On

known

Even s Egypt

it seized

finally

made

the

–

the James Burton, and thetwo young men adopted Egypt, a prominent member of theBritish community in infractions of hisrule. Gardner Wilkinson became exacted themostfearsome retribution against any Egypt’s practice (nominally a vassal of the Turkish Sultan, butin of this was possiblebecause of thetyrannical rule pioneers hieroglyphics, and corresponding with other drawing, the desert, and as far south as Nubia, excavating, widely around thecountry, venturing deep into place ambitious was original and important work waiting for an and theolder manpersuaded Wilkinson that there and famous and popular Englishguideto Herculaneum of thebest-selling Pompeiana ofByronfriend and Sir Walter Scott,the author and 1836), the ere did notcare to dwell on. respectable Unsurprisingly, theepisode was one which the s infidels off far as to get himselfcircumcised so as pass himself Wilkinson’s friendsgossiped that hehad gone so services were nolonger required, though Gardner by their respective purchasers when their overnight purchased in Cairo. Bothof them were discarded Other further, in 1824.’ and looks muchlike one’, noted an acquaintance moustaches and turbans. ‘Heisdressed as a Turk shows, the ate Turkish food with Turkish table manners and as any kind was becoming completely unacceptable to 69 68 Thompson, Quoted in Thompson,Quoted Wilkinson

Egypt’s

a

dress great portrait Pompeii.

to

a

needs a

setting

they Muslim

w tiny

and 68 notable do

an

in learning classical and The two mentook local custom even

modernising Sir Gardner WilkinsonHis Circle, and and

a

independent

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Henry when ilkinson

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Egypt

in

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scholar W expanding ed community, southern of

fine to Khedive

yndham and in

antiquarian, 69

y

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By the 1820s,slavery of by

Sir on for C ttoman

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airo by Gell

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a ilkinson Italy,

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with Phillips

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field. great slave ears,

gentlemen. who

clothes, Muslim

told

pp.44–61.

and antiquities, transcribing but Gell his

Much

travelling girls

friend

routinely

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friend

friends, Egypt. that t (1777–

C

slaves. a

alke most Ali of ffecting that

p.45.

of

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hey

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70 have been kept intheburialprecinct of theNew Gardner Wilkinson Library at Calke mightonce realise that at least someof thebooks today inthe intriguing and perhapsrather extraordinary to nineteenth have been defaced or even destroyed sincetheearly monuments and inscriptions which herecorded can never have anticipated, as someof the importanceGardner which assumedan Wilkinson being fascinating and rather beautiful, somehave in excellence Valley system Wilkinson who invented thetraditional numbering Kingdom’s even space for Wilkinson’s working library. servants’ accommodation, a woodenporch and ruins, with sleeping quarters, a courtyard garden, there, an elaborate residence squatting among the approvingly of the‘excellent house’ hehad made dynasty alley setting uphomeintheruinsof theeighteenth- prominent among theearly explorers of thesite, to in therocky hillsonthe west bank, and especially much attention to theso-called Theban Necropolis archaeologists and tourists alike have long paid as massive ruinsof thetemple complex at Karnak. But, the moderncity of Luxor isstilldominated by the was located ontheeastern bank of theriver, where the Nile, around 300milessouthof Cairo, thecity Kingdom (c. ancient Thebes, theformer capital of theNew were carried through in and around theruinsof was, atmost, aDeist. was not a Christian: hiscontemporaries thought he when however, Wilkinson was at least telling thetruth shocked many others. Despite hisbackground, sexual sideof theescapade would certainly have informed publicopinionback inBritain, while the Thompson,

As

the the

a

he

Bodleian of V scholar,

(still

tomb

told the Sir Gardner WilkinsonHis Circle, and

of Pharaohs. century.)

1570–1075bc

partially of Kings,

his Muslim

of

W

the Library

field ilkinson’s ´Amechu.

Kings. and

in

questioners But drawings.

in

use) he ted ).

