British Library blogs

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These blogs express the thoughts and opinions of individual British Library staff members. You can subscribe to any blog by email.

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Fantastic books and where to see them

17 November 2018 Medieval manuscripts

This weekend is a special moment for Harry Potter fans in the United Kingdom. The latest instalment of the Fantastic Beasts film franchise is released in cinemas nationwide, starring Johnny Depp, Eddie Redmayne and Ezra Miller (all of whom have...

Round 15 Applications – Deadline Approaching

16 November 2018 Endangered archives

The deadline for the preliminary applications is next Monday 19th November at midday GMT. We’re expecting a bumper crop this year and look forward to reading the proposals once they come in. Remember we’re concerned not just about the endangered...

The Netherlands’ ‘Red Week’ in November 1918 – Troelstra’s Mistake

16 November 2018 European studies

“I let myself go, but as soon as I noticed it would not have the desired effect I withdrew.” Pieter Jelles Troelstra wrote these (freely translated) words in the fourth volume, posthumously published, of his Memoirs. Portrait of P.J. Troelstra,...

Elisabeth Lutyens: notebooks, letters, and papers

16 November 2018 Music

Nearly a hundred notebooks belonging to Elisabeth Lutyens (1906-1983) arrived at the British Library earlier this year, in several Sainsbury’s bags-for-life (the extra-large ones, ‘strong and study’ as their elephant illustrations proclaim). The little books are uniform in shape, their...