The Great Rivalry, as told by Punch

24 October 2017

The Great Rivalry, as told by Punch

History is littered with bitter rivalries – Sparta and Athens, Lancaster and York, Tom and Jerry. But in recent centuries few have come close to matching the antagonism and divergence in styles that existed between two of Britain’s most significant leaders of the Victorian period, William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli. And what better way to learn about their rivalry than with the aid of every history student’s favourite source, (mostly because it beats sifting through mountains of unrelated papers), the satirical cartoon. 

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Class mark K

19 October 2017

Class mark K

I know what you’re thinking, the title ‘Class mark K’ is pretty vague, but I just didn’t know how else to describe this magical corner of the Annex, where I lost a good hour of my day because of the sheer number of books that I just wanted to delve into...

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Humanising Gladstone

11 October 2017

Humanising Gladstone

This is an account of an intern, fresh off the back of her first month working at Gladstone’s Library…

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Musical Mary Drew

24 August 2017

Musical Mary Drew

The contents of Mary Drew’s diaries have been something of a surprise to me! But the daughter of a four-times Prime Minister, whom later acquired the position of Private Secretary to William Gladstone, did not hide her love of music. So much so, she wrote reviews about the music she listened to, the orchestras she went to see, and her own public and private performances.

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“It’s a mere nonsense”: Gladstone’s Homeric Age

23 June 2017

“It’s a mere nonsense”: Gladstone’s Homeric Age

‘Looked into my papers on Homer: & I am strongly tempted to undertake something…’ wrote Gladstone on 7th July 1855, unaware that that ‘something’ would occupy his thoughts for much of the next three years. What began as a small project to be completed while out of office grew to a three volume work: Homer and the Homeric Age (1858).

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A Series of Unfortunate Events

30 May 2017

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Interns at Gladstone’s Library are encouraged to contribute periodic blogs on aspects of William Gladstone, the Library and its collections which really spark their interest or tie in with their own areas of expertise.

With the acquisition of the British Crime Writing Archives at Gladstone’s Library and our first ever Alibis in the Archive event taking place to launch that archive (now SOLD OUT!), Intern Danielle set about coming up with a murder mystery of her own to really get into the criminal spirit of things to come…

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The Swiss Intern

20 March 2017

The Swiss Intern

My name is Jennifer, I’m 22 years old and I’m the current Swiss intern at Gladstone’s Library. But how did somebody from Switzerland get to work here? Long story…

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‘Words, words, words': William Gladstone, 1859 and All That

31 January 2017

‘Words, words, words': William Gladstone, 1859 and All That

1859 saw the publication of many literary works. Charles Dickens, for example, began to publish his journal All The Year Round in which Wilkie Collins’s novel The Woman in White would be serialised in the same year. 

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‘Read Rossetti’s Shadow of Dante’: William Gladstone’s diary reference to Maria Francesca Rossetti

13 December 2016

‘Read Rossetti’s Shadow of Dante’: William Gladstone’s diary reference to Maria Francesca Rossetti

Most people have heard of the poet Christina Rossetti, sister of the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, but fewer readers may be aware there was another sister, Maria. Fewer still may know that she was also a published author.

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Thomas Pennant: Welsh Naturalist, Explorer, another man before his time!

7 October 2016

Thomas Pennant: Welsh Naturalist, Explorer, another man before his time!

Our founder, William Ewart Gladstone, was not the only famous figure connected to Flintshire. Thomas Pennant, a famous polymath, naturalist and traveller of the Eighteenth Century, was born and lived in Flintshire.

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