European studies blog: Publishing and printing

15 August 2025

The Scrapbooks of the Imprimerie Royale

The seven volumes of the Planches Gravées de l’Imprimerie Royale [Plates of the Royal Printing House], held by the British Library at shelfmark 1750.c.7., are essentially a series of scrapbooks. They house over 2300 prints, dating from the Imprimerie Royale’s inception in 1640 to 1789, just before its name change in 1790 to reflect revolutionary sentiment. Some are stand-alone prints, but most are illustrations taken from books published in this (nearly) 150-year period by the printing house.

Cut out of their works, these prints are stuck onto the leaves of the volumes and numbered in accordance with their original placement. Organising the works chronologically (broadly speaking), the scrapbookers also sought to index each individual work, listing all the plates that were printed, whether or not they are present in the scrapbook. A skim through these seven volumes will bring up the frequent use of ‘manque’ [missing] next to a number of the prints as well as a series of blank pages. In this attempt at bibliographic scrapbooking, we see a very human tendency: the desire to preserve.

The engraver's index on f. 36 of volume 1.1, detailing the prints included with Les Principaux poincts de la Foi Catholique (1642). Of the fifteen prints listed, four are marked as ‘manque’ [missing].

I say ‘broadly’ and ‘sought’ when describing this process because parallel to the human tendency to collect is the human tendency for error. Across the volumes, we find prints are stuck in the wrong place, some that come from the same work (but a different volume) are separated and placed under a totally different (and, sometimes, unsearchable) title, and others appear with no contextualisation at all. Such issues similarly puzzled the indexer, tasked with accounting for – what was meant to be – over 3000 prints upon acquisition. In the frequent use of square brackets and English in nominally French volumes, the indexer tried to correct the scrapbookers’ mistakes.

The sixth volume showcases the convergence of human error from two centuries. Housing ‘[p]lanches appartenantes à des ouvrages encore inconnus’ [plates belonging to works still unknown], this volume contains a secondary index, about halfway through, created by the original scrapbooker that details the prints still unknown but, in a brief moment of celebration, crosses out those whose works they have found. On pages of ‘vignettes’ [headpieces], ‘fleurons’ [cul-de-lampes], and ‘lettres grises’ [initial letters] are ‘[l]es trous’ that, a note tells us gleefully, ‘désignent que les sujets ont été reconnus’ [the gaps mark that the subjects are now known].

The secondary index in volume 6, ‘Planches appartenantes à des ouvrages encore inconnus’. Several prints are crossed out on this index, indicating that they have been reunited with their original work.

A collection of initial letters taken from volume 6 (f. 653). The gaps mark the prints that have been removed and returned to their original work.

This volume is further subject to human error from the 20th century. The volumes have been held in the British Museum Library since approximately 1853, suffering fire and water damage, probably from the Second World War. As a result, the volumes were rebound in 1949. With the help of the handy indexes at the beginning of the volumes, prints have often gone to their rightful place and the leaves are in order. The sixth volume is an exception: adding to its confusion with its unknown prints, several of its leaves were placed incorrectly in the rebinding process.

Despite such errors, the Planches Gravées de l’Imprimerie Royale prove, no matter the century, that a love of scrapbooking is eternal.

Caitlin Sturrock, PhD student at the University of Bristol and PhD placement student in Western Heritage Prints and Drawings

Printed cultural heritage of Slovenian émigré communities in Europe, Americas and Australia

After the Second World War, around 20,000 Slovenians left Yugoslavia for ideological and political reasons. Having spent several years in displaced persons camps in Italy and Austria, they settled in various countries in Europe, the USA, Canada, South America and Australia.

Slovenians in exile founded cultural organizations which served to connect them and preserve their identity and culture. Many dedicated their free time to writing, singing and performing in Slovenian to nurture and preserve their language and tradition.

In 1954, Slovenska kulturna akcija (Slovenian Cultural Action) was founded in Buenos Aires with the aim of bringing together Slovenian authors at home and abroad, those “who want to help create and disseminate cultural values, especially Slovenian ones, through creative and intermediary work”. One of the first tasks of the Slovenian Cultural Action (SKA) was the launch of a magazine for art and literature, Meddobje (‘Inter-century’), and the newspaper Glas (‘Voice’).

Cover of an issue of Meddobje (Buenos Aires, (1954-) ZA.9.a.2053.

Founded in 1954, the cultural magazine Meddobje was financed by subscription and donations from supporters. A total of 116 volumes were published until 2021. The image on the front cover is a detail of the linocut ‘Stalagmiti and Stalagtiti’ (1953), the work of the painter Božidar Kramolc. All issues of Meddobje from 1954 to 2018 are available from the Digital Library of Slovenia.

Front page of Glas: Slovenske kulturne akcije, vol. 20. no 10-11, October-November 1973 (Buenos Aires, 1954- ) ZA.9.b.609

The 1973 issue of Glas was dedicated to the Slovenian poet France Balantič (1921-1943), one of the most prominent Slovenian poets before and during World War II. He is regarded as one of the best Slovenian sonnet writers. The portrait of Balantič is by Marijan Tršar (1922-2010), a painter, graphic artist, publicist and art critic. All issues of Glas from 1954 to 2022 are also available from the Digital Library of Slovenia, as are the proceedings of the organisation, titled Vrednote (‘Values’), for 1951, 1954-1955, 1957 and 1968.

