A Book Lover's Paradise

Borges would think this place filled the bill for paradise! About 15 years ago, some colleague handed me a photocopy of a paper that read St. Deiniol's (pronounced Dean-ee-uls--all pronunciations thanks to my fabulous Welsh cabbie who gave me Welsh 101 in about 15 minutes) Library and I have carried it around with me all these years and now I am here, in Wales, at the residential library built by Gladstone with his personal library and added to all these years since.

Built in 1906 to house the collection and provide temporary residence for scholars studying or writing here, it is quite lovely and comfy, in a small village where the Gladstone ancestral home is located, Hawarden (pronounced Harden). I am here to write an article which I started planning many years ago about a colleague librarian, Fr. Simeon Daly, and to take a look at the Moorman Franciscan collection here, which is said to be the best in Northern Europe. (We--CTU--say we have the second best in the U.S., so I want to get a good study of this collection.) So, for a small fee they provide a very nice bedroom, breakfast and dinner, use of the library, and so far quite a social life! Here is a photo of the small but VERY interesting collection in the Common Room where we gather for wine before dinner and coffee after, and possibly wine again after a short break to work!
More photos tomorrow when I get down to serious work in the amazing library!
Location: Hawarden, Deeside, Clwyd, UK

Comments

  1. ElyseJune 19, 2011 at 7:00 PM

    Melody - I was going to ask you last week, what ever happened to the Simeon Daly article? so glad you are pursuing it. Jealous of your opportunity to be there, working on it. Good luck!
    Elyse

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