The Book of the British Library

The Book of the British Library
Author: Michael Leapman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2012
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN:

As well as holding some of the world's most prized cultural treasures, the British Library is the repository of the nation's collective memory. Owing its origin to the generosity and far-sightedness of a handful of 18th-century scholars and booklovers, and built up over 250 years, the Library's very extensive collections--of books, manuscripts, maps, music, newspapers, photographs, sound recordings, stamps, and digital media--offer keys to the understanding of human achievement in literature, art, music, politics, journalism, exploration, and much else, from ancient times to the present day. In this highly illustrated book, Michael Leapman tells the Library's story, highlighting the most significant and beautiful items in its care, as well as exploring some of the lesser known, more surprising artifacts housed in its iconic building in the heart of London.

David Starkey's Music and Monarchy

David Starkey's Music and Monarchy
Author: David Starkey
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2013
Genre: Great Britain
ISBN: 184990586X

David Starkey's Music and Monarchyoffers us a new history of Britain through music, showing how the Royal Court shaped the musical landscape in ways that speak directly to our national identity. Many of our current musical symbols of nationhood - from the 'Last Night of the Proms' to football terraces erupting in song - have their origins in the way the Crown deliberately shaped the national soundtrack. This is a story of song and power, exploring how Henry VIII subverted the Reformation he started by protecting a sacred choral tradition he loved; how Henry Purcell's music was designed to help make Charles II more palatable to his subjects; how opera in Georgian London is a story of political infighting between the King and his son; and how the coronation of Elizabeth II, and the music of Vaughan Williams, represented the last dramatic moment of Church and State coming together in all its grandeur. David Starkey's Music and Monarchywill change the way you hear our country's most iconic musical masterpieces.

Sailor Song

Sailor Song
Author: Gerry Smyth
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020-06
Genre: Sailors
ISBN: 9780712353700

Passed down in the oral tradition and sung traditionally as working songs, sea shanties tell the human stories of life at sea: hard graft, battling the elements, the loss of ships or pining for a lady on shore. Its pages decorated with hand-drawn or wood-cut illustrations from celebrated artist Jonny Hannah, Sailor Song addresses the current modern revival of sea shanties, and seeks to celebrate and to explore the historical, musical and social history of the traditional sea song through 40 beautiful, mournful, haunting and uplifting shanties. Acclaimed shanty devotee Gerry Smyth presents the background to each one alongside musical notation. The lyrics are elaborated with explanations of terminology, context including historical facts and accounts of life at sea, and the characters, both fictional and non-fictional, that appear in the songs from the great age of sail to the last days of square-rig. Where appropriate, a direct digital link is made to a shanty recording in the British Library Sound Archive.

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys.

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys.
Author: Viv Albertine
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2014-11-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1466873078

A feminist musician icon, Viv Albertine reveals the rocking, uncompromising story of her life on the front lines at the birth of the British punk movement and beyond in this exciting, humorous, and inspiring memoir. Selected by the New York Times as one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years Viv Albertine is a pioneer. As lead guitarist and songwriter for the seminal band The Slits, she influenced a future generation of artists including Kurt Cobain and Carrie Brownstein. She formed a band with Sid Vicious and was there the night he met Nancy Spungeon. She tempted Johnny Thunders...toured America with the Clash...dated Mick Jones...and inspired the classic Clash anthem “Train in Vain.” But Albertine was no mere muse. In Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys., Albertine delivers a unique and unfiltered look at a traditionally male-dominated scene. Her story is so much more than a music memoir. Albertine’s narrative is nothing less than a fierce correspondence from a life on the fringes of culture. The author recalls rebelling from conformity and patriarchal society ever since her days as an adolescent girl in the same London suburb of Muswell Hill where the Kinks formed. With brash honesty—and an unforgiving memory—Albertine writes of immersing herself into punk culture among the likes of the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks. Of her devastation when the Slits broke up and her reinvention as a director and screenwriter. Or abortion, marriage, motherhood, and surviving cancer. Navigating infidelity and negotiating divorce. And launching her comeback as a solo artist with her debut album, The Vermilion Border. Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. is a raw chronicle of music, fashion, love, sex, feminism, and more that connects the early days of punk to the Riot Grrl movement and beyond. But even more profoundly, Viv Albertine’s remarkable memoir is the story of an empowered woman staying true to herself and making it on her own in the modern world.

O, the Brave Music

O, the Brave Music
Author: Dorothy Evelyn Smith
Publisher: Hassell Street Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9781013481239

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Treasures of the British Library

Treasures of the British Library
Author: Nicolas Barker
Publisher:
Total Pages: 272
Release: 1996
Genre: Library resources
ISBN: 9780712304092

In this highly-illustrated account, Nicolas Barker reveals the history of the British Library's treasure house of books and manuscripts. The Library's holdings cover collections spanning almost three millennia, from the establishment of the British Museum, which brought together the libraries of Sir Hans Sloane, Sir Robert Cotton and Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford, to the foundation of the British Library in 1973 and to some outstanding acquisitions of the present day.