O more

Gar

Situa

principal is In xford

for

also

1827 dner

tangibly,

the (These

and noted in

a W

tombs on

a visit pp.102–5. Egypt ilkinson chievements

a

the side

ar

for

or it e

70

in

that banks wa

wr

today from the Itis

the wa ote s

he s

of

Thompson, Sir Gardner WilkinsonHis Circle, and 71 of Englandtowards thePorte and Mohammed Ali copies, somecontaining pasted-in queriesor his library isthesurvival of numerous presentation lub, with Wilkinson’s mix with thegreat and good of theday. Oriental of Literature, Royal Geographical Society, the societies and clubs– among themtheRoyal Society subjects began to take muchof his attention. British Museumonpurchases untilhisdeath, other ilkinson’s Egyptian time, although heretained an interest inmatters led handbook inhiscelebrated seriesfor travellers, which also subject and ontheprojected Suez Canal. Murrays (1840); affairs, (1837). and Topography of Thebes and General View of Egypt encouraged by John Murray, who published his of returning. Initially hemaintained hisinterest, Wilkinson Later Career s and he was interested, of course, inthe antiquities (Croatia) Europe. Europe and developed a strong interest ineastern accompanied hiscommemorative medal. nomination, ambassador to Great Britain informing himof his official Exhibition: heproudly pasted into hiscopy of the as history and Heliopolis,thepositionof theNile and the matters such as thedate of thedecay of Memphis copies of letters between thetwo men,discussing of the Antiquity of Man, which contains 12letters or copy of Sir Charles Lyell’s The GeologicalEvidences information. hompson son Ja He was feted onhisreturn to London and joined Wilkinson began to travel widely inBritain and

a

to

juror Manners Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians

commissioned a

T

W

knighthood.

He catalogue a of his

He C

and

a

for

shown

Egyptian left

wa library

had a part

and chievements the One

s continued

Egypt

the also lists

first

of O

by the

both contains good

first a A ttoman

t interested his bricks.

One him thenaeum

his

least

visit in letter

return

return

June the

Three Letters onthePolicy

example

to of 22 to ed

in

section In

produce societies from letter the other

publish

the

1833

Egypt

1851 visit

tour in

– interesting

ar

Prince wher modern

from is

pamphlets

with

ea W

in

in

from of

a w and

ilkinson

the

Europe

round 1841. presentation ere

footnote the e

the every

Alber

he

a 71 Egyptian

Egypt recognised

dvise In1839, Gr Egyptian

But

O and could features

Split eat

ttoman to served intention on t

Americ

over which p.167

in the

(1835)

this

1841

of a

38 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 39 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Hieroglyphical Subjects, Foundat ThebesSubjects,Hieroglyphical publications from thelate 1830s and 1840s,including translation inLeipzig thefollowing year. published by John Murray in1848, with a German – several of thebooks are thegiftof thediplomat clearly maintained contact with acquaintances there Materia Hieroglyphica and was a stopping pointonthejourney between Italy Maltese periodicals (1812–54). working inthe area such as Francesco Carrara natural history, and hecorresponded with scholars an interest initslanguage, popular culture and in Dalmatia Ruins of thePalace of theEmperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Menabrea’s Sketch of the EngineInventedAnalytical by Charles Babbage. Ada 72 aroline the companion of hisfriendLady Llanover. The younger Cambrian subject, and by 1869 hebecame vice-president of the numerous articles, pamphlets and letters onthe local life in Wales, where hebecame keenly interested in and from thispointhebegan to spendmuchof his while working on a projected volume of Greek vases, Lord Byron. da, funeral at Newstead, with details of theburialof contains manuscriptnotes onhis attendance at her of included Crewes at Calke. Wilkinson’s acquaintances also Northumberland – and relatives, such as theHarpur- friends although hespent a great deal of time visiting At and Wales GardnerWilkinsonSir John had retired to theisland. and Wilkinson’s library contains two manuscriptpoems and a letter by

Unusually, hislibrary also contains a dozen Maltese ober In

the Lord this

Lovelace,

author Egypt, Oct

history

region

time,

– Byron:

dictionary

C A such

Ar W

along and

John (probably 72 (1764)

ilkinson’s and chaeological

W – ilkinson 1856,

But

C

a ilkinson his a

W

s ountess with s

Hookham ar

Lord

ilkinson shown W

C 1837 –

chaeology. W and

atherine a but

ilkinson presentation

(1828) from

Dalmatia Montenegro and was Prudhoe,

lived edition an

Lovelace

his by

A had

Ar

his

ssociation. Frere

library his

and suffered

entirely abic

Lucas married

published His

1841

of

a copy

later cquisition Extractsfrom Several

(1796–1846),

(1815–52), grammar:

Byron’s library

also

trip (1822–81),

of

in

a Duke

her the

breakdown

(1830).

