My summer in the library

I never said I was cool. I spent a lot of my summer at the British Library doing research. It’s not exactly fun, but it is interesting. For a literature and history nerd, to be able to see, touch and read original texts from, say, London, 1820 is kind of thrilling. I’ve been focusing on newspapers (the gossipier the better!), romance novels from the Regency era.

But in order to gain access to the reading rooms and all these old bits of paper, you have to get a Readers Pass. It’s, like, more difficult than getting a driver’s license. Multiple forms of ID are required, and they quiz you on specific texts you plan to use. You can’t bring your regular handbag into the reading rooms, only the items you can fit into a clear plastic bag, which the guards then check. No food or drink, and no pens! Notes are taken via laptop or pencil. As annoying as it was, I stuck with pencil just because I didn’t want to walk 40 minutes everyday carrying my laptop. I found lots of cool stuff but the main thing was that just because a book labeled itself “A Romance” didn’t mean it fit our definition of romance.

And you know how the buzz at conferences is always about historicals being dead or dying? Maybe not—the historical setting was popular very early on. I found a lot of books with subtitles like “A romance of the 11th century.”

The British Library also has some cool old books on display in their galleries (no readers card required). The Magna Carta is on display—or so they say. The scrap is so charred and illegible that for all we know, it could be a grocery list from days of yore. Also on display are early folio’s of Shakespeare’s and illuminated manuscripts. My favorites things in this gallery are:

• 1. A handwritten copy of Jane Eyre, open to the conclusion, so you can see the famous words “Reader, I married him.”
• 2. Jane Austen’s notebooks and letters. One volume contains a lot of the plays and stories she wrote as a young girl. Her father wrote on the inside cover, “Effusions of Fancy by a very young lady consisting of tales in a style entirely new.” He was right about that!

The British Library also has a gift shop, which is a lovely place to take study breaks. And buy pencils.