The Slovenian Cultural Action organised cultural evenings, lectures, art exhibitions, concerts and theatre performances, among other events. They also served as a publishing house. Their authors published books that could not be published in Yugoslavia for ideological, political or personal reasons. From the beginning, they focused on publishing works by Slovenians who lived abroad.

Cover of Karel Mauser, Jerčevi galjoti (Buenos Aires, 1958) YA.1993.a.19735. The cover illustration is by Metka Žirovnik.

The publishing activity was vibrant from the start, and in the first years six to ten titles were published annually. These books represent a valuable contribution by the diaspora writers to the Slovenian art and literature in general.

Frontispiece of Božanska komedija. Pekel, a Slovenian translation of Dante’s Inferno by Tine Debeljak (Buenos Aires, 1959) YA.1992.a.20316. The woodcut illustration above is by Bara Remec, a painter, book illustrator and founder of the SKA School of Art in Buenos Aires. The frontispiece ‘Dante’ is dedicated to Jože Debevec (1867-1938), a theologian and writer, the first translator of the entire Divine Comedy into Slovenian, and a writer of commentary.

A woodcut by Bara Remec in Božanska komedija. Pekel

Slovenian émigré publishing in North America is well represented by the Studia Slovenica, which was founded in Washington in 1957 by the economist and librarian Janez Arnež (1923-2021), together with two of his colleagues and collaborators, ten years after the arrival of the first Slovenian political émigrés. This institute published and distributed books about Slovenia and the Slovenian Diaspora in its two series. In total, 38 titles were published. Studia Slovenica comprehensively collected printed and archival material, manuscripts, work-related and private papers by Slovenians living outside Slovenia. This large and rich archive of Slovenian émigré publications and private papers found a permanent home at the St. Stanislav Institute in Ljubljana in 1991.

Thousands of books, periodicals, newspapers, ephemera, manuscripts and private papers are the record of the cultural life of the Slovenians in their new communities abroad. Arnež and his Studia Slovenica diligently collected and saved all these valuable primary sources of émigré religious, educational, and cultural life for future generations, as an important and integral part of the Slovenian national heritage. This archive is an indispensable resource for the history of Slovenian emigration and the study of Slovenian printed word outside Slovenia.

Cover of Marijan Marolt, Slovenska likovna umetnost v zamejstvu (‘Slovenian fine art abroad’), with drawings by Ivan Bukovec (Buenos Aires, 1959) YA.1993.a.19600

Page from Zgodovinski Atlas Slovenije (Buenos Aires, 1960) Maps 203.d.37.

The Zgodovinski Atlas Slovenije (‘Historical Atlas of Slovenia’) was first printed in a displaced persons camp in 1948 as a textbook by the classical philologist Roman Pavlovčič and his students, and was reprinted as the 40th publication of the Slovenian Cultural Action in 1960.

A collection of poems by Vladimir Truhlar, Rdeče bivanje (‘Red stay’). Front cover by France Papež (Buenos Aires, 1961) YA.1993.a.19760

A collection of short stories by Jože Krivec, Pij, fant, grenko pijačo! (‘Drink, boy, a bitter drink!’). Front cover by Ivan Bukovec (Buenos Aires, 1978) YA.1993.a.19712

Milan Grba, Lead Curator South-East European Collections

Useful bibliographies and catalogues on written cultural heritage of Slovenian émigré communities:

Jože Bajec, Slovensko izseljensko časopisje, 1891-1945 (Ljubljana, 1980) X.950/23786

John A Arnež, Slovenski tisk iz begunskih taborišč v Avstriji in Italiji, 1945-1949: seznam Tiska Razstvljenega v Zavodu Sv. Stanislava Ljubljana-Šentvid = Slovenian printed material from the DP camps in Austria and Italy, 1945-1949 : catalog of items exhibited at the Zavod Sv. Stanislava Ljubljana-Šentvid (Ljubljana; New York, 1993) YF.2006.a.17247

France Papež, Zbornik Slovenske kulturne akcije 1954-1994 (Buenos Aires, 1994) YA.1996.b.6819

Janez A. Arnez, Slovenski tisk v ZDA in Kanadi, 1940-1997 = Slovenian printed material in the USA and Canada (Ljubljana; Washington, 1997) Ac.9233.wb.(19)

Janez A Arnež, Slovenski tisk v begunskih taboriščih v Avstriji 1945-1949 (Ljubljana; Washington, 1999) Ac.9233.wb.(20)

Marijan Eiletz, Zbornik Slovenske kulturne akcije, 1954-2004 (Buenos Aires, 2004). YF.2022.a.11392

Posted by European Studies at 10:00 AM in Publishing and printing , Slavonic , Slovenia | Permalink

15 May 2025

Seminar on Textual Bibliography for Modern Foreign Languages

The annual Seminar on Textual Bibliography for Modern Foreign Languages will take place on Monday 9 June 2025 in the Foyle Room at the British Library in London. The programme is as follows:

11.00 Registration and coffee

11.30 Alyssa Steiner (London): Caught in the middle? Block books at the British Library

12.25 Lunch (own arrangements)

1.30 Jack Nunn (Oxford): Anthology making in an age of discovery: French maritime poetry in the print shop

2.15 Simone Lonati (Chichester): Public representation and interpretation of ‘monsters’. From the Monstrorum Historia to the dissemination of news during the English Civil War

3.00 Tea

3.30 John Goldfinch (London): Dr Rhodes, Dr Sloane and Dr Dee: a trail of catalogues and provenance

4.15 Yvonne Lewis (London): Languages for travel: John and Ralph Bankes in the 1640s and beyond

The seminar will end at 5.00 pm.