London, demonstrates to

there translation contains

w

much Egypt),

of of orks

Malta daughter

A

who He his dam’s

of a

publish several of hismanuscripts,butmet with Meanwhile his widow Caroline made attempts to Calke work entrancehall at Calke. he carved for thehousecan now beseen inthe learning Wilkinson’s many enthusiasms at thistimeincluded country residence near Reynoldston onthe Gower. took olunteer They settled in Tenby and, after sometime, as reusing a binding from Gardner Wilkinson’s days butterflies, cuttings of woodcuts and engravings of British interesting item inthelibrary is an album of Flowers: TheirLegends Uses, Literature. and wife and in1858 shepublished Weedsand Wild illiam’s hylaqueous regards’. Wilkinson obviously encouraged his inscribed ‘MissLucas with the authors best and Thomas including buried with her husband. live with her relatives inLlandovery, where sheis little reorganised. ‘scandalously neglected’, and ithad to beentirely were complaintsthat thecollection was being the exhibits initslibrary. However, by 1885there boys inthestudy of history, and theschoollodged intention seems to have been to encourage the attended more thanhalf a century earlier. The antiquities went to Harrow School, which hehad But mostof Gardner Wilkinson’s collection of house along libraryhis with and various artefacts. at Calke inperpetuity and they were sentto the 1875. home, months, hetook an ambulance carriage to return or notes by her with theinitials‘C.C.L.’ or ‘C.C.W.’, contains several books which have her inscription, interests particularly innatural history. The library as intellectually curious as her husband, with marriage was happy: Caroline seems to have been Antiquities Pioneer Egyptologist: theHarrow School Collection of Egyptian catalogue was published in1991: Ian Shaw,GardnerWilkinson: Sir John Wilbee, 73 from the Collection of theLate Sir Gardner (Harrow:C. Wilkinson J. Cecil Torr, Wilkinson

a

v C

success. a He gradually

when 1887);

lease but

([S.l.]:

W the had

Harrow Museum: CatalogueSchool of Classical Antiquities the

died

the presumably

he began on

violin

A Herga, wille

detailed

A collection with

catalogue

became declined.

fter Brynfield en

d Fluid

ar

1991).

and

route

to the that his ticle

remains suffer

scientific

w

death,

W

of dangerously

a his

ood

‘On ssembled a In est House, wa

t Invertebrate

Llandovery 1875 papers

from a s

Middlesex t the carving:

published she Harrow,

investigation

he

a

Blood-proper

ill

left

modest-sized

by should

wa health

ill. and

the Brynfield C s

Animals

A

in

aroline

Rifles. visiting a in

fter

Another further fireplace Oct

be and 1887.

several

ober kept of

his ’,

to 73

the arrangement of thelibrary at thetimeof his would bepossibleto reconstruct insomedetail This, together with thecatalogue, means that it Wilkinson’s bookplate, which hedrew himself. books are notnumbered, nearly all contain Gardner bookcases and cabinets. Though thesurviving desiderata and even includes a sketch of the titles held,but also books borrowed and loaned, 74 library is possible at last for researchers to investigate his However, with thebooks now catalogued online it books, which stand as randomly as they were found. Currently there isnoordered arrangement of these ere the books have been removed to a store room. preserves an idea of thischaos, butmany of the ceiling had collapsed. The current showroom Others but with books standing ontop of other books. randomly, packed onto shelves notjusttwo deep, alke. Trust took over thehouseshow thebooks shelved to more miscellaneous material. by subject, but with somegeneral volumes covering were boundupin volumes, usually arranged roughly Gardner Wilkinson also collected pamphlets. These death Bodleian of hislibrary survives and isnow deposited inthe cabinets for hiscollections. The 1866 catalogue He designed a large room, with bookshelves and a library, so Wilkinson was forced to buildone. satisfactory inmostrespects, had nospace for although Wilkinson clearly had a library inhisLondon house, The Library xford, O All

C

order

in

for

w Bodleian

1875.

