Of all the accomplishments of human civilisation, the creation of libraries, making the preservation and transmission of knowledge possible, is surely the greatest. In this episode the academics Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen take us back to 1850, a pivotal moment in the history of public libraries.
Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen’s new book, The Library, A Fragile History, takes on the ‘long and tumultuous history’ of these noble institutions, from the clay tablets of ancient Nineveh to the problematic Google Books project (inspired, like so many other attempts to ‘encompass the world’s knowledge’, by the library of Alexandria). This is an unflinching look at library history, one that does not shy away from the neglect, the destruction and the moments when knowledge was lost.
Show NotesScene One: London, The House of Commons. The debate surrounding the Public Libraries Act is in full swing, giving us the chance to understand what this act meant to the development of libraries, and why it failed to gain so little support outside Parliament.
Scene Two: Bordeaux, France. The great municipal library of Bordeaux, one of the finest public collections in France, and one of many similar Bibliotheques municipales. Although France had a system of public libraries that were, on paper, the envy of the world (due to the size and reputation of their collections), in reality they were tombs of books: rarely used, badly funded and frequently looted.
Scene Three: New York, USA. The famous public library building was still decades in the future, but New York had a highly diverse system of different libraries, for different publics, that explain why a great central collection was so long in the making.
Mementos: Arthur, One of the books stolen by Count Libri that went missing in the mists of time in order to return it to its rightful bibliothèque municipale. Andrew, mid 19th century ‘triple-decker’ edition of The History of Pendennis by William Makepeace Thackeray.
People/Social
Presenter: Violet Moller
Guest: Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen
Production: Maria Nolan
Podcast partner: Unseen Histories
Follow us on Twitter: @tttpodcast_
Or on Facebook
See where 1850 fits on our Timeline
Bernard Cornwell: The Battle of Waterloo (1815)
Stephen Greenblatt: The Death of Christopher Marlowe (1593)
Season Five Trailer!
Colin Jones: The Fall of Robespierre (1794)
Alex Renton: Blood Legacy (1839)
Ellen Alpsten: The Tsarinas and Peter the Great (1709)
Alasdair Cross: The Spitfire and the Schneider Trophy (1925)
Philip Hoare: Albert and the Whale (1520)
Richard Ovenden: The fall of Glastonbury Abbey (1539)
Nicholas Crane: Latitude (1739)
Edward Rutherfurd: China and Queen Victoria (1839)
Leo Hollis: The Lost History of Mary Davies (1701)
Frances Wilson: D.H. Lawrence, Burning Man (1915)
Edmund Richardson: The Quest for the Lost City (1833)
Jane Rogoyska: The Katyń Massacre (1940)
Llewelyn Morgan: Ovid and the Augustan Age (14 AD)
Lindsey Davis: A Comedy of Terrors (89 AD)
Helen Carr: The Red Prince (1381)
Roland Philipps: Mathilde Carré, ‘La Chatte’ (1940)
Ross King: The Bookseller of Florence (1434)
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra