INTRODUCTION
The Project
This project has been
underway ever since I started teaching Library History at University College
London in 1991. The aim (if not the execution) has been to compile in database
format a finding aid for the history of libraries in the British Isles to 1850,
a convenient terminus as it coincides with the Public Libraries Act. Had I
suspected that the volume of data would grow to such a vast size, I might well
have abandoned the project. The evidence in these files now occupies 30,000
records in six databases. What is available here represents about half of what
will eventually be published when I have had the time to complete and edit the
remaining files. I owe a great debt of gratitude to the numerous friends and
colleagues who have unselfishly put at my disposal their expertise and data.
Because of their generosity I therefore ask all who make use of the information
I have provided to treat these files with respect and courtesy and to
acknowledge use of them in scholarly publishing.
The preparation of the raw
information for presentation on the Web has been a colossal exercise, and I do
not pretend that this first version satisfies me entirely. Interrogating a
database is relatively straightforward: devising lists that may prove useful in
HTML format is not quite so straightforward. Nevertheless, given the power and
flexibility of today's browsers it should be possible to discover almost any
type of meaningful information without difficulty. I have eschewed a flashy
approach, and concentrated on functionality and legibility. Even so, I am sure
that novel approaches will emerge when all the files have been edited and
prepared for public view.
Since the various databases
I use are intended primarily as finding aids, notes tend to be terse and
informal. Abbreviations (mostly self explanatory) are used throughout.
Abbreviations used for scholarly books can be verified in the Sources file. The volume of data included in the various
listings amounts to over 10 MB:
when completed this is expected to rise to over 20 MB. Put another way: if printed out on
A4 it represents over 10,000 pages. As far as well-known libraries are
concerned it is assumed that the literature is familiar and is not repeated
here: most users will be familiar with the Library Association's A Directory of Rare Book and Special Collections
in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland (London, 1985;
revised edition, 1997.) Files not yet in a fit state to publish include Private Libraries, Town & Country Houses, and Population Statistics. I hope that these will be available later this year.
One obvious reason for
putting these files on the Web is to improve them, and I hope that those who
use them will advise me of mistakes and omissions, and the inevitable keying errors.
Miscodings still lurk in the databases, but as anyone who has experience with
complex data structures knows, keeping a database tidy is an endless (and
nearly hopeless) task. The Web was designed to facilitate cooperative
scholarship -even if it is now used mostly for promotional purposes - and I
hope that those who find these files useful will share their particular
expertise.
There are still numerous
directories and sources which I have not had access to in
My particular thanks for
help in compiling the data to: Keith Manley, John Crawford, Peter Reid, Barry
McKay, Peter Isaac, Michael Perkin, Richard Goulden, Elisabeth Leedham-Green,
Peter Hoare, and the numerous correspondents who have drawn my attention to
libraries I might well have missed. I am, of course, particularly grateful to
the Centre for English Studies at London University for agreeing to mount these
files on the School of Advanced Study web server, and to John Lazenbatt for
patiently making sure that everything works as it should.
Robin Alston
Email: r_alston@sunbeach.net
Comments & Suggestions to
Robin Alston
67
Updated: 20-08-06