Attendance is free and all are welcome but please register in advance by contacting Barry Taylor ([email protected]) and Susan Reed ([email protected]) if you wish to attend.

Vignettte from Cornelio Desimoni, Nuovi studi sull’Atlante Luxoro (Genoa, 1869) 10003.w.4.

Posted by European Studies at 10:00 AM in France , Germanic , Germany , History , Printed books , Publishing and printing , Romance languages | Permalink

17 April 2025

████ is ████. Navigating the Minefield of (Self-)censorship in Putin's Russia

In Russia, attitudes towards homosexuality ebbed and flowed, ranging from benign toleration in the wake of the October Revolution, through stigmatisation and criminalisation of same-sex (particularly male) desire in the Stalin era, to state-sponsored and politically motivated homophobia fostered by the current Russian regime. In the last decade, pro-Kremlin media outlets have peddled the idea of LGBTQ rights as a product of the decadent West and a tool of hybrid warfare posing a threat to national security and the Russian way of life. Much ink has been spilled over the censorship of LGBTQ content in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, where progressive authors are deemed ‘foreign agents’ and books referencing ‘non-traditional sexual relationships’ are sold wrapped in plastic and labelled with an adult content warning. While the picture is bleak, the country’s independent publishers attempt to challenge the regime by exposing and, ultimately, circumventing state censorship. This blog highlights works centred on LGBTQ experiences that attracted swathes of readers and caused a stir among Russian lawmakers.

Since the early 2010s, Russia’s stance on LGBTQ issues has been radically conservative. The legal enshrinement of compulsory heterosexuality and the systematic oppression of queer people began with the notorious anti-LGBTQ law, which severely restricted the ability to speak and educate about sexuality and gender issues. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin’s regime has tried to frame the conflict as a re-enactment of the Great Patriotic War, portraying Russia as a bulwark of tradition and vilifying the proponents of LGBTQ rights, secularism, and multiculturalism as modern-day fascists. Soon after Russian tanks rolled across Ukraine’s borders, the Kremlin initiated another ruthless crackdown on the LGBTQ community. This time around, the law introducing a complete ban on ‘gay propaganda’ was prompted by a teenage romance novel set at a Young Pioneer camp.

Covers of Leto v pionerskom galstuke and O chem molchit lastochka by Kateryna Sylvanova and Elena Malisova redesigned to comply with anti-LGBTQ laws in Russia. In order to draw attention to the censorship of literature, the publisher labelled the covers with Article 29.5 of the Russian Constitution. The Article reads: “The freedom of mass media shall be guaranteed. Censorship shall be prohibited.” Awaiting shelfmarks

Leto v pionerskom galstuke (‘Summer in a Pioneer Tie’), co-authored by Kateryna Sylvanova and Elena Malisova, is a lyrical coming-of-age novel about the clandestine relationship between two men who met at a summer camp in Soviet Ukraine in the 1980s. The book is not sexually explicit. Instead, the authors tenderly describe the experience of falling in love for the first time. Initially published in 2021 on a fan-fiction website, it was discovered by Popcorn Books, an imprint specialising in queer fiction. The book proved a runaway success, selling over 200,000 copies in its first year of publication. In 2022, it became the target of a witch hunt after the militant nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin called for the publishing house to be burned down. The novel and its sequel, O chem molchit lastochka (‘What the Swallow Won’t Say’), were hastily withdrawn from sale. The authors were declared ‘foreign agents’ and forced to flee the country.

As the term ‘propaganda of non-traditional relations’ remains undefined in the legislation, writers and editors have found themselves forced to guess what the unwritten rules are. For fear of charges for the violation of the draconian law, some publishers scrambled to censor LGBTQ themed literature ahead of the implementation of the new law in December 2022. One notable example was Max Falk’s debut novel Vdrebezgi (‘Shattered’), released by LikeBook in October 2022. With the author's consent, the publisher took the precaution of painting over approximately 3% of the text that contained descriptions of an intimate relationship between two men. The decision to visibly redact the ‘controversial’ sections rather than omit them was also made to draw public attention to state censorship without technically defying it. Despite these efforts, the novel was withdrawn from sales shortly after its publication.

Cover of Vdrebezgi by Max Fal'k. Awaiting shelfmark

Censorship has been equally pronounced in translated literature. Translated works are rarely acquired for the British Library's Russian Collection. However, we collect and preserve books targeted by the regime as they document the struggle for human rights and freedom of speech in Putin's Russia.

In April 2024, the publishing holding AST announced that several books capturing LGBTQ experiences were pulled from its website to comply with anti-gay propaganda laws, including Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life (‘Malen’kaia zhizn’), Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles (‘Pesn’ Akhilla’), James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room (‘Komnata Dzhovanni’), and Michael Cunningham’s A Home at the End of the World (‘Dom na kraiu sveta’). Furious at having to withdraw titles, AST released Roberto Carnero’s biography of the openly gay Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini with whole pages relating to his sexual orientation demonstratively inked out. The publisher sarcastically remarked that the redactions made the book ‘interactive’ as they allowed the reader to decide for himself whether to seek out the censored material through alternative channels. The initial print run of 1.500 copies sold out immediately, and another one was ordered to keep up with the demand.

