It is an icon of the Cambridge skyline
that has inspired authors from CS Lewis
to Stephen Fry.
The Cambridge University
Library's tower is an Aladdin's cave for
book lovers and historians alike.
First editions of books such as The Hobbit,
Casino Royale and the Famous Five series jostle for shelf space alongside myriad
toys, board games, Valentine's cards
pop-up books and Mr. Men cartoons which
have all found their way into the tower
since its completion in 1934.
This is an archive of global importance
and the replaceable tower collections tell the
story of our national life through the
printed word.
For the very first time
we're giving people a chance to explore
the remarkable collections of the tower
and to see inside one of the city's most
visible yet mysterious landmarks.
Described by former Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain as 'a magnificent
erection' the tower was designed by Sir
Giles Gilbert Scott architect of the
iconic red telephone box and Battersea
Power Station and became the home of
so-called secondary material received
under the Copyright Act which entitles
Cambridge University Library to a copy
of every book published in the UK since 1710.
So Victorian cookbooks and Penguin
paperback novels when they first arrived
in the library were considered of little
importance but time in a changing world
have made the ordinary into one of the
library's greatest special collections.
The library is 600 years old, houses more
than 8 million books and periodicals,
1 million maps and many thousands of
manuscripts occupying more than 125
miles of shelving which extends by a
further two miles every year.
The treasures of Cambridge University
Library's fabled 17-story Tower
Collection, chosen from 1 million volumes
will go on public display together for
the first time in a free exhibition, Tall
Tales, to be opened by Sebastian Faulks on
May the 1st and opening to the public
from May 2nd.
