Guildhall Library - City of London Libraries

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Guildhall Library - City of London Libraries

Guildhall Library is a public reference library which specialises in the history of London.

28/08/2026

We will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday 31st August.

Enjoy the long weekend! ☀️

27/08/2026

An illustration of an Iris Aphylla from Curtis Botanical Magazine 1804 -1805

The Library of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners has been housed at Guildhall Library since 1891 and now contains over five hundred volumes. To these are added volumes from our own London history collections, celebrating the history of gardening in the capital. Visit the library to discover more.

26/08/2026

We have vast collections of fascinating pamphlets on London history and society. ✨📜

‘News from Bartholomew Fair, or The World’s Mad’ (166-) is a satirical work about the ‘vanities and fooleries’ at Bartholomew Fair. This fair lasted a fortnight in West Smithfield in late summer. Established in 1133 and suppressed in 1855 as a nuisance. 🎪

25/08/2026

WALTHAMSTOW

Free talk!

Tuesday 1st September - 2-3pm

It’s at the end of the line – the Victoria Line that is. It’s got a market that’s nearly a mile long, a boy band borrowed its post code – but there’s a bit more to Walthamstow than that. Take a virtual stroll round E17 with City of London Guide & Lecturer Jill Finch and discover what’s what in Walthamstow.

Book your free ticket here:
https://bit.ly/3Ukn2Xd

24/08/2026

The Victorians were great at railways and maps. 🚂

These show some central London lines from 'The District Railway Guide to London' Published in 1888 by City-based printers Alfred Boot & Son Ltd.

14/08/2026

The idea of being on a summer cruise right now is very appealing! 🌞

These evocative and stylish Cunard menu cards are from 1939. From the Newall Dunn collection here - one of the world’s most comprehensive photographic and ephemera resources for Merchant Shipping history covering about 1880 to the turn of the 21st century. Part of our much wider maritime collections. 🚢 ⚓️

13/08/2026

Open House 2026 🏦
Saturday 19th September

Drop in event - 1-4pm ⭐️

Anyone interested in discovering more about London's architectural history should visit Guildhall Library where an extensive exhibition and display of books and images will take you on a journey through time from Norman architecture through to Brutalism, exploring the stories behind London's development.

Book here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/drop-in-event-guildhall-library-open-house-2026-tickets-1996092304817?aff=oddtdtcreator

12/08/2026

💫 🌔🌘🌑🌒🌔💫
An eclipse is a rare and stunning celestial event that has fascinated people throughout time.

These diagrams depict the occurrence beautifully over London on 14th July 1748 - 'The cause of eclipses and the motion of the earth delineated', an engraving from Universal magazine of the time.

11/08/2026

What a difference 188 years makes... This 25-mile radius map around the capital is from ‘A New Pocket Guide to London and Its Environs’ (1838) by John H. Brady. Including ‘descriptions, from personal knowledge, of everything worth seeing or knowing within twenty-five miles of the metropolis’.

10/08/2026

On Friday Senior Librarian Isabelle Chevallot gave a talk at the London Centre about the Great Fire of London of 1666 and how this major event affected the development and growth of London. A display of original source materials from our collections was shown including maps, first-hand accounts, royal proclamations and theories of how and why the fire started.

Address

Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury
London
EC2V7HH

Website

https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/guildhall-library

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