Cover of Pazolini. Umeret’ za idei, the Russian translation of Roberto Carnero’s book Pasolini: ‘Dying for One’s Own Ideas (Awaiting shelfmark). On the right, cover of the Italian original Morire per Le Idee: vita letteraria di Pier Paolo Pasolini (Milano, 2010) YF.2011.a.2102

Censored pages from Pazolini. Umeret’ za idei by Roberto Carnero. Awaiting shelfmark

Pages from Morire per Le Idee: vita letteraria di Pier Paolo Pasolini by Roberto Carnero (Milano, 2010) YF.2011.a.2102

The blacked out sections of Carnero’s novel, totalling some 70 out of 400 pages, deal with Pasolini’s private life. However, a cursory reading of the Italian original reveals that the content is far from being obscene or scandalous. The heavy-handed redactions, prompted by the passages of law hostile to the LGBTQ community, had turned the book into a celebrated object of art, a powerful attribute of performance.

With its opaque formulations, the anti-LGBTQ legislation gave rise to a culture of fear and self-censorship. The books featured in the blog transgress the boundaries of censorship and generate meanings, bringing LGBTQ struggles back into the light. They also illuminate the simple truth: Love is Love.

Hanna Dettlaff-Kuznicka, Curator of Slavonic and East European Collections

References/Further reading:

Chris Ashford, Research handbook on gender, sexuality and the law (Cheltenham, 2020) ELD.DS.519753

Radzhana Buyantueva, The emergence and development of LGBT protest activity in Russia (Basingstoke, 2022) ELD.DS.736424

Laurie Essig, Queer in Russia: a story of sex, self, and the other (Durham, NC, 1999) 99/31881

Dan Healey, Russian homophobia from Stalin to Sochi (London, 2018) YC.2018.a.1153

Jon Mulholland, Gendering nationalism: intersections of nation, gender and sexuality (Basingstoke, Hampshire, 2018) ELD.DS.412134

Conor O'Dwyer, Coming out of communism: the emergence of LGBT activism in Eastern Europe (New York, 2018) m18/.11529

Dennis Scheller-Boltz, The discourse on gender identity in contemporary Russia: an introduction with a case study in Russian gender linguistics (Hildesheim, 2017) YC.2019.a.6769

Valerii Sozaev, Nasha istoriia: zametki i ocherki o LGBT v Rossii (Saint Petersburg, 2018) YP.2019.a.5058

Valerie Sperling, Sex, politics, and Putin: political legitimacy in Russia (Oxford, 2015) YC.2015.a.3806

Galina Yuzefovich, Weapons of the Weak: Fighting Literary Censorship in Contemporary Russia

Posted by European Studies at 12:16 PM in Banned books , LGBTQ+ , Publishing and printing , Russia , Slavonic | Permalink

11 February 2025

Medieval Women at the Press

One of the exhibits in our current exhibition Medieval Women: in their own Words is the first European printed book ascribed to a female printer. The printer in question is Estellina Conat, who worked with her husband Abraham printing Hebrew books in Mantua in the 1470s. The book is an edition of a 14th-century poem by Jedaiah ben Abraham Bedersi entitled Behinat ha-‘Olam (‘The Contemplation of the World’). It was printed around 1476 and in the colophon, Estellina states: “I, Estellina, the wife of my worthy husband Abraham Conat, printed this book”. (In fact she says she “wrote” the book since the Hebrew language had not yet settled on a word for the relatively new technology of printing.) She adds that she was assisted by Jacob Levi, a young man from Tarrascon in Provence.

Final page of Behinat ha-‘Olam (Mantua, ca 1476) C.50.a.5. (ISTC ij00218520) The colophon at the foot of the page names Estellina Conat as its printer

No other book from the Conat press survives with Estellina’s name in the colophon, and she has often been overlooked as the first woman printer in Europe, perhaps because she printed in Hebrew rather than in classical Latin or Greek or the contemporary European vernaculars more familiar to western scholars of early printing. Many sources still give the name of Anna Rügerin as the first woman printer instead.

Anna is named in the colophons of two books printed in Augsburg in 1484 (around 8 years after Estellina’s work!). She was part of a family of printers: her widowed mother had married the printer Johann Bämler, and Anna’s brother Johann Schönsperger, perhaps encouraged by Bämler, set up a press with Anna’s husband Thomas. After Thomas died, Anna appears to have taken over from him and printed in her own name editions of the historic German law book, the Sachsenspiegel and of a handbook for writers of legal and official documents entitled Formulare und deutsch rhetorica (Augsburg, 1484; IB.6605; ISTC if00245500).

Colophon naming Anna Rügerin as the printer of an edition of the Sachsenspiegel (Augsburg, 1484) IB.6602 (ISTC 00024000). Image from Wikimedia Commons, from a copy in the Bavarian State Library.

Another woman printer emerged in the 1490s in Stockholm. Anna Fabri, like Anna Rügerin, took over the work of printing on the death of her husband, a common pattern for female printers in the early centuries of the industry. In 1496 she put her name to the colophon of a Breviary for the diocese of Uppsala. Here she explicitly states that she completed the work begun by her husband. As in the case of Estellina Conat, no other book survives bearing her name.

Final Page of Breviarium Upsalense (Stockholm, 1496; ISTC ib01187000), naming Anna Fabri in the colophon. Image from a copy in the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris. The British Library holds a single leaf inserted in a copy of G.F. Klemming, Sveriges äldre liturgiska literatur (Stockholm, 1879) C.18.c.13.

