Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-339) and index

Introduction: On the Country House Library -- 'Reciting my poems even in Britain': From Roman Britain to Magna Carta -- 'A study caullid paradise': The antecedents of the Country House Library, from the Thirteenth century to the Early Tudor period -- 'This scribbling age': The Country House Library from the Reformation to the Civil War -- 'Your own admirable library': Book collecting and the Country House from Elizabeth I to the Eighteenth century -- 'A great number of usefull books': Ordinary books and ordinary libraries from the Late Seventeenth to the Early Nineteenth centuries -- 'A spacious room': Library architecture and fittings from the Restoration to Queen Victoria -- 'Bibliomania': The book craze of the late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth centuries, and its afterlife -- The Country House librarian -- 'A very pretty and comfortable room': The Library and Country House Life in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries -- Town and country: The relationship between libraries in Country Houses, Town Houses and Suburban Villas -- Reading and borrowing: Using the library -- The Nouveaux riches: New money and new libraries in the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries -- 'Ravaged by body-snatchers': The dispersal of the Country House Library, from the late Nineteenth centuries -- The body in the library: Libraries and the politics of heritage in the Twentieth century

Beginning with new evidence that cites the presence of books in Roman villas and concluding with present day vicissitudes of collecting, this generously illustrated book presents a complete survey of British and Irish country house libraries. Replete with engaging anecdotes about owners and librarians, the book features fascinating information on acquisition bordering on obsession, the process of designing library architecture, and the care (and neglect) of collections. The author also disputes the notion that these libraries were merely for show, arguing that many of them were profoundly scholarly, assembled with meticulous care, and frequently used for intellectual pursuits. For those who love books and the libraries in which they are collected and stored, The Country House Library is an essential volume to own