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The Lit & Phil
@litandphil.bsky.social
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Newcastle's independent library, the Lit & Phil, is home to more than 200,000 books and music items, and has a rolling programme of events and activities.

www.litandphil.org.uk
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litandphil.bsky.social
Our new Christmas cards are back in stock!

Please enjoy ‘The Rein-Deer’ by Thomas Bewick with a festive twist.

6 cards for £8

www.litandphil.org.uk/shop/christm...
A photograph of our new Christmas card for 2025, featuring an old woodcut illustration of a Reindeer with the addition of a shiny red nose.
November 13, 2025 at 11:03 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems

No.29 "Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up"

J.M. Barrie First edition 1911. Illustrated by F.D. Bedford
A scan of the black and white illustration of 'THE NEVER-NEVER LAND', showing Peter Pan playing his pipes surrounded by wild beasts, with the pirate crew marching and singing in the background along the coast to their ship.
September 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems

No. 47 "Cook – title page and Zee-Otter"

Images from 'Reizen Rondom de Waereld: James Cook’s Voyages', published in Dutch in 13 vols. between 1795-1803.

#books #libraries #illustration
A scan of an uncoloured print showing a sea otter at rest on the Canadian coast. The title page of the multi volume set: "Reizen Rondom de Waereld: James Cook, Vertaald Door J.D. Pasteur Met Kaarten en Plaaten Elfde Deel." Depicting two cherubs uncovering the Earth.
September 11, 2025 at 2:46 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems.

No.71 'The Lobster Moth'

From Edward Donovan’s ‘Natural History of British Insects’ Volume V, published in (1796)

#antique #books #illustration #libraries
A colour plate depicting the lifecycle of the Lobster Moth. It is shown as an egg, a caterpillar on a leaf, a cocoon and an adult moth.
August 30, 2025 at 11:54 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems.

No.66 "Scotswood Bridge over the Tyne"

From ‘Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland, Illustrated from original drawings by Thomas Allom, & c.' (1833)

#old #books #illustration
A scanned, uncoloured etching of the Scotswood Bridge surrounded by a bucolic rural idyll.
August 29, 2025 at 1:31 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
'A Phoenix as vulgarly painted' Well, everyone's a critic!
A zoomed in shot of the Phoenix plate with, annotated by hand, the comment 'A Phoenix as vulgarly painted'
August 21, 2025 at 3:29 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems.

No.150 "Fables" by Gay, John, 1685-1732.

Imprint: London: Printed for John Stockdale, 1793.

#books #fables #libraries #legends #illustration
'Fable of the Elephant and the Bookseller' An illustration of a man in an 18th century bookshop implores an elephant to share his wisdom. The elephant declines. 'Fable of the Court of Death' An illustration of a macabre court with Death sat on his throne with skeletal guards.
August 15, 2025 at 9:49 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems.

No.77 'De Re Metallica Libri XII' by Georgius Agricola. (Basel, 1621)

#mining #metallurgy #oldbooks #libraries
A detailed and animated woodcut by Blasius Weffring, showing equipment and procedures explained in the text for mining.
August 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
ClassicsFest lives on!

In case you missed our opening event, 'Why Cicero Matters', you can now watch it on our YouTube channel, as well as the fantastic Corruption in the Spotlight: Cicero versus Verres (in two parts)!

Watch here 👇

www.youtube.com/channel/UCBi...

#classics #cicero #newcastle
A promotional image for ClassicsFest at the Lit & Phil Society, Newcastle. Prof. Arlene Holmes-Henderson and Prof. Vittorio Bufacchi sitting by a 'WHY CICERO MATTERS' banner on a stage in the centre of the Main Library. Photo Credit: Sound Ideas Media Two ladies dressed as barristers listen to evidence in front of a wall covered in old photographs in the Common Room, Newcastle. From the Corruption in the Spotlight event. Photo Credit: Sound Ideas Media
August 14, 2025 at 9:43 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems

No.18 'Gemini' for 'Global sleep under the stars night'

From 'A Celestial Atlas: comprising a systematic display of the heavens in a series of thirty maps : illus. by scientific description' by Alexander Jamieson. 1822
A scan of a coloured print showing the Gemini constellation beautifully illustrated with the text: 'Published February 1.1822 by G& W.B.Whittaker T. Cadell & N. Hailes, London
August 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The first thing that came to mind...

