John Passmore Edwards Centennial Lecture
A guest post by Ursula Jeffries
A beautiful reading room in an extraordinary building named after a very unusual man. The Passmore Edwards room is the setting next Monday for an evening which will explain the influence John Passmore Edwards (1823 – 1911) had on late nineteenth century society and the special role he played in the establishment of the world famous St Bride Library. This open reference library offers a collection of books, papers and artefacts on the subjects of printing history, typography, graphic design and all the allied trades. He died in 1911 and his memory would fade without the efforts of Dean Evans who will be presenting the main talk.
If Passmore Edwards had not given his personal and financial support the library would have been restricted mainly to technical manuals for the printers who trained in St Bride Foundation. This is just one aspect of the Foundation as it operates today but why not join us for an evening of introduction to some of its well-hidden treasures.
The John Passmore Edwards Centennial Lecture. Monday, 10 October, 7pm at St Bride Foundation, Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London EC4Y 8EE
Tickets are £12.50 and include wine and snacks. Special rate to London Historians members: £10.
More information on this event here.
Book tickets here.
I am glad John Passmore Edwards is getting an airing for that is very fitting.
To be honest, I did not know about St Bride Library so that is good to hear about. However, we have already come across his works on our rambles and I have reported two instances on my blog, the Passmore Edwards Free Library in Pitman Street, Hoxton (18/02/11) and, more recently, the Passmore Edwards Public Library in Borough Road (23/09/11).
These items, of course, do not exhaust the inventory of his works because he was a very prolific philanthropist. I shall raise a cup of tea to his honour on Oct 10th.