Editing London Library (section)

==Buildings==
Following its foundation in 1841, the Library spent four years occupying rooms on the first floor of 49 [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]].<ref>Wells 1991, p. 57–66.</ref> In 1845 it moved to 14 [[St James's Square]], and this site has been its home ever since. However, its premises have undergone a considerable number of changes and extensions over the years as the collections have grown.

The property in St James's Square first occupied by the Library was a house, Beauchamp House, built in 1676 and renovated at later dates. A proposal in the 1770s (when it was owned by [[William Mayne, 1st Baron Newhaven|Lord Newhaven]]) to rebuild it to a design by [[Robert Adam]] was abandoned, but it was refronted shortly afterwards. It was located in the north-west corner of the square, and had a much smaller frontage than its neighbours, being described by [[Arthur Irwin Dasent|A. I. Dasent]] in 1895 as "admittedly the worst house in the Square".<ref>{{cite book |first=Arthur Irwin |last=Dasent |author-link=Arthur Irwin Dasent |title=The History of St James's Square |place=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1895 |page=127 |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044081209645;view=1up;seq=161 }}</ref> The Library rented the house from 1845, but in 1879 bought the freehold.<ref name=SoL>{{cite book |editor-first=F. H. W. |editor-last=Sheppard |title=The Parish of St James Westminster: Part One: South of Piccadilly |series=Survey of London |volume=29 |chapter=St James's Square: No 14 |place=London |publisher=Athlone Press |year=1960 |pages=139–42 |chapter-url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols29-30/pt1/pp139-142 }}</ref><ref>Wells 1991, pp. 66–8.</ref> In the early years, to defray costs, some of the rooms were let to the [[Royal Statistical Society|Statistical Society of London]], the [[Philological Society]], and the [[Institute of Actuaries]].<ref>Wells 1991, pp. 69–70.</ref><ref>McIntyre 2006, pp. 9–10.</ref><ref>Dasent 1895, p. 237.</ref>

In 1896–1898 the premises were completely rebuilt to the designs of James Osborne Smith, and this building survives as the front part of the present library complex. The [[facade]], overlooking St James's Square, is constructed in [[Portland stone]] in a broadly [[Jacobethan]] style, described by the [[Survey of London]] as "curiously eclectic".<ref name=SoL/> The main reading room is on the first floor; and above this three tall windows light three floors of bookstack. Another four floors of bookstacks were built to the rear. In 1920–22, an additional seven-storey bookstack was built further back still, again designed by Osborne Smith. (This new stack was notable for its opaque glass floors: an unforeseen drawback of the combination of glass floors and structural metal shelving was that browsers in the stacks were liable to receive periodic jolts of [[static electricity]], a problem which continues to catch new members unawares, and for which no solution has ever been found.<ref>Wells 1991, pp. 221–2.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Anon. |title=Corner of the Library: the 'shocking' story of one of the Library's most secluded spots |journal=London Library Magazine |volume=47 |year=2020 |pages=18–19 }}</ref>) In 1932–34 another extension was carried out to the north, incorporating a committee room (named the Prevost Room, after a major benefactor; now converted to use as a reading room), an Art Room, and five more floors of bookstacks: the architects on this occasion were the firm of [[Charles Mewès|Mewès]] & [[Arthur Joseph Davis|Davis]].<ref name=SoL/><ref>McIntyre 2006, pp. 11–19.</ref><ref>Wells 1991, pp. 159–66.</ref>

In February 1944, during the [[Second World War]], the northern bookstacks suffered considerable damage when the Library suffered a direct hit from a bomb: 16,000 volumes were destroyed, including most of the Biography section. Although the library reopened in July, repairs to the buildings were not completed until the early 1950s.<ref name=SoL/><ref>Wells 1991, pp. 178–81.</ref><ref>McIntyre 2006, pp. 19-20.</ref>

Following the war, the Library continued to experience a need for increased space, although the practical possibilities for expansion were limited. A [[mezzanine]] was inserted within the Art Room in the early 1970s; four floors of bookstack were constructed above the north bay of the reading room in 1992; and in 1995 the Anstruther Wing (named after its benefactor, [[Ian Anstruther]]) was erected at the extreme rear of the site, a nine-storey building on a small footprint designed principally to house rare books storage.<ref>McIntyre 2006, pp. 22-3.</ref>

[[File:London Library back 4.JPG|thumb|right|View of the library buildings from [[Mason's Yard]]. The lighted windows at centre left include those of the Stoppard Room (the northern reading room) on the first floor, with the 1992 bookstack above. The darker brick building to the right is T. S. Eliot House.]]
In 2004, the Library acquired Duchess House, a four-storey 1970s office building adjoining the north side of the existing site, which increased overall capacity by 30%.<ref>McIntyre 2006, pp. 23, 39–40.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/index.php?/timeline.html |publisher=London Library |title=Timeline: A fascinating history |access-date=13 January 2013 }}</ref> The building was renamed T. S. Eliot House in 2008. The opportunity was taken for a major rationalisation and overhaul of the greater part of the library's premises. Staff activities were concentrated in T. S. Eliot House (freeing up space in the older buildings for book storage and members' facilities); a new reading room was inserted in a [[lightwell]]; the Art Room was completely restructured and redesigned; the main Issue Hall remodelled; new circulation routes created; and other alterations made elsewhere. The first phase of work, the modification and refurbishment of T. S. Eliot House, was completed in 2007; and the second phase in 2010. The architects for the redevelopment were [[Haworth Tompkins]]; while the toilets were designed in collaboration with [[Turner Prize]]-winning artist [[Martin Creed]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haworthtompkins.com/built/proj13/index.html |publisher=Haworth Tompkins |title=The London Library (phase 1) |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420154920/http://www.haworthtompkins.com/built/proj13/index.html |archive-date=2013-04-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haworthtompkins.com/built/proj02/index.html |publisher=Haworth Tompkins |title=The London Library (phase 2) |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910143417/http://www.haworthtompkins.com/built/proj02/index.html |archive-date=2012-09-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The building has been [[Listed building#England and Wales|listed Grade II]] on the [[National Heritage List for England]] since February 1958.<ref name=NHLE>{{NHLE|num=1235825|desc=London Library|access-date=1 November 2021}}</ref>