We don’t know exactly what role Estellina and the two Annas played in the production of the books that bear their names, but it’s certainly possible that it was more than merely overseeing the work and that they were involved in the physical processes of the print shop. We know that nuns of the Florentine convent of San Jacopo in Ripoli worked as typesetters in the printing house associated with the church and its Dominican community, and a Bridgettine abbey at Vadstena in Sweden printed a Book of Hours in 1495, although their press apparently burned down soon after and was not restarted. The current BL exhibition also features woodcut prints made and coloured by another Bridgettine community at Mariënwater in the Netherlands. All this work carried on the long tradition of medieval nuns working as scribes, artists and illuminators (also richly evidenced in the exhibition), bringing it into the new age of printing.

A leaf from a music book for use in the Latin Mass, illuminated by nuns of the Poor Clares convent in Cologne in the late 14th or early 15th century. Add MS 35069

The 18th-century scholar of early Hebrew printing, Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi, criticised Estellina Conat’s edition of the Beh.inat ha-‘Olam as unevenly printed, and scornfully suggested that it might be “the effort of a woman attempting something beyond her powers.” But as Estellina and her sister-printers show, printing was indeed within the power of women and they played a part in it from the early decades of the industry. Thanks to ongoing research, and publicity such as the Medieval Women exhibition, these woman printers and their work are ever more visible today.

Susan Reed, Lead Curator Germanic Collections

References/Further reading

Adri K. Offenberg, ‘The Chronology of Hebrew Printing at Mantua in the Fifteenth Century: A Re-examination’ The Library, 6th series, 16 (1994) pp. 298-315. RAR 010

Hanna Gentili, ‘Estellina Conat, Early Hebrew Printer’, in Medieval Women: Voices & Visions, edited by Eleanor Jackson and Julian Harrison (London, 2024) [Not yet catalogued]

Sheila Edmunds, ‘Anna Rügerin Revealed’, Journal of the Early Book Society for the Study of Manuscripts and Printing History 2 (1999) pp. 179-181. 2708.h.850

Anabel Thomas, ‘Dominican Marginalia: the Late Fifteenth-Century Printing Press of San Jacopo di Ripoli in Florence’, in At the Margins: Minority Groups in Premodern Italy, edited by Stephen J. Milner (Minneapolis, 2005), pp. 192-216. YC.2005.a.12149

Posted by European Studies at 10:25 AM in Germanic , Germany , History , Italy , Medieval history , Printed books , Publishing and printing , Rare books , Romance languages , Women's histories | Permalink

30 December 2024

Christmas in Scheveningen 1942

On Friday 15 November at the British Library conference European Political Refugees to the UK from 1800, I spoke about a little-known group of ordinary people who travelled to the UK from occupied Netherlands, between 1940 and 1944, called ‘Engelandvaarders’, or ‘England Farers’. It sounds simple enough, but it was a very dangerous undertaking and many did not make it.

One of those whose attempt failed was Binnert Philip de Beaufort (1919-1945)

Binnert Philip de Beaufort (1919-1945), from the fourth edition of his book Kerstmis in Scheveningen (Hilversum, 2021) YF.2022.a.7493.

Binnert had been on a mission to take some important papers to England via the Southern Route, which led from the Netherlands through Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal. Almost a thousand England Farers took this route to England. He set off for England in 1942, but when he arrived in Brussels he was betrayed, arrested and taken back to the Netherlands where he was imprisoned in Scheveningen Prison. This prison held people persecuted by the Nazis: Jews, gay people, Jehovah’s Witnesses and members of the resistance. The last group gave the prison its nickname Het Oranjehotel (‘The Orange Hotel’). Oranje refers to the Dutch Royal Family, particularly Queen Wilhelmina, who had taken refuge in London, from where she was one of the leaders of the resistance.

The so-called ‘Oranjehotel’, the prison in Scheveningen. (Image from Wikimedia Commons)

It was from the Oranjehotel that 250 prisoners were taken to the dunes, executed and buried there. Binnert knew he was going to be among them. So did his friends outside the prison. They hatched a plan to get him out. Binnert was admitted to a hospital nearby, from where he managed to escape in May 1943. He went into hiding for fourteen months, and this is when he wrote his account of his time in prison, about Christmas 1942. In December 1944 it was published anonymously and clandestinely in Amsterdam by Th. E. Nije as Kerstmis in Scheveningen (‘Christmas in Scheveningen’).

Title page of Kerstmis in Scheveningen (Amsterdam, 1944) X.809.4019.

Nije was a small printers house and publisher, who was acquainted with a larger publishing house, owned by the family with whom Binnert had stayed.

In February 1945 Binnert was walking down the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam when he ran into some German police who shot him. Although he managed to climb onto the rooftops, he fell and died. He was buried in the dunes, amongst many other resistance fighters. This burial place was later made into the Cemetery of Honour in Bloemendaal.