#album #covers
A CD / Vinyl single cover for Scottish band IDLEWILD's track 'i understand it' showing a stylised picture of a lighthouse against a grey background.
August 8, 2025 at 9:25 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems

No.367 for #nationallighthouseday

From 'Our seamarks : A plain account of the lighthouses, lightships, beacons, buoys, and fog-signals maintained on our coasts for the guidance of mariners' by Edwards, E. Price (1884)
Two scanned illustrations put together. The smaller inset is a map of Scotland and the coast of Northern Ireland with red and white marks denoting the range and location of Lighthouses and Lightships. The larger is a cross section of the lighthouses at Bell Rock & Skerryvore.
August 7, 2025 at 4:57 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems.

Since it is apparently #InternationalOwlAwarenessDay...

No.547 | ORNITHOLOGY 'The Owl'

From ‘The Ornithology of Francis Willoughby of Middleton in the County of Warwick’. 1678.

#books #libraries #illustration
An uncoloured lino cut of 4 species of owls at varying degrees of accurate description.
August 4, 2025 at 2:37 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems.

No.436 for #internationaltigerday

From Volume I of ‘Oriental Field Sports’, by Captain Thomas Williamson, drawings by Samuel Howett. 1808.

#books #libraries #illustration
An uncoloured illustration, somewhat naïve, of a tiger lying down by a rockface flanked by trees with 'ORIENTAL FIELD SPORTS' seemingly painted or carved into the stone. The tiger has magnificent whiskers.
July 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems

No. 105 'Herbal'

From the 2nd ed. (1824) of Thomas Green’s ‘The Universal Herbal, or, Botanical, Medical and Agricultural Dictionary’.

#books #libraries #herbs #flowers #medicine
A coloured illustration of several varieties of dianthus flower stem. Titled, 'DIANTHUS' showing yellow, pink and white types. A coloured title page print which reads: 'THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL or Botanical, Medical and Agricultural Dictionary by Thomas Green'. It is surrounded by a grapevine motif on the top with nymphs and cherubs playing and at the bottom with a rural idyll of workers relaxing amidst overflowing amphorae.
July 25, 2025 at 3:37 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
Music was by Top Banana, and the evening saw the premiere of 'Mrs Affleck's Affliction', by Anita Holbrow, our competition winner, performed by Jacqueline Phillips, recorded and produced by Kit Haigh, and directed by Cinzia Hardy.
W/ thanks to Lycetts, The Henfrey Charitable Trust and an anon. donor
A coloured print showing the 'New Library' of the Lit & Phil as it would have appeared after shortly after being built.
July 22, 2025 at 10:09 AM
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Announcing a perfect birthday present, support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund of up to £274,000 to help secure our future and build our audience, Alexander reported that this award will help the Lit & Phil progress plans to apply for a full National Grant of over £4.5m at a later date!
A colour photograph of an actor dressed as an early 19th century cleaning lady in the persona of the spirit of Mrs Affleck, who worked in the early days of the Lit & Phil Library. She has a long feather duster and is dusting the old plaster ledges high up on the Gallery in the Main Library. Photographs by Donna-Lisa Healy
July 21, 2025 at 3:52 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
At last it has happened - our 200th Birthday Party took place on Friday 18th July! Members and special guests joined our celebrations, which were kicked off by a fine speech from our President, Alexander Armstrong.

#bicentenary #libraries
A colour photograph of Alexander Armstrong giving a speech, flanked by Mary Durkin, the chairwoman of our Board. They are standing in the Gallery overlooking the Main Library of the Lit & Phil Library, Newcastle upon Tyne. Photographs by Donna-Lisa Healy
July 21, 2025 at 3:48 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems.

