Step inside a library that Belle would be jealous of.
On a cold Monday afternoon Mum and I hopped on the train and took a very familiar route to the V&A for a behind the scenes tour of the National Art Library. I like to take full advantage of my mums V&A Membership and invite myself along to most of the special previews she gets to go to!
As it is the festive season the exhibition was entitled ‘Capturing Christmas in Print’ and we were promised a journey through the decades to celebrate Christmas in print and illustrations and goodness did they deliver!
I was excited at the thought of just a show and tell in this idyllic setting but when they told us we would be allowed to hold the items and photograph them I was ecstatic – the history geek is shining through.
One of the most exciting things in the collection was the first ever Christmas card which was commissioned by the museums first director Sir Henry Cole in 1843 and I fell in love with some of the beautiful additions of Christmas Carol they had on display.
Everything they showed us was just beautiful and with over one million books in the library I’m sure there are many other treasures just waiting to be shared. After examining every inch of each piece we went on a grand tour of their archives which stretches over three floors and houses one of the greatest collections in the world!
The National Art Library is open to all visitors and it’s worth a look even if your not the biggest book worm!
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