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
Stuart Clark: The Space Age (1957)
Michèle Mendelssohn: Making Oscar Wilde (1882)
Catherine Fletcher: The Beauty and the Terror (1492)
Selma van de Perre: Liberation (1945)
Hugh Aldersey-Williams: Christiaan Huygens (1655)
Jonathan Schneer: The Lockhart Plot (1918)
Alan Mikhail: The Ottomans (1517)
Rebecca Wragg Sykes: Neanderthals (Eemian)
Simon Hall: Fidel Castro in Harlem (1960)
Thomas Levenson: The South Sea Bubble (1720)
Ken Follett: The Evening and the Morning (1002)
Prof. David Abulafia: Wolfson Prize Special (1415)
Justin Marozzi: Seizure of Constantinople (1453)
Prof. Greg Woolf: Rise of the Romans (146 BCE)
Craig Brown: Beatlemania (1963)
Luke Pepera: Mansa Musa (1325)
Prof. James Shapiro: Manifest Destiny (1845)
Season Three Trailer
Owen Matthews: Richard Sorge (1941)
Kelcey Wilson-Lee: Daughters of Chivalry (1297)
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