It’s a welcome return to Linda’s Book Bag from Claire Cock-Starkey in celebration of A Library Miscellany as I have previously reviewed Claire’s The Book Lover’s Miscellany here. I’m delighted to have The Patron Saint of Librarians as an extract for you from A Library Miscellany today.

A Library Miscellany was published by The Bodleian Library on 8th March 2018 and is available for purchase here.

A Library Miscellany

What can be found in the Vatican’s Secret Archive? How many books did Charles Darwin’s library aboard the Beagle hold? Which library is home to a colony of bats? Bursting with potted histories, quirky facts and enlightening lists, this book explores every aspect of the library, celebrating not only these remarkable institutions but also the individuals behind their awe-inspiring collections. From the ancient library at Alexandria to the Library of Congress in Washington DC, A Library Miscellany explores institutions both old and new, from the university library to that of the humble village. It opens the door to unusual collections such as herbaria, art libraries, magic libraries and even the library of smells, and charts the difficulties of cataloguing books deemed to be subversive, heretical, libellous or obscene. Packed with unusual facts and statistics, this is the perfect volume for library enthusiasts, bibliophiles and readers everywhere.

An extract from A Library Miscellany

My Review of A Library Miscellany

I’m tempted to refer readers to my review of The Book Lover’s Miscellany as A Library Miscellany is equally as good and very similar in style and presentation.

Once again, the materials presented have been meticulously researched and there is so much detail and information packed into this little book. it may be diminutive in size but it holds a wealth of information.

I was quite surprised by some of the lending statistics presented, and was particularly interested in the rules employed by some of our famous libraries. Whilst I understand the need to avoid chewing gum and bottles of ink in London’s British Library, I’m not sure umbrellas present too big a threat to books if they are in bags and dry! I do agree that banning ‘Engaging in sexual conduct or lewd behaviour‘ and ‘Having a knife, gun, or any other weapon‘ is a jolly good idea for New York Public Library!

What I think works so well for A Library Miscellany is the variety of entry. readers are treated to a range of facts and figures, they meet personalities and philanthropists behind libraries, they discover the history and terminology of libraries in a delightful book for all readers. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

About Claire Cock-Starkey

Claire Cock-Starkey started out in media, working at BBC Radio Four and Five Live before going on to work at LBC. Having had a family, Claire is now a writer and freelance copy editor always keen to work on new projects.

You can find out more by visiting Claire’s website and following her on Twitter @NonFictioness. You might also like to know that Claire will be speaking about both The Book Lover’s Miscellany and A Library Miscellany at Oxford Literary Festival on March 20th at 12PM. There are details here.

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