| Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne |
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Literary and Philosophical Society
of Newcastle upon Tyne Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne shown within Tyne and Wear |
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| OS grid reference | NZ248638 |
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| List of places: UK • England • Tyne and Wear | |
The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle Upon Tyne (or the Lit & Phil as it is popularly known) is a historical library in Newcastle upon Tyne, England and the largest independent library outside London. The library is still available for both lending (to members) and for free as a reference library.
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Founded in 1793 as a "conversation club" by the Reverend William Turner and others – more than fifty years before the London Library – the annual subscription was originally one guinea. The Lit and Phil library contained works in French, Spanish, German and Latin; its contacts were international, and its members debated a wide range of issues, but religion and politics were prohibited[1].
The list of lecturers is a roll-call of the 19th- and 20th-century intelligentsia. George Stephenson showed his miner's lamp there, and in 1879, when Joseph Swan demonstrated his electric light bulbs, the Lit and Phil building became the first public building to be so illuminated.
The Society received in 1800 the country's first specimens of the wombat and the duck-billed platypus from John Hunter, Governor of New South Wales and honorary member of the Lit and Phil[2][3].
Between 1822 and 1825 a new building was created for the Society on Westgate Road, designed by John Green. The building is still in use today, with many original features including iron-work second-floor galleries.