Photographs Library no

the

wa

piled catalogue

s

In first Library,

lost

a in

ddition

on time

O when

Dep.

xford. the

taken survives.

in

W

floor, to the

ilkinson more 74

ordinary Itlistsnotjustthe

when

books

onto

than d. Brynfield,

151.

the

w which

130 printed ere

National

y moved

ears. although part

books,

of

Golden Legend). The Books II odemus by St John preparing to drink thepoisongiven to him different devotions and included prayers and readings for page illustrations. ‘Books of Hours’ were for daily reinforced by itshand-coloured initials and full its resemblance to a manuscript, an impression at Calke. It was printed on vellum to increase This Ces Presentes Heures a Lusaige deRomme

Arist

Parisian

hours

Book

of

(from

the

of

Hours

day. the

Life T

his is

the of

first

S

oldest t

image John (Paris,

book in

1505?) shows

The The

40 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 41 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Prime Family inthestable, which generally introduces ompline; Passion. images and Matins, were provided for each of theeightcanonical hours: provided of The Ces Presentes Heures a Lusaige deRomme

the

C cult

in medieval

from Lauds,

Sho of the

a

daily the

wn Hours the

V Prime, each

church here

structure irgin V irgin’s

of

section

is

Mary the T

a erce, and

life, Nativity

V for

irgin.

wa the

wa

Se C

lay s hrist’s

s

xt, Hours an

illustrated

w scene

None, orship. important

infancy (Paris,

of

of

V the

Prayers espers the

with 1505?)

V and

part

Holy irgin

the

oatia, in Serbo-Croat. to his library stillcontains works printed inor relating publication of DalmatiaMontenegro and in1848 and much larger area. Histravels and studiesled to the shows only Russia –may originally have covered a on modern Croatia and sothemap– which now eastern Europe, buthisinterest centred particularly as a bookmark. Wilkinson studied thehistory of to have used thisremnant of a hand-drawn map libraryofSir GardnerJohn Wilkinson,seems who Book of Hours, butit came to Calke with the Nothing isknown of theearly provenance of the Ces Presentes Heures a Lusaige deRomme

Cr

including

a

rare

1703

Italian

(Paris,

publication

1505?)

eat the contemporary pamphlets from dentistry, through history, antiquities and literature, eastern Europe, natural includes a vast array of subjects, including classical to collection their depictionon ancient coins. ancient Rome, including someknown only through Santi Bartoli –illustrated thetriumphal arches of Augustorum TriumphisInsignes Giovanni Moderni in which hepromoted classical idealism. best known for hisVite de’ Pittori, Scultori et Architetti The painter and antiquarian Bellori was perhaps This Gardner Wilkinson’slibraryaveryis wide-ranging

Egyptology

Gr

collection

geology

Pietro

Exhibition which

or Bellori

and

wa of even

s plates

a to

certainly (1613–96),

wider large

theology.

–

collection (Rome,

engraved ar

chaeology, not

Veteres Arcus

confined

1690)

by of

v Pietro

but aried

thought roundels monuments, and thisbear huntisoneof eight in 312. Some masonry was reused from earlier Great’s victory over therival emperor Maxentius erected in315, to commemorate Constantine the the latest triumphal arches inRome. The arch was A Augustorum TriumphisInsignes Giovanni

roundel

to Pietro –

from

all date

scenes

Bellori

the

from

Ar

of

(1613–96), ch Hadrian’s

hunting

of

C (Rome, onstantine,

Veteres Arcus

reign or

sacrifice 1690)

(117–138).

one

–

of now

42 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 43 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Augustorum TriumphisInsignes Press, (1716/17–71)’, 75 motivating histroops before thecampaign. Constantine, showing theadlocutio: theemperor is A Giovanni

(Walpole,

panel

2004;

from

Anecdotes, Pietro

online Oxford Dictionaryof National Biography,

the

edn, Bellori s 1.xiv)

north

Sept

a

(1613–96),

2010. quoted

face

(Rome,

of by

D. the

Veteres Arcus

M.