No.1 "Winter"

From 'A winter in Lapland and Sweden : with various observations relating to Finmark and its inhabitants; made during a residence at Hammerfest, near the North Cape' by Arthur de Capell Brooke. 1827
A scan of a somewhat stained uncoloured illustration of a train composed of individual reindeer attached to single person sleds. The men in the sleds are thickly dressed in furs. The caption reads: "THE AUTHOR IN HIS WINTER DRESS AS HE TRAVELLED THROUGH LAPLAND WITH AN APPEARANCE OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS"
July 17, 2025 at 1:33 PM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems

No.22 'The North Pole'

From 'Narrative of an attempt to reach the North pole [...] and attached to His Majesty's ship Hecla, in the Year MDCCCXXVII, under the command of Captain William Edward Parry (1828)

#books
An uncoloured illustration of wild seas in a squall with 2 small boats perilously close to rocks with seabirds rising in the distance. Sir William Edward Parry (1790 1855) was an English rear-admiral and Arctic explorer. His 1819 voyage through the Parry Channel was probably the most successful in the long quest for the Northwest Passage. In 1827 he attempted one of the earliest expeditions to the North Pole. He reached 82°45′ North latitude, setting the record for human exploration farthest North. This stood for nearly five decades before being surpassed at 83°20′26″ by Albert Hastings Markham in 1875–1876.
July 11, 2025 at 10:13 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems.

How about something to inspire cool thoughts on such a warm day?

No.346 'SNOWBOUND'

From ‘Old Sporting Prints’ by Ralph Nevil, published by the Connoisseur Magazine. 1908.

#books #illustration
A coloured illustration showing 3 coaches in the countryside suffering in very deep slush and snow. One has been completely abandoned by horse and rider - the second is in the process of being abandoned and the 3rd, overcrowded, struggles past. The caption reads: "THE BRUCE PASSING THE PEVERIL COACH AND MANCHESTER MAIL"
July 10, 2025 at 9:46 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems

Since it is apparently #cowappreciationday here is a charming illustration of the famous Chillingham 'Wild Cattle'

From "A Short History of British Agriculture" by John Orr, 1922 - sadly now missing from our library.
An uncoloured bookplate showing 3 of the famous pale cows against a dark background of trees and fields with Chillingham castle in the background. The label reads: "WILD CATTLE in Chillingham Park"
July 8, 2025 at 10:39 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems

No.59 'Several Creatures'

From William Fordyce Mavor’s ‘A new dictionary of natural history; or, compleat universal display of animated nature, with the most curious and beautiful animals, elegantly coloured’. 1785-1787
A printed and hand coloured illustration of a fennec fox. #books #nature #naturalworld #illustration #libraries A printed and hand coloured illustration of a horned owl A printed and hand coloured illustration of a rhino A printed and hand coloured illustration of a Norfolk Parakeet? A bright green bird with red and blue accents on its head and wing edges.
July 7, 2025 at 3:14 PM
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The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems….

No.6 Systema Cosmicum (1641)

#books #libraries #science #astronomy #Galileo #Galilei
A scan of the Systema Cosmicum book, with Latin text and a model for a heliocentric Solar System.
July 5, 2025 at 11:52 AM
litandphil.bsky.social
The Lit & Phil’s collection of books is full of surprises, oddities and gems

No.32 ‘A Fourth Form Friendship’ (1911)

Angela Brazil was one of the first British writers of modern schoolgirls' stories written from the characters' point of view and intended to entertain rather than moral instruction.
A scan of the hardback cover for 'A Fourth Form Friendship' by Angel Brazil featuring one schoolgirl comforting another sat on a rug on the floor. Angela Brazil (1868 –1947) was one of the first British writers of modern schoolgirls' stories written from the characters' point of view and intended primarily as entertainment rather than moral instruction. In the first half of the twentieth century she published nearly 50 books of girls' fiction, the vast majority being boarding school stories. She also published numerous short stories in magazines. While her stories have been much imitated in more recent decades, and many of her motifs and plot elements have since become clichés or the subject of parody, they were innovative when they first appeared. Brazil made a major contribution to changing the nature of fiction for girls. She presented a young female point of view which was active, aware of current issues and independently minded; she recognised adolescence as a time of transition, and accepted girls as having common interests and concerns which could be shared and acted upon. #books #children #kidslit #literature #libraries #illustration
July 3, 2025 at 9:52 AM