Kerstmis in Scheveningen tells the story of how Binnert became aware of his strong Christian faith. Faced with enormous pressures of the endless interrogations, the hunger and cold and terrible conditions in prison he found strength in the words ‘As long as God is with me, who can be against me?’ Christmas 1942 was very challenging for him. On 23 December the Germans had taken away 500 inmates, including his two cellmates. He did not know where they had been taken. His block was almost empty, and he felt lonely. On Christmas Eve he was again taken for interrogation to the Binnenhof, or Inner Court in the centre of The Hague. His technique of getting through these long hours of questioning was to concentrate on something else, mainly his faith. On the way out of the building he had to pass tables groaning under all sorts of Christmas treats, whilst he had hardly eaten anything. That evening he was at a particularly low point, but his spirits were lifted by the arrival of a new cellmate and Christmas parcels from the Red Cross. After having eaten, Binnert felt inspired to read the Nativity story to his cellmate. However, other prisoners wanted to hear this too. Standing on a little stool so he could talk through an air vent, Binnert found himself preaching a Christmas sermon. Other prisoners told Christmas stories and the evening ended by all of them singing ‘Silent Night’. The carol reverberated throughout the prison. It was a true spiritual experience, and it gave him strength to sit out the next five months, before his escape.

Kerstmis in Scheveningen was printed in 3000 copies. Proceeds went to various resistance groups in support of their work. This was how the publishing of clandestine titles worked. Nearly 1100 individual book titles were printed clandestinely, ‘with much trouble and danger’, as stated on the title page of Kerstmis in Scheveningen. Both amateur and professional printers risked their freedom and indeed their lives in making these books. Some print runs were tiny, around 25 copies, some were large, counting thousands of copies. Their aim was the same: to give the readers hope, as well as to raise funds for the resistance. That is also why not many titles appeared in later editions after the war, but Kerstmis in Scheveningen did see a second edition. In 1945 the publishing house De Bezige Bij (‘The Busy Bee’) published a new edition with a tribute to Binnert. In 1960 a third edition appeared, published by Buskes in Amsterdam and in 2021 a new, fourth edition was published by Verloren, with a prologue and a biography of Binnert by Esther Blom.

Cover of the fourth edition of Kerstmis in Scheveningen

Kerstmis in Scheveningen captures the spirit of those who resisted the Nazi occupation like few other titles. It shines a light on the involvement of young people; some of whom paid with their lives. It is part of a very special collection of almost 600 clandestinely published books held by the British Library.

Marja Kingma, Curator Germanic Collections

“Rendez-vous at the British Library”: 6 December 2024

Two free events in the British Library Pigott Theatre (booking necessary)

Afternoon symposium: Collections in French at the British Library

Evening event: The World Library: William Marx, with the participation of French Ambassador Helene Duchene and Sir Roly Keating, CEO of the British Library, followed by a discussion with Artemis Cooper, F.R.S.L.

https://thebritishlibraryculturalevents.seetickets.com/tour/rendez-vous-at-the-british-library

French Collections at the BL - Illustration by Clo'e Floirat

To conclude a year of celebrations marking the 120th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, enjoy an afternoon exploring of the wealth of collections in French at the British Library.

Listen to acclaimed author Michel Pastoureau, and renowned academics, writers, and translators talk about their current research and projects based on manuscripts and printed collections in French; hear Curators talk about their work, discover hidden treasures, and seize the chance to visit out of hours the newly opened Medieval Women exhibition!

The programme can be found here.

There will also be the opportunity to see two pop-up exhibitions in the Knowledge Centre: ‘Postcards for Perec’, curated by Linda Parr and ‘When Marianne and Britannia meet’, ] curated by Guillaume Périssol and Charlotte Faucher.

The talks will be followed by a separate evening event introduced by the French Ambassador and Sir Roly Keating, CEO of the British Library, with the chance to hear Professor William Marx, from the Collège de France, talk about ‘The World Library’, followed by a discussion with Artemis Cooper, F.R.S.L. - and a message from Kate Mosse!

The events are free, but booking is essential.

These two events are generously supported by the department of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation Department of the French Embassy, the French Studies Library Group, and Mark Storey, Friends of the Nations’ Libraries Trustee and book collector.

Posted by European Studies at 12:47 PM in Exhibitions , France , Manuscripts , Printed books , Publishing and printing , Romance languages | Permalink

14 November 2024

Marx versus Kinkel – a tale of two newspapers

On 15 November we are hosting a conference on European Political exiles and émigrés in Britain. This is one of a series of blog posts on the same topic. Conference details can be found here. Attendance is free, but registration is required.

If you were asked to name the most famous German political refugee in 19th-century Britain, you’d probably choose Karl Marx or Friedrich Engels. But at the time, Marx and Engels were comparatively little known outside a relatively small faction of communists. In wider émigré circles and among the British public, a far more familiar name was that of Gottfried Kinkel, an academic, writer and revolutionary who had arrived in London in November 1850 after making a dramatic escape from Spandau prison.

Gottfried Kinkel in the early 1860s (Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Marx would no doubt be delighted to know that his fame today far eclipses Kinkel’s because he thoroughly despised Kinkel, considering him to be a self-aggrandising third-rate writer and thinker. And since Marx was never one to nurse his dislikes quietly, his letters and other writings, especially the posthumously-published Die großen Männer des Exils (Heroes of the Exile) are full of vitriol against Kinkel and his allies.

While Marx’s dismissal of Kinkel’s work was doubtless based on genuine conviction, it’s not hard to see an element of envy there too. In the decade following his arrival in London, Kinkel began to make quite a name for himself as a teacher and lecturer, and was respected by other revolutionary exiles, especially those of the middle class, in a way that Marx could only dream of. At the end of the 1850s, Marx’s loathing would be further exacerbated when both men became involved with newspapers.