Ar Whit 1690) ch xford e, O

of ‘Wood,

Univ

Robert ersity

the same building inplan and façade. (Inscription identified (Base, French. was necessary to beknown.’ what should and shouldnotbesaid, and of what are standards of writing: The exact measure of and perhaps excell thosebeautiful editions of Balbec ‘But of all the works that distinguish this age, none text. Wood’s friend Walpole praised themthus: drawings of theruins, accompanied by a neutral both citiescontained measured plans and accurate (ancient ) (in spent (now Roman ruins:thepalace of Diocletian at Spalatro ork produced hisown survey of a group of monumental Adam, chitectural in for French translation, and became usefulsource books published inseveral editions, inbothEnglish and architecture ood, hugely companion volume Wood’s Robert

The Calke copy contains thetext inEnglish and Wood and hiscollaborator James Dawkins the

modern ar

Palmyra

Split

w five

capital W who influential

Plate study

Heliopolis)

only days

in

of S met

27

in

yria) …

46, The Ruins of Palmyra

Cr

and of ar

by in Britain

recording

T

oatia.

chitects W features,

the

shown

he the

in

its entablature) before ood

The Ruins of Balbec

the

modest in Roman

partial text);

and

in Lebanon.

development

here, such

Rome

moving with

the Americ

plates

Latin

ruins descriptions 75

illustrates a buildings

their from s

in

(London,

Robert

T

inscription

44 a. on of the heir

T influence

Palmyra a and to

hey

of 1750s, building ere

(1757) w

Baalbek

in A a classical orks

45

w 1753)

dam. detail

prefixed Palmyra ere

show

later w and

on seen

its

tuart to be any direct connection. Reginald abic circle of friends at theBM,such as Samuel Birch and have oide and British Museum, and later took charge of theHebrew 1782, Sahidic dialect before itsposthumouspublication. In larendon oide in four volumes – adding notes and a section onthe Scholtz’s manuscriptfor thisgrammar –originally by Godfrey (1661–1739) revised theLexicon Aegyptiaco-Latino scholar brother-in-law, thetheologian and early Coptic (where an presentin Greek. from abic adapted Greek alphabet, with additionalsymbols Wilkinson’scontainhand andCopticscript:an Church. Thenotes shown alongside arein Gardner Coptic remains theliturgical language of the Coptic Egyptian in is would the Christian acquired thisgrammar, but a knowledge of Coptic – We have noinformation on when Gardner Wilkinson

s Scholtz closely

Hieroglyphic the interest

last Ar

been W Demotic

C have

he

Paul form

W

S Scholz,

Ar related

wa

wa

influential

in manuscripts

with been wa Ernest

s the of

a

court Egyptian

s

(1725–90),

German Poole,

script.

the

Grammatica Aegyptica a appoint

the

to Egyptian vit Press fter

Jablonski

Late

indigenous al

preacher), a on

ssistance the

for but

Although in

there. Gar to ed

clergyman Egyptian

1775. late his

manuscripts and he

represent a dner

ssistant

(1693–1757).

w

died

seventeenth

W

W

this ork encouraged of

language

oide’s

W oide superseded

his which

too

ilkinson in wa who

of La Crozeof librarian

pupil, sounds (Oxford, Egyptology; then s

soon w

published held

developed ork

wa

Scholt of

edited

and century,

C by

s

for must in Egypt

harles not

writ by a 1778)

his t Berlin

there

his

the z

ten

it

–

Hope inthe Greek style, believed to comefrom Reproduction of a classical relief mosaic depicting Inédites here of a personal connection. archaeologist Raoul-Rochette, there isnoevidence probably acquaintances incommon with theFrench letters. But although hehad many interests and chaeology rich in association copies,often with tipped-in antiquarians and chbishop European intellectuals. figure former collection piece, 1836 it was inNaples– along with itscompanion the Désiré Gardner Wilkinson had wide interests inhistory

