The vast Lambeth Palace Library Bookcase
$ 98.77
- In 2020 a new Library Building in the considerable gardens at Lambeth Palace was completed – the London seat of The Archbishop of Canterbury. It comprises a tall airy brick building with views over the shoulder of St. Thomas’s Hospital across the river to The Palace of Westminster. The new building has won numerous awards and finally brings together one of the world’s most extraordinary collection of books – a collection even enthused upon by Peter the Great, after his visit in 1698, “Nothing in England astonished me as much as Lambeth Library – I had never thought there were so many books in all the world.” Since 1830, the Library was housed in the Great Banqueting Hall – in the main body of the Palace. Reminiscent of the great 17th Century libraries of Oxford and Cambridge Colleges its designer Edward Blore (1787–1879) appointed the library with peninsular bookcases creating repeated bays along the length of the great hall, under the spectacular hammerbeam roof (the latter, purportedly medieval, is in fact a mid 17th Century roof when the hall was rebuilt post-Reformation). Bookcases, matching the peninsulas lined the walls – creating miles of shelving. Edward Blore’s work, due to early collaborations with the Earl Spencer, can be found in numerous prestigious buildings including Hampton Court, Buckingham Palace, both Durham and Winchester Cathedrals and several Country Houses such as Canford Manor in Dorset. Over a century passed before there was a calamity at Lambeth. In the Blitz the old banqueting hall took a direct hit from the Luftwaffe: incendiary bombs causing serious damage to the building, and to its bookcases and the precious collection of books. Work was taken to save all and any books that had survived the blast and in time the building was restored. From photographs it is clear that, whilst many of the wrecked peninsular cabinets were beyond repair, the wall bookcases, with their distinctive carved tablets above each bay, were salvaged, repaired and reconfigured. The resultant library survived into the 21st Century. With the new building across the Palace gardens, and the bringing together of other book collections there, the old shelves in the Banqueting Hall were redundant. In restoring the old hall, and bringing its heating and access up-to-date, the Blore bookcases have been disassembled and re-formatted once again. The great fireplace at the end of the hall is flanked by some of the retained bookshelves, the long walls have been panelled – the cornice mouldings of the old bookcases have been incorporated in the scheme. The room is now used for sizable events. Surplus to the re-instatement was a complete twelve-bay wall-bookcase that is now for sale at LASSCO Three Pigeons. Removed from the context of The Great Hall it seems vast. Nearly 3metres high and nearly 12metres long it could house a huge quantity of books (nearly 50 running metres of large volumes). It would also lend itself to retail applications as well as serving as a wonderful backdrop in a hotel, bar or restaurant. If coming to view the bookcase, please make an appointment prior as the bookcase is built in our over-flow warehouse near to LASSCO Three Pigeons. Measurements: 2.9m h 11.7m wide incl cornice (11.3m wide excepting cornice) 63cm deep incl cornice (47cm deep excl cornice) 85.5 x 33 x 2.5cm each shelf 48shelves plus 8 spare Bays on 92.5cm centres 250 x 86 x 35cm each cabinet interior