St Deiniol's Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
St Deiniol's Library (Welsh: Llyfrgell Deiniol Sant) [1] is a residential library in Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales.
St Deiniol's Library was founded by the Victorian statesman and politician, William Ewart Gladstone, it is Britain's largest residential library, and is considered an important research library in Wales with over 32,000 items, mostly in the subjects of the Arts and Humanities.
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[edit] A Short History of St Deiniol's Library
[edit] Background to the Foundation
St. Deiniol's is a unique institution, Britain's finest residential library. It was founded by the great Victorian statesman William Ewart Gladstone and which became following his death in 1898, the nation's tribute to his life and work.
A lifelong student and scholar, and a voracious reader and collector of books, Gladstone built up a remarkable library which reflects the wide range of interests of a true Victorian polymath.
The library that Gladstone was eventually to give to the nation was entirely his own creation. Its formation began when as a young boy - the son of a wealthy Liverpool merchant and benefactor - he was presented with a copy of Sacred Dramas by its author, Hannah More. Books acquired at Eton followed, and the collection really began to grow during his time at Christ Church Oxford where he received a double first in Classics and Mathematics, and another first in History, one of his passions. His habit of annotating books continued throughout his long political career - sixty-three years of active politics and four times prime minister - his diary records regular searches of book shops and book catalogues, and the reading of books in his study at Hawarden castle near Chester - a room he called the 'Temple of Peace'.
[edit] The Beginning of the Idea
In his later years, Gladstone began to think about making his personal library accessible to others. "Often pondering," writes his daughter Mary Drew, "how to bring together readers who had no books and books who had no readers, gradually the thought evolved itself in his mind into a plan for the permanent disposal of his library. A country home for the purposes of study and research, for the pursuit of divine learning, a centre of religious life."
Gladstone saw that the books classified as Divinity and Humanity would be of great value to members of all denominations of the Christian Church for the study of what he called 'divine learning'; but equally he wished to grant access to students of the humanities from other major world faiths, or none. Such potential readers needed a place where they could stay and read, and have time to think and write in a scholarly community -their own Temple of Peace
[edit] The First Library
The first step towards fulfilling this vision was taken in 1889, when two large iron rooms, lined with felt and pine, with six or seven alcoves to act as studies, were erected. Gladstone also acquired the adjacent house as a hostel to provide "inexpensive lodgings together with congenial society."
Gladstone, over eighty years old, transferred 32,000 of his books, undertaking the sheer hard manual labour himself, helped only by his valet and one of his daughters. Most of the books were moved by wheelbarrow - from Gladstone's study to the library was well over a quarter of a mile. "What man", he wrote, "who really loves his books delegates to any other human being, as long as there is breath in his body, the office of introducing them into their homes?"
This temporary building was only the beginning of realising his ambition to create a residential library. Gladstone discussed his hopes with his family and with the Trustees appointed to care for the collection. He endowed the library with £40,000, which indicates that this was more than a hobby, a sideline: this was his major bequest.
[edit] The Building of The Memorial Library
On his death in 1898 a public appeal was launched for funds to provide a worthy building to house the collection and to replace the temporary structure. The £9,000 raised provided an imposing building designed by architect John Douglas, which was opened in 1902, the National Memorial to W. E. Gladstone. It was the Gladstone family who fulfilled the Founder's vision and funded the residential wing (opened in 1907) to create this unique institution.
[edit] A Description of the Collection
Throughout this century, the library has continued to acquire books specialising in the subjects, which were of most interest to Gladstone. There are now over 200,000 volumes of Theology and History, but also excellent basic materials in Philosophy, Classics and Literature. There are also important collections of manuscripts (250,000) including much of Gladstone's correspondence.
Today St Deiniol's remains a haven in which the exhausted, the world weary, the student, the researcher, the bibliophile, clergy and laity of all denominations can work or rest at the minimum charge as envisaged by its founder.
[edit] Significant Dates
- 1809 Birth of William Ewart Gladstone
- 1889 The Iron Library
- 1894 The first students' hostel in the adjoining house
- 1898 Death of W. E. Gladstone. Buried at Westminster Abbey
- 1899 Gladstone's widow, Catherine, cut the first sod; and the Duke of Westminster on behalf of the national memorial committee laid the first stone
- 1902 14th October. St Deiniol's formally opened. £300 per annum (£15,000) to be the minimum on books.
- 1904 Residential wing started. Cost met entirely by family.
- 1908 3rd January. Residence formally opened. 15th May. King Edward VII visited the Library.