First Issue of Kinkel’s newspaper Hermann, 8 January 1859. NEWS14565

In 1859 Kinkel founded a newspaper for Germans in London, naming it Hermann, after the ancient Germanic leader who defeated the Roman army. Hermann did not appear in a vacuum. Various German papers had been published in London since 1812 in an attempt to serve a growing German community and the arrival of political exiles after 1848 had led to a number of new Anglo-German newspapers with a more radical slant, most of them short lived as was the case with many such ventures. A few issues of Marx’s own Neue Rheinische Zeitung (‘New Rhenish Journal’) had been edited from London in 1850, but Marx had been involved with later London titles as a contributor rather than an editor. Now, with Kinkel promoting his own newspaper (which Marx and Engels cynically referred to as ‘Gottfried’), Marx felt more strongly the need for a similar platform of his own.

First issue of Das Volk, 7 May 1859. NEWS14239

A solution appeared in the form of Das Volk (‘The People’). This was founded in May 1859 by the Communist Workers’ Educational Association to replace a previous title, Die neue Zeit (‘The New Age’) which had recently folded. Again, Marx was initially only a contributor, but he very much approved of the paper (and of its strong opposition to Kinkel) and gradually sought to increase his influence on it. Although never officially its editor, he was effectively carrying out the role by mid-July, with Engels helping the venture financially. As Das Volk became increasingly a mouthpiece for Marx’s ideas it began to lose readers, and it closed in August. Marx, with typical self-confidence, blamed the paper’s demise on its readers’ failure to appreciate the quality of his work. He was also convinced that Kinkel was deliberately working to sabotage potential rivals to Hermann.

Whether by fair means or foul, Hermann certainly thrived. Kinkel’s name was seen as a guarantee of quality to many fellow exiles as well as to other Germans immigrants and even to some British readers. Although the paper promoted broadly liberal politics, it also reported on arts and culture and, crucially, on the activities of German clubs, organisations and institutions in Britain. Das Volk had initially also covered the latter, but this declined under Marx’s control, alienating readers who wanted a more general newspaper for their community. Kinkel and Herrmann also made much of the celebrations in November 1859 of Friedrich Schiller’s centenary, an event that transcended political allegiances and helped unite Germans in Britain in a show of cultural pride.

Illustrated page from Hermann issue 44, 12 November 1859, with portraits of Schiller’s parents and wife as part of an article about the 1859 London Schiller Festival

Hermann would survive, under different editors and with changes in its political direction, into the 20th century, the longest run of any Anglo-German newspaper. Only the ban on German publishing in Britain on the outbreak of war in 1914 put an end to its appearance.

Susan Reed, Lead Curator Germanic Collections

References/further reading:

Christine Lattek, Revolutionary Refugees: German Socialism in Britain, 1840-1860 (London, 2006) YC.2007.a.3912

Susan Reed, ‘A modest sentinel for German interests in England: The Anglo-German Press in the Long Nineteenth Century’ in Stéphanie Prévost and Bénédicte Deschamps (eds.), Immigration and Exile Foreign-Language Press in the UK and the US: Connected Histories of the 19th and 20th Centuries (London, 2024) [Not yet catalogued]

Posted by European Studies at 10:00 AM in Anglo-German , Germanic , Germany , History , Newsroom , Publishing and printing | Permalink

07 November 2024

A Lifeline of Books: The British Library and Polish Exiles

For those forced to leave their homeland, a library is far more than just a building filled with books—it becomes a lifeline. Traditionally, libraries have served as essential repositories of knowledge, but during times of upheaval, exile and displacement, they transform into symbols of cultural survival. For many Polish people who found themselves in London after the Second World War and throughout the communist era, these cultural spaces provided not only archives of their heritage but also comfort, community, and hope for a better future.

The Polish diaspora in London stands as a testament to the power of cultural institutions. Polish libraries, archives and publishing houses in the city have been pivotal in preserving cultural heritage, fostering identity and offering emotional and intellectual sustenance to exiles and migrants. These organizations, both large and small, played a crucial role in helping Polish people stay connected to their roots despite being far from home. The establishment of the Polish government-in-exile in London further solidified the community’s presence, spurring the growth of cultural and educational institutions.

Even before these organizations fully developed, displaced Poles found refuge in the reading rooms of the British Museum Library (later the British Library), which became a vital support system for the Polish diaspora. As exiles fleeing Nazi and Soviet occupations arrived in the UK, they found themselves cut off from their homeland and the cultural materials that connected them to it. The British Museum Library became an essential resource, providing access to Polish books, newspapers and historical documents that were otherwise inaccessible during the war.

The library played an especially important role in supporting Polish intellectuals, writers, and journalists working in exile. Among them was Mieczysław Grydzewski, a prominent journalist and editor, who relied heavily on its resources. Grydzewski edited Wiadomości Polskie (later Wiadomości), a journal that served as a critical platform for Polish writers and intellectuals throughout the war and post-war years. For Grydzewski and others, the British Museum Library was indispensable in their efforts to maintain Polish literary and journalistic traditions while in exile.

Mieczysław Grydzewski at the British Museum Library. Illustration from Listy (Warsaw, 2022) YF.2023.a.3958

Faced with limited access to Polish literary works in wartime London, Grydzewski often had to transcribe passages from books only available at the Library. By the end of 1940, his reliance on these resources was so great that the institution allowed him to set up an additional desk in one of its corridors, where a secretary assisted him in copying texts. Together, they diligently transcribed important passages from authors such as the chronicler Jan Długosz (see the book: Vita beatissimi Stanislai Cracoviensis episcopi. Nec nō legende sanctorum Polonie Hungarie Bohemie Moravie Prussie et Slesie patronorum, in lombardica historia nō contente. (Kraków, 1511) C.110.d.8.) and many modern writers. These excerpts were then prepared for typesetting and publication, ensuring that Polish literature and history continued to reach the diaspora despite the conflict.

