A letter helps us learn about how women activists might have needed a reason to contact each other, as well as how little they may have met each other in person. Carpenter, M (1862) Letter from Mary Carpenter to Emily Faithfull, 2 July 1862. London: British Library, Add MS78907H. (1862) British Library shelfmark 8276.a.13, also available via On some of the drawbacks connected with the present Employment of Women. A paper read before the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science ... 3rd edn. London. Hunt, F (2009) ‘Faithfull, Emily’, Prochaska, F (2004) ‘Carpenter, Mary’, The Nat ..read more

Perhaps Tuckett over-extended himself: the Specimens of Ancient and Modern Bookbinding. Selected chiefly from the Library of the British Museum Tuckett (C. , Junior ) 26 April 1861, p. 213 ..read more

The next stage is an assessment of the book’s structure.  It is hoped that specialists will check and record its physical condition, notably the mounting of the jewels. was created by the British Library’s Imaging Services and Sketchfab.   Supervision was provided by the Library’s conservators.  Only the outside of the binding has been captured.  It is important to establish that the process can cope safely with the many protruding onlays and jewels before considering its application to the dazzling inner boards and printed content. 1909-1912 London bookbinders Sangors ..read more

The references in the obituary to the two other initiatives, the Calcutta Bibliotek circulating library and a school, are interesting as no other records of them appear to exist. There was however a Calcutta Library Society with its own lending library, which was established in 1818.  It is perhaps possible that this may be the ‘Bibliotek’ referred to in the obituary, but Ferris’s name does not appear in records as one of its founders. Memorial at Fort William Burial Ground (Hindu inheritance law) and (a courtly romance), which was also the first Bengali book to be accompanied by woodcut ..read more

Do we know for certain that the dogs in these stories were Peritas?  No, but perhaps they were.  Perhaps Peritas really was a dog so incredible he deserved to have a city named for him.  Or perhaps Peritas is merely one of the many myths that has grown up around Alexander the Great in the 2,300 years of storytelling that surrounds the historical man.  To discover more of the myths and legends surrounding Alexander the Great, visit our exhibition . United Kingdom, Oxbow Books, 2020. Affective Relations and Personal Bonds in Hellenistic Antiquity ..read more

Charles Tuckett senior appeared in the 1871 census as a widower and ‘Retired Bookbinder’ living with his unmarried daughter in Croydon.  It was a far cry from his entry in the 1861 listings for Bloomsbury, as a bookbinder employing 52 men, 19 women and a boy. Tuckett’s ‘signature’ as a bookbinder A History of the British Museum Library, 1753-1973 Their Present Miserable State of Cremation': the Restoration of the Cotton Library ..read more

Perhaps the most sympathetic view of Davenport’s character came from his eccentric friend and British Museum colleague, poet Theo Marzials.  In  a condolence letter to Davenport’s daughter, Marzials wrote: 'Cyril is a bit of me – of course, and always was and ever will be.  We just meet and are side by side, arm in arm, heart to heart …. Dear old Squirrel'. (London), 1 June 1925 p.7 Theo Marzials and Davenport in 1878 Selected by John Guest  e.g. The Hastings pageant - Saturday 27 June 1914 p.9; Lecture by Davenport entitled ‘Beautiful Bookbindings ..read more

Would you like to get your hands on these fantastic items?  Come to the British Library, become a reader and explore our vast collections. Collecçam dos Documentos, estatutos, y memorias da academia ... anno 1721 ... ordenada pelo Conde de Villarmayo - British Library X.700/456 ..read more

M. M. Foot, "A Binding by the Charity School Binder," , he thanked a Dr Cox who helped him through his illness (and he bound a copy of his book for the doctor, now in Bryn Mawr College, P.A.).  The Parish of St Giles in the Fields paid £10 for him to be freed in 1687.  His burial date is likely to have been 23 March 1696 in the parish of Highgate. William Howitt, The Northern Heights of London: Or Historical Associations of Hampstead ..read more

The Society said it took boys who were ‘ragged, hopeless, and sometimes starving’ and gave them a means of livelihood and an incentive to industrious habits.   The occupation of a shoe-black was seen as a stepping stone to better and permanent employment. The Ragged School Shoe-Black Society. An account of its origin, operations, and present condition. By the Committee. (London, 1854 ..read more