ancient ar

Raoul-Rochette who

a

(Paris, Ar

mosaic

of

corresponded

city

throughout Giuseppe 1836)

of

of and

Hermes/Mercury Metapontum

of

maintained (1789–1854),

T

C aranto

apecelatro Europe;

with

and many

many (southern Peintures Antiques his

a

(1744–1836), – library

cultured of

in

links

the

the

Italy). is great with

In

44 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 45 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Character intheBritish Museum Egyptians for a fullunderstanding of thesubject. Wilkinson’s recommendation that it was essential influential and published a revised edition of Wilkinson’s that however, rejected hisprevious recommendation twentiethd dynasty (c. important account of tomb robberies under the papyrus reproduced in volume 2, which gives an and Department Birch and Edward Hawkins of theBritish Museum’s Egyptian This work contains lithographed facsimiles of Samuel Birch

aide they

Birch became

papyri, buy in

the The Manners and Customs of the Ancient

1878.

(1813–85), o

the f BM’s

Antiquities.

one

with

He full

purchase

of

1100bc

never

Abbot introductory

Select Papyri of theHieratic

the

first

visit W t he ).

(London

collection.

in ilkinson T

ed

British 1857

museum Egypt,

text

of 1841–60)

r

Egyptologists ecommended

the by

despite

Samuel

Abbot had,

t

Country House: AGrandCountry Tour (London: Weidenfeld House in Seventeenth-Century England(New Haven: Houses pictures (especially usefulfor libraries which are & Yale, useful pursue ales, questions which Englishresearchers might wish to of the Book in Wales Eiluned Rees, A Nation and itsBooks: A History of Nineteenth ‘Country-House Libraries of theEighteenth and Britain. For libraries in Wales, Thomas Lloyd’s essay investigating a country-house library in Great nevertheless provide food for thoughtfor anyone estates late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and there were state-sponsored landreforms inthe libraries inEngland, Scotland and Wales (in Ireland Northern Ireland. While notdirectly relevant to some detailed history onthe Trust’s libraries in effort. to beconsulted inlibraries, butthey are worth the 2006). Ireland and The Cambridge History of Libraries inBritain and (Cambridge: like The Cambridge History of theBook inBritain or inmassive and extremely expensive surveys specialist journals,inpublished conference papers, more recent research, muchof itonly available in parts of itinevitably have been superseded by of thecountry house,but after more than30 years, should beread by anyone interested in any aspect makes more thanpassing mentionof libraries, and the English Country House by visitors atMark all. Girouard’snow classic private apartments of theowners, and are notseen grand private houseshistoric libraries are inthe notable exceptions, even worse, and indeed inmany Guides to privately owned houses are, with a few frequently small visitor numbers mean that guides are less out arelibrariesand worth somethingon watching recent National Trust guidebooks usually include no comprehensive book onthesubject. More country-house libraries, and there is, as yet, houses, there issurprisingly little inprint about Despite theenormousliterature onBritish country Further Reading Suggestions for

On

Nicolson, W

for;

1999). interiors,

material

My

(Cambridge: (Swindon: on For

like older

1998)

own their

reprinted)

most

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enturies’, editions

ambridge

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The Big HouseLibrary: in Books Ulster