Other distinguished Polish scholars also relied on the British Museum Library during this period. Maria Danilewiczowa, who would later become director of the Polish Library in London, conducted much of her research there, as did General Marian Kukiel, a historian and military figure whose work on Polish military history greatly benefited from the Library’s extensive collections. Similarly, Stefan Westfal, known for his linguistic analysis of Polish (Rzecz o Polszczyźnie (London, 1956) 012977.l.4.), and Tadeusz Sulimirski, who edited a journal Biuletyn Zachodnio-Słowiański, drew heavily from the British Museum Library’s resources. Their research contributed to the preservation and enrichment of Polish intellectual life in exile.

Biuletyn Zachodnio-Słowiański (Edinburgh, 1940- )PP.3554.nem]

The British Library’s holdings include many valuable works essential to maintaining Poland’s cultural memory. Among them are rare historical texts, literary works, and political documents preserved from before the war. The library’s Polonica collection is particularly rich, encompassing key texts in Polish history, literature, and law, as well as works by 19th-century Polish poets and political figures who fought for the country’s independence. During the communist era, post-war émigré publications, including materials related to the Solidarity movement and other dissident groups, connected the diaspora with ongoing struggles in Poland. Today, after democratic changes, our contemporary collections continue to keep the Polish diaspora in touch with current developments in the country.

Olga Topol, Curator Slavonic and East European Collections

Posted by European Studies at 10:00 AM in History , Poland , Publishing and printing , Slavonic | Permalink

01 October 2024

How Bitter the Savour is of Other’s Bread? International Conference on European Political Refugees in the UK from 1800

Join us on Friday 15 November 2024 for the ‘European Political Refugees in the UK from 1800’ conference taking place in Pigott Theatre, Knowledge Centre at the British Library. This one-day in-person event will explore the rich history of political refugees from Europe who sought asylum in the UK from the 19th century onwards. International academics, scholars, and curators will investigate how European diaspora communities have woven themselves into the fabric of British society, fostering intercultural exchange and contributing to the shaping of modern Britain.

‘European Political Refugees in the UK from 1800’ conference poster

The conference is organised by the European Collections section of the British Library in partnership with the European Union National Institutes of Culture (EUNIC) London. It will be accompanied by the exhibition ‘Music, Migration, and Mobility: The Story of Émigré Musicians from Nazi Europe in Britain’ and by events run by the conference partners.

The event is open to all and attendance is free, but registration is required. Booking details can be found here.

Programme

10:00 Welcome

10:05 Session 1: Artists

Moderator: Olga Topol, British Library

‘Leaving Home’ – Franciszka Themerson and Her Artistic Community in the UK, Jasia Reichardt, Art Critic and Curator

Austrian Musicians and Writers in Exile in the 1930s and 1940s, Oliver Rathkolb, University of Vienna and Vienna Institute of Contemporary and Cultural History and Art (VICCA)

On the Rock of Exiles: Victor Hugo in the Channel Islands, Bradley Stephens, University of Bristol

Music, Migration & Mobility, The Story of Émigré Musicians from Nazi Europe in Britain, Norbert Meyn, Royal College of Music, London

12:00 The stone that spoke screening

Introduction by Gail Borrow, ExploreTheArch arts facilitated by EUNIC London

12:15 Lunch

13:00 Session 2: Governments in Exile

Moderator: Valentina Mirabella, British Library

London Exile of the Yugoslav Government during the Second World War and its Internal Problems, Milan Sovilj, Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague

The Spanish Republican Exile in Great Britain: General Characteristics and the case of Roberto Gerhard, Mari Paz Balibrea, Birkbeck, University of London

Fascism and anti-fascism in London's 'Little Italy' and Giacomo Matteotti's secret visit to London in 1924, Alfio Bernabei, Historian and Author

14:30 Break

14:45 Session 3: Building Communities

Moderator: Katya Rogatchevskaia, British Library

Tefcros Anthias: poet, writer, activist, and public intellectual in Cyprus and the Cypriot Community in London, Floya Anthias, University of Roehampton, London

The Journeys in Stories: Jewish emigration from Lithuania via United Kingdom, Dovilė Čypaitė-Gilė, Vilna Gaon, Museum of Jewish History, Vilnius University

Political migration from Hungary, 1918-1956, Thomas Lorman, UCL's School of Slavonic and East European Studies, London

16:15 Break

16:30 – 17:00 Session 4: Writing Diaspora

Moderator: Anthony Chapman-Joy, Royal Holloway, University of London, British Library

Newspapers published by 19th-century German political exiles in England, Susan Reed, British Library

Clandestine WWII pamphlets, Marja Kingma, British Library

We look forward to welcoming you to the conference in November. In the meantime, we invite you to discover a new display of works by Franciszka Themerson ‘Walking Backwards’, currently on show at Tate Britain, and to explore the history of Lithuanian Jewish immigration to the UK at the annual Litvak Days in London.

Posted by European Studies at 10:00 AM in Austria , Croatia , Cyprus , France , Germanic , Germany , History , Hungary , Italy , Lithuania , Music , Netherlands , Poland , Politics , Publishing and printing , Romance languages , Serbia , Slavonic , Slovenia , Spain | Permalink

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