de Riga’s Aurora, a 13th century bible in Latin verse. But the personnel surrounding the library suggest interesting possibilities. Melanie said: “The library was funded by both Whittington and a man named William Burie or Bury. Less is known about him. However, we do know that one of his executors Thomas Chaucer was the son of Geoffrey Chaucer. John Carpenter also had a Chaucer connection, having made copies of Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde. So it is a nice supposition that Chaucer’s works could have been part of the original library, but without any historical evidence.”
Collection dissolution
In 1547, the library was forfeited to the crown along with the chapel and college but evidence suggests it continued to exist until 1549. The end came when, according to London Archives records, William Cecil, then secretary to the Duke of Somerset, was “permitted to borrow all such books of St Augustine’s works and other as he now desireth that remain in the Guildhall chapel with this gentle request to be made to him upon the delivery of the same: that this house trusteth that he, having perused them, will restore them to the said library there to remain to such use as they were provided for.”
Melanie said that the books were not returned and in 1553 the library’s desks were sold and the building leased to Sir John Ayliffe as a store house for clothes, but added: “I have not been able to find any references to any commentary on the loss of the books and the closing of the library, until the 19th century.”
Collection resurrection
Whether you date it from the loss of the collection or the loss of the building, it was about 280 years before another library was established. Opened in 1828 for members of the Corporation only, the new library’s collection of 1380 works in 1700 volumes began to grow as did its membership with tickets granted to literary men as well as members.
Melanie said the Guildhall library movement picked up momentum when in 1869, “W. Sedwick Saunders, the Chairman of the Library Committee, wrote a 57-page pamphlet detailing
Melanie Strong.
the history of the original library with the purpose of building support for a new home for the collections, one that would be available to all residents and workers of London. So even before opening as a public library the legacy of the original library was used to bring about support from members of the corporation as well as the public.”
Collection today
“Our current collection development policy focuses on the London collection for purchases, new histories and research on London,” Melanie said, adding “We have a small budget for any rare material to fill gaps in the collections. Our largest new collections have all been donations. Recently, this has included personal collections from members of the Guild of Food Writers, as well as a large donation of shipping photographs and ephemera that form the basis of our Newell Dunn collection.” The collection includes cookery books, ‘penny dreadfuls’, and one of the world’s finest First Folios held in collections, but focuses on London history and houses the largest collection devoted to a single city in the world.
The 600-year anniversary exhibition itself, Guildhall Library 600, displays some of the library’s most impressive and iconic literary treasures (including the Peter de Riga Bible) and ex- plains the history of the library.
Collection access
Guildhall library is a public research library, funded by the City of London Corporation. “Because we are reference only, we don’t require people to join the library to use the collections” Melanie said. “Our users range from academics to local businesspeople or students looking for a quiet area to study as well as a core group of homeless users who use our computers every day. “A lot of users aren’t used to historical collections or archive collections and need extra help accessing the materials. Because most of our collections are closed access, this means that staff are required to have a good working knowledge of the collections to help them find the right sources.”
Because of this, they said: “Guildhall Library is quite unique because of its broad user base. We are both a research library and a public library, so staff need to be able to have wide collections knowledge as well as be able to foster a welcoming environment for everyone, not focusing solely on the needs of the researchers, but all our users.”
Funded by the City of London Corporation – which is one of Winter 2025 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL 25
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