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Bookbinding Styles, 1450–1800 (London: British Patronage and Collecting Art books National the catalogue of a blockbuster exhibition at the (ed.), be aimedmight atcriticisms Gervase Jackson-Stops between theseventeenth century and 1914. Similar have muchto teach us about life on a landed estate packed with jaw-dropping treasures, but which still libraries –like that at Calke – which have never been the market, rather thanonthesocialhistory of these tend to concentrate onthegrander endof descriptions of libraries being sold.Inevitably auction catalogues, at best with usefulhistorical useful were for and how they functioned. There ismore deal more about what country-house libraries ultimately, thepointof a library, and not a great says virtually nothing about thebooks which are, ccessible get holdof second-hand, butontheother handit not History and material culture. Provenance Research inBook wanting to think about books as historical artefacts and is a compelling and essentialread for anyone 2008) of Beyond their Books Texts (London: British Library, recommended: hisBooks asHistory: theImportance individual properties. bibliography, updated regularly, listspublications on a National Trust homepage on Copac also includes http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/. also visible intheNational Trust Collections website abbreviated versions of thecatalogue records are detailed (Copac.ac.uk),s more online. The Trust’s libraries catalogue isonline rather impossible to get hold of a copy of what isnow are 38 Trustproperties. Theaccompanyingessays contains a far wider range of books selected from Oak Libraries conclusion of the Campaign for Country House Club, (NewNational TrustHouses York:Country Grolier but nottypical. of thespectrum: interesting and beautiful, certainly,

gazetteer A Nicolas Barker’s Treasures fromtheLibraries of

useful trio a

Foundation,

Treasures Housesof Britain: 500 Years of Private 1999),

material a

illustrated does (London:

of rare

information

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46 The Libraries at Calke Abbey 47 The Libraries at Calke Abbey Revealed course,H.M. Colvin’s Aristocracy David Cannadine’s derived. If Colvin’s text deals with theparticular, against theoriginaldocumentsfrom which it was cross-referencing information intheprinted text frustration, therefore, isthenear impossibility of hands published. With the Calke archive now inthesafe which Colvin seems to have envisaged was never without footnotes, butthemore detailed study perceived as an introductory text, it was issued first reading for anyone handling early books for the Library, and twentieth centuries. power, wealth and socialprestige inthenineteenth how British landowners progressively lostpolitical roofs and eccentric owners, butexamining indetail picture, dwelling notontheminutiae of leaking Finally, on Calke itself, theessential work is,of

time.

of

2005)

(London: the

(New

Derbyshire

go

Haven:

a National Decline and Fall of theBritish

stage Calke Abbey: a HiddenHouse

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ale, beyond,

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1990)

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1985). ffice, and

gives

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ys big

200,000 (for a collection which even then was well over Trust were lot of truthinthis,butmany of theproblems treatinglibrariesas wallpaper. its There a was in thetwo Beatles housesinLiverpool. in Styal, and even theoddpiece of memorabilia books for factory workers at Quarry Bank Mill farmers’ library at Townend intheLake District, other thancountry houses: a uniqueearly and there are books and libraries inproperties the smaller housescontain important things, Tyntesfield, Kedleston, Lacy, Lanhydrock, Charlecote, Wimpole, Belton, sixteenth and nineteenth centuries at Kingston outstanding collections assembled between the houses contain an important library, with rust in Norfolk. Mostof the Trust’s major country collection of Renaissance books at Blickling Hall Cottage; very in excess of a quarter of a millionbooks. The 160 libraries, which between themcontain well The National Trust isresponsible for more than AccessIssues and National TrustLibraries: For years the Trust was often criticised for

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in thehistory of libraries: new group members becoming a key resource for thoseinterested National Trust Libraries Facebook Group (rapidly with loans and exhibitions. There is a thriving room guides and specialist groups, and helping next cataloguing project, speaking to visitors, country advising property teams, planning the team of library specialists scurries around the books online record of all copiesof pre-1801 British which (estc.bl.uk), contributors Title toCatalogueShort theEnglish catalogue, and the Trust’s libraries are now major ac.uk), are now described indetail on Copac (copac. only 20 years ago. Inexcess of 200,000 books which would have been almost unbelievable first at thetime.By thesecond decade of thetwenty- access, frustrating thoughthat was for researchers a generation ahead of cataloguing and public rust probably better that theconservation started in looking after itslibraries. With hindsightit was 1960s very good photographs and even display cases are all the Trust’s libraries are coming back to life. elcome), more digitisation are obvious things – but slowly More remains to bedone–more exhibitions and ery publications, are over The Gardner Wilkinson Library intheearly 1980s Front Printed Designed Edited by Claire Forbes Assistant Trust; Main Registered charity no. 205846 2013 TheNational Trust© Images/Mike Trust Trust Trust Picture All

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