Beginning with new evidence that cites the presence of books in Roman villas and concluding with present day vicissitudes of collecting, this generously illustrated book presents a complete survey of British and Irish country house libraries. Replete with engaging anecdotes about owners and librarians, the book features fascinating information on acquisition bordering on obsession, the process of designing library architecture, and the care (and neglect) of collections. The author also disputes the notion that these libraries were merely for show, arguing that many of them were profoundly scholarly, assembled with meticulous care, and frequently used for intellectual pursuits. For those who love books and the libraries in which they are collected and stored, The Country House Library is an essential volume to own.

Excerpt from Catalogue of the Aldenham Library: Mainly Collected by Henry Hucks Gibbs, First Lord Aldenham Three supplements were published to the first volume and one to the second, all bearing date 1898. These supplements, even when cut up and inserted on interleaved pages in the catalogue, rendered it rather confusing, and the additions, made by him before his death, and since by me, have made a new catalogue absolutely necessary. I have decided to revert to the plan of his original catalogue so far as putting all the books under one alphabet is concerned, and somewhat to shorten the description of the rare books. This work has been ably carried out for me by Miss Rudd. In the case of the rarer books I have added the words See Descriptive Catalogue to the entry. This must at present be taken to refer to my father's 1 888 volume and its supplements, but it is my hope to bring out at some time a hand list of the rarer books, not taking in perhaps so many as are treated of in his Volume I, but describing them even more fully. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.