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Befriend a Book

A wide shot of a book showing interior pages and a broken spine in need of conservation

Welcome to our 2024 Befriend a Book fundraising campaign.  

We would like you to consider supporting our new Befriend a Book fundraising appeal to conserve, restore and repair up to twenty books from the Library’s unique historical collections.  

Running until 31 March 2025, this fundraising campaign gives you the unique chance to support the conservation of one of the UK’s most significant nineteenth-century collections. Based around the personal library of prime minister William Ewart Gladstone, our collection of books, manuscripts, images and illustrations was first brought together in the 1880s. The average book in our collections is 150 years old, so it is understandable that some of them need a little TLC.  

 

Befriending a Book  

There are twenty books (listed below) from the Library’s historic collections that need urgent repair and restoration. Further details about each item including photographs and catalogue information are available below or you can download our 2024 Befriend a Book list here.

The cost of befriending a book depends on the level of conservation required and starts from £150. 

You can support the conservation of an individual book by donating to our Befriend a Book campaign using the link below. 

 

How to Befriend a Book 

Please choose a book from the list below. The twenty books cover a range of themes and subjects, all of which were of interest to William Gladstone and many were part of his personal collection given to the Library. Each book is individually costed based on the level of conservation and repair required. 

Your donation will empower Gladstone’s Library to have your chosen book conserved by a qualified bookbinder, this will include repairs to pages and bindings, and reattaching covers or spines. 

The Books we would like your support to conserve are:  

Details

This book has been Befriended! Please choose another from the list.

A page outlining information about De imitatione Christi, libri quator by Thomas a Kempis. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

This book has been Befriended! Please choose another from the list.

An information sheet about Derry and Enniskillen by Thomas Witherow. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information sheet about History of Penrith by William Furness. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

This book has been Befriended! Please choose another from the list.

An Information sheet for Smaller British birds, with descriptions of their nests, eggs, habits etc. by H.G. and H.B. Adams. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

This book has been Befriended! Please choose another from the list.

An information sheet about The illustrated book of poultry by Lewis Wright. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information sheet about A popular account of the discoveries at Nineveh by Austen Henry Layard. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information sheet about Eton of old: or, 80 years since 1811-1822 by an old Colleger [William E. Tucker]. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

This book has been Befriended! Please choose another from the list.

An information sheet about The official illustrated guide to the London and North-Western railway, by George Measom. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

This book has been Befriended by one kind donor. However, we still need £180 to send this book to the conservator. Please help!

An information sheet about Mysteries of the ocean by Arthur Mangin; translated by W.H. Davenport Adams. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org.

An information sheet about Diamonds and precious stones: their history, value, and distinguishing characteristics by Harry Emanuel. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

This book has been Befriended! Please choose another from the list.

An information sheet about Areopagitica by John Milton. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

This book has been Befriended! Please choose another from the list.

An information sheet about Woman’s work and woman’s culture, edited by Josephine Butler. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information sheet about Miscellaneous pamphlets, bound together. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information sheet on The history of the drainage of the great level of the Fens, called Bedford Level by Samuel Wells. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

This book has been Befriended! Please choose another from the list.

An information sheet about Liverpool: history of the Mersey, ancient and modern by Benjamin Blower & The streets of Liverpool by James Stonehouse. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information sheet about The shield of dissent by Edward Swaine. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information about The practical poultry keeper by Lewis Wright. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information sheet about Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland: a survey of Scottish topography by Francis H. Groome. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information sheet about The climate of Llandudno by James Nicol. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

An information sheet about Diary and correspondence of John Evelyn 4 volumes. A plain text version is available if you email library@gladlib.org

Once you have made you choice 

  • Click onto our Befriend a Book donation page by using the button below
  • Select your chosen book from the list. 
  • Complete your details and make your donation. 


    The Befriend a Book donation button 

When you befriend a book by donating, you will receive:  

  • An e-certificate and a printed certificate in the name of your choice detailing the book you’ve chosen. 
  • A chance to book an informal meeting with the Librarian at Gladstone’s Library, to visit your book and discuss the conservation work that has been completed.  
  • A note in the Library’s catalogue, marking you as the Friend of that book. 
  • A print of a page, illustration, or binding of your chosen book. 
  • An email confirming your donation and information about next steps.  

By supporting you will not only help safeguard some of the rare books in the Library’s collection but also empower readers, writers, and researchers to use them.  

(Please be aware of seasonal closures and postal dates if donating as a gift).  
 

A photograph of a book that has fallen into two parts because the spine is broken

Thank you for supporting Gladstone’s Library’s Befriend a Book campaign.