Gladstone's Library
Gladstone's Library, known until 2010 as St Deiniol's Library (Welsh: Llyfrgell Deiniol Sant), is a residential library in Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales. It is a Grade I listed building.[1]
It is believed to be the only residential library in the world.
The library was founded by the Victorian statesman and politician William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898). In 1895, at the age of 85, Gladstone gave £40,000 (equivalent to £4.13 million today)[2] and much of his own library. Despite his advanced age, he himself hauled most of his 32,000 books a quarter of a mile to their new home using his wheelbarrow.
In a characteristically sparse diary entry (dated 23 December 1895) he concisely described the library's founding thus: "I have this day constituted my trust at St Deiniol's. The cost of the work has been I think £41 to £42000, including some charges of maintenance to Dec. 31. 95. May God of His mercy prosper it." [3]
It is one of the most important research libraries in Wales with over 250,000 items, mostly in the subjects of the arts and humanities.
References
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- ↑ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ H.C.G. Matthew [ed.], 'The Gladstone Diaries, Volume XIII: 1892-1896' (1994) Oxford: Clarendon Press, p432.
See also
- Dr Williams's Library in London
- List of non-ecclesiastical and non-residential works by John Douglas
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
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