In the quieter corners of The British Library storage areas, lies a remarkable historical collection of trade literature.  

This material, once part of the Patent Office Library, offers researchers an insight into the industrial, commercial and domestic landscape of Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It mainly comprises British material, but a number of items from other countries, including the US, France and Germany, were also collected.  This is now considered one of the largest and rarest collections in the country. 

Thanks to the Unlocking Hidden Collections initiative, approximately 17,000 long-overlooked catalogues are being brought to light. This major project aims to discover, catalogue, and preserve collections at the British Library that have remained largely unknown to academics, historians, and the public. Through this effort, we will make valuable information accessible to researchers studying industrial innovation, economic development, and cultural trends in the last centuries. 

In this initial stage of the Unlocking Hidden Collections project, I have been examining the material in the collection, identifying any conservation needs and discovering all kinds of beautiful and interesting publications. These are catalogues covering a wide range of industries, including metallurgy, chemical, agriculture, construction, telecommunications, transport, furniture, arts and more. 

 

“A list, with descriptions, illustrations, and prices, of whatever relates to aquaria” - William Alford Lloyd, 1858. 

For example, the “Aquaria” catalogue published by William Alford Lloyd in 1858 is one of the oldest catalogues found in the collection so far. It contains images and information about aquariums and the cultivation of marine plants and animals. William Alford Lloyd was a self-taught English zoologist who became the first professional aquarist. Lloyd opened the earliest aquarium shop in history and started to advertise it in 1855 in the weekly periodical Notes and Queries. 

 

 

“Sels de radium et autres substances radioactives” - Sels de Radium - 1906/1907. 

The catalogue published by the Sels de Radium is another rare example that illustrates the uniqueness of the collection. The company was owned by Emile Armet de Lisle, a French industrialist and chemist who helped develop the French radium industry in the early 20th century.  The Armet de Lisle factories exclusively carried out all processing of the ores belonging to Marie Curie, with a view to extracting radium, polonium and actinium, intended for her laboratory. 

 

 

“The "Allenburys" series of infants' food" - Allen & Hanburys Ltd.,1904. 

As a researcher interested in the History of Childhood, Families and Women, it was a great surprise for me when I discovered some catalogues of Allen & Hanburys in the trade literature collection.   The company specialised in infants' foods, dietetic products, medicated pastilles, malt preparations as well as galenical preparations. The interesting fact about this catalogue is that it also provides general information about all aspects of motherhood such as teething and common illnesses in early childhood. This shows that trade catalogues had a different purpose other than selling business products. 

The trade literature collection (1850-1940) is an important research source covering the history of both individual businesses and whole industries - technological advances, product development, design, marketing and, ultimately, trends in consumption.  Similarly, it is a particularly valuable resource for collectors, historians, economists, museum curators, antique dealers and enthusiasts because they are specifically focused on products e.g. steam engines, ceramics, clocks, agricultural machinery etc.  

It is also worth noting that product literature has much more to say about a business than just its products. For example, it may contain illustrations of premises and work processes, addresses of factories and names of subsidiaries which provide an outline of corporate organisation in both the UK and overseas and corporate identity information such as logos.  

 

Brown Bayley’s Steel Works Ltd., Sheffield – Pictures of the interior, c.1913? 

Take as an example this catalogue from Brown Bailey’s Steels (pictured above), a beautiful collection of artworks by William Luker Jr. on steelworks in which appears to be a commemorative catalogue of the company. During the First World War, the firm became an important producer of alloy steels for the motor car and aircraft industry. It was also an early developer of stainless steel. 

Where different editions of a given item of product literature exist, taken together they allow the identification over time of changes in products, as well as in the other categories of information. Such information assumes real importance if no other archives of a business have survived. 

The Unlocking Hidden Collections project has been instrumental in making this material and other treasures of the British Library accessible to the public and we will continue working on expanding the possibilities for researchers, educators and curious minds to delve into our collections.  

 

This blog post was written by Fernanda Turina, trade literature cataloguer working on the British Library’s Unlocking Hidden Collections project.  This initiative aims to process, research and catalogue the Library’s hidden collections, making them more accessible to researchers and the public. 

The British Library holds a wealth of books, journals, social studies, historical documents and official publications. Readers can examine the welfare state through a variety of topics from social work and social policy administration, governance and management and empirical studies. Our collections have considerable scope and provide historical context to a wide range of themes.  

Now that the remote ordering system has been restored, it is much easier for readers to gain access to printed books and journals.  To use the remote ordering system, readers need to have registered for, or renewed, their reader's pass after 21 March 2024.  This post highlights publications that offer an insight into some of the issues that influence government policy, that can be ordered from home for viewing in the reading room. 

 

Introducing social policy, by Cliff Alcock, Guy Daly, and Edwin Griggs. 2nd edition. Harlow: Longman, 2008. Shelfmark YC.2012.a.3656

Introducing social policy (YC.2012.a.3656) provides a historical overview of welfare provision as it emerged at the end of the nineteenth century and progressed into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The authors provide an overview of how contemporary social policy is governed and suggest ways researchers can adopt a theoretical approach to studying relevant policy areas.  These include social security, health services, social services, education, employment and housing. 

