Adrian Edwards

Position: Head, Printed Heritage Collections
Specialism: History and development of the British Library collection of Western printed materials; historical development of writing and printing
Department: Collections
Related Offices: Consortium of European Research Libraries (executive committee); Canterbury Cathedral Library and Archives Advisory Board; JISC Historical Texts Advisory Board

Adrian Edwards is a rare books librarian with a particular interest in linguistics and library history. He manages the Printed Heritage Collections curatorial team, which is responsible for Western printed books, periodicals, prints, drawings and ephemera from the mid-15th century through to the year 2000. He has worked at the Library for over 30 years in a variety of roles ranging from cataloguing early Italian books through to managing reference services in the Rare Books and Music Reading Room.

Current research interests focus on the collections of George III, particularly his Americana, and early editions of the plays of William Shakespeare.

Publications

Chapters

‘The Mainz Psalter of 1457’, in The Book by Design, edited by P.M.J. Marks and Stephen Parkin (London: British Library, 2023).
‘The Shakespeare First Folio of 1623’, in The Book by Design, edited by P.M.J. Marks and Stephen Parkin (London: British Library, 2023).
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, facsimile edition introduced by Adrian S. Edwards and Tanya Kirk (London: British Library; New York: Rizzoli Electa, 2023).
'Afterword: Writing and the Collections of the British Library', in Writing: Making Your Mark, edited by Ewan Clayton (London: British Library, 2019).

Articles

'The Charles G. Leland Collection of Romani Books and Manuscripts', Electronic British Library Journal, article 9 (2016).
'Destroyed, Damaged and Replaced: The Legacy of World War II Bomb Damage in the King’s Library’, Electronic British Library Journal, article 8 (2013)
'Early Northern Iroquoian Language Books in the British Library’, Electronic British Library Journal, article 2 (2008)
'Early Eastern Algonquian Language Books in the British Library’, Electronic British Library Journal, article 9 (2005)

British Library online articles

Early Shakespeare sources: a guide for academic researchers. Part 1: manuscript and early print sources for Shakespeare's works (Discovering Literature)
Early Shakespeare sources: a guide for academic researchers. Part 2: the British Library's early Shakespeare collections (Discovering Literature)
Topography and the historic shelving schemes at the British Library (Picturing Places)

Exhibitions

Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth (2022)
Writing: Making Your Mark (2019)
Comics Unmasked (2014)
Evolving English (2010-11)