The Maughan Library
Encyclopedia
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
building located on Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane
Chancery Lane is the street which has been the western boundary of the City of London since 1994 having previously been divided between Westminster and Camden...
in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
. Since 2001 it has been in use as the main library of King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
. It was formerly home to the Public Record Office
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
, the so-called "strong-box of the empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
" and is now the main library of the college, forming part of its Strand Campus. Designed by Sir James Pennethorne
James Pennethorne
Sir James Pennethorne was a notable 19th century English architect and planner, particularly associated with buildings and parks in central London.-Life:...
and built between 1851 and 1858, it is a Grade II* listed building. Inside the Library is the octagonal Round Reading Room, inspired by the reading room of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, and the former Rolls Chapel (medieval, but restored in the 1770s; renamed the Weston Room following a donation from the Garfield Weston Foundation
Garfield Weston Foundation
The Garfield Weston Foundation is a grant-giving charity, based in the United Kingdom.It was formed by Canadian businessman W. Garfield Weston , who during his lifetime contributed to numerous humanitarian causes both personally and through his companies. His philanthropic works continue through...
) with its stained glass windows, huge mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
floor and three monuments, including an important Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
terracotta figure by Pietro Torrigiano
Pietro Torrigiano
Pietro Torrigiano was an Italian sculptor of the Florentine school. According to Giorgio Vasari, he was one of the group of talented youths who studied art under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence....
of John Yonge
John Yonge
John Yonge , English ecclesiastic and diplomatist, was born at Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, and educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford, where he became a fellow in 1485. Probably the son of John Yonge, Lord Mayor of London...
, Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
, who died in 1516. The library was named after Sir Deryck Maughan
Deryck Maughan
Sir Deryck C. Maughan is a British businessman and philanthropist. He graduated from King's College London with a BA in 1969, and earned a MS from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1978, where he was a Harkness Fellow....
, himself a King's alumnus, who together with Lady Maughan made a £4m donation towards the new College library.
History
The Domus ConversorumDomus Conversorum
The Domus Conversorum was a building and institution in London for Jews who had converted to Christianity. It provided a communal home and low wages. It was needed because all Jews who converted to Christianity forfeited all their possessions.It was established in 1253 by Henry III...
was established in the 13th century to provide a residence and chapel for converted Jews. In the 14th century the Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
became warden, and since there were no longer Jews legally in England, the chapel became known as the Rolls Chapel and was also used for storing legal papers. The chapel was rebuilt in 1617 and 1717-24 but the records were moved in 1856 and the chapel torn down in 1895.
The earliest part of the modern building is the central wing, 1851-56. It was built with a view to minimising the risk from fire so the storerooms were individual closed cells and the building had no heating. Two search rooms were added in 1863 and a clock tower in 1865. In 1869-71 the building was extended along Fetter Lane
Fetter Lane
Fetter Lane is a street in the ward of Farringdon Without in London England. It runs from Fleet Street in the south to Holborn in the north.The earliest mention of the street is "faitereslane" in 1312. The name occurs with several spellings until it settles down about 1612. There is no agreement...
and in the 1890s two more wings were added (the architect was John Taylor). At this time the medieval walls of the chapel were found to be unsound and so these had to be rebuilt. In 1902 the chapel became a museum for the Record Office.
Holdings
It holds more than 750,000 items including books, journals, CDs, records, DVDs, theses and exam papers. These items cover four of the college's Schools of Study: Arts and Humanities, Law, Natural & Mathematical Sciences and Social Science & Public Policy. This includes the collection of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and the post-1850 collection of Sion CollegeSion College
Sion College, in London, is an institution founded by Royal Charter in 1630 as a college, guild of parochial clergy and almshouse, under the 1623 will of Thomas White, vicar of St Dunstan's in the West....
. In addition to this, the library holds more than 150,000 78rpm records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
donated by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 2001 which span a wide range of genres. Further to this, in 2007 the library acquired the historical collections of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
, which includes Britain's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
1812 declaration of war
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
on the USA.
Foyle Special Collections Library
The building is also home to the Foyle Special Collections Library, "a collection of over 110,000 printed works as well as thousands of maps, slides, sound recordings and some manuscript material". Amongst this manuscript material is the Carnegie Collection of British Music, a collection of original, signed manuscripts, many of them by notable composers, whose publication was funded by the philanthropist Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
via the Carnegie UK Trust.