 

Citizen, state, and social welfare in Britain 1830-1990, by Geoffrey Finlayson.  Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Shelfmark YC.1994.a.1887

 

In Citizen, state and social welfare in Britain (YC.1994.a.1887),  Geoffrey Finlayson states that the beginning and growth of the welfare state is highly contested and open to debate. Traditionally the processes of state control were seen to emerge in the 1830s, but one could argue that the process began in the late 17^th century.

Finlayson also states that emphasising the emergence of state provision tends to ignore the ‘mixed economy of welfare’. Voluntary activities representing a broad coalition of services have until recently been excluded from research in this area. 

His study is divided into four sections:

1830-1880: providence, paternalism and philanthropy 

1880-1914: challenge, collectivism, and convergence 

1914-1949: war, want, and welfare 

1949-1991: participation, perception, and pluralism 

 

Divided kingdom : a history of Britain, 1900 to the present, by Pat Thane.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Shelfmark YC.2019.b.1339

 

In Divided Kingdom: a history of Britain (YC.2019.b.1339), Pat Thane presents a broad picture of the UK and the political, economic, social and cultural changes which occurred since 1900. He reveals how the decolonisation of empire after the Second World War impacted Britain’s status and influence in the world and how the unity of the UK was affected by the devolution of domestic powers. Thane argues that although state welfare expanded after 1945 and partially survived into the 21^st century, its provision was curtailed by successive governments since the 1980s when many services were outsourced to private contractors. 

 

Welfare and social policy in Britain since 1870; essays in honour of Jose Harris, edited by Lawrence Goldman.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019. YC.2019.a.8933

 

Composed as a tribute to the renowned social theory historian Jose Harris, the essays in Welfare and social policy in Britain since 1870 (YC.2019.a.8933), examine the different approaches to welfare provision in Britain since the Victorian era. Stating that philanthropy was firmly rooted within an imperialist notion of community, the collection assesses the foundations of the welfare state within the context of the Beveridge report and socialist ideals.  

In her essay ‘The Reluctant Planner’ on T.H. Marshall, Julia Moses identifies a shift in post war attitudes away from an earlier tradition of philosophical idealism in social reform towards a universal equality that coexists with material wealth. Other essays in the same volume go on to examine how the foundational ideas of the welfare state were by turns exonerated and rebuffed by successive governments and state actors.  

In a chapter entitled ‘Reshaping the Welfare State’,  John Davis discusses the relative benefits that welfare provision brought to industrialised centres after the Second World War. He also highlights the work of the Institute of Community Studies and the Child Poverty Action Group during the 1960s which recognised the needs of the elderly, disabled and the mentally ill. As the complexity of the social makeup in urban areas and the inadequacy of housing stock became apparent, it meant that statutory services were not responding to new challenges. A consequence of this set of circumstances was that voluntary agencies then became more prevalent. 

 

Imagined orphans: poor families, child welfare, and contested citizenship in London, by Lydia Murdoch. New Brunswick, N.J.; London: Rutgers University Press, 2006.  Shelfmark m06/.21505

 

In her study of child welfare in late Victorian London, Imagined Orphans: poor families, child welfare, and contested citizenship in London (m06/.21505), Lydia Murdoch focuses on the cultural representations of child poverty and the reality of children’s experiences within welfare institutions in the nineteenth century. While reformers’ motivations were well intentioned, Murdoch shows how they conveyed an anti-poor sentiment that justified a minimalist welfare state. This study also reveals how institutions reacted and adapted to changing values during the First World War. 

 

Continuity and change in voluntary action : patterns, trends and understandings, by Rose Lindsey and John Mohan. Bristol: Policy Press, 2019. Shelfmark YKL.2020.a.2072

 

In their series of essays on the voluntary sector, Continuity and change in voluntary action (YKL.2020.a.2072), Rose Lindsey and John Mohan provide a comprehensive analysis of the social makeup and policy environment of volunteering in Britain since 1979. 

The opening chapter discusses the expansion of voluntary activity as a means of ‘renewing the values of society’. It also identifies the shifting attitudes towards voluntary activity during the Thatcher, Blair/Brown and coalition governments.  

This incisive study identifies trends, trajectories over the life course and attitudes to voluntary work. It also offers a clear analysis of qualitative datasets from the Mass Observation Project and the British Household Panel Survey.

 

The study of social welfare in Britain encompasses a broad range of themes across a number of subject areas and disciplines. In addition to the listed publications, it is possible to investigate social welfare through our extensive collection of reports, journals and government documents. Some of these rarely used sources include reports from the Charity Organisation Society, conference papers, and a complete run of journals from the British Association of Social Workers, as well as publications from the Central Office of Information.

 

UK parliamentary papers are available to view in the Social Sciences Reading Room. Encