It looks like that’s about how much it will cost to be a member of the London Library.
The library, founded in 1841,was the brainchild of Thomas Carlyle who wanted (and needed) an alternative to the Reading Room at the British Museum. “The true university of these days is a collection of books,’ said Carlyle.
He asked his friends to help and they did:
John Stuart Mill chose the books on political economy,
William Gladstone picked the ecclesiastical history.
Thackeray kept the books.
George Eliot became a member, and
Dickens hung out at the library while researching A Tale of Two Cities.
It is now the largest private lending library in the world with 8,000 members and 1 million books.
How important has this library become to the literary culture of England?
T.S. Eliot, a former president of the library, said “if this library disappeared, it would be a disaster to the world of letters”
Well, thankfully it is not going anywhere it is only getting a little harder to get in.
Francis Wilson takes a us on a nice trip through the library, past and present, in his piece in the Telegraph
Image above of the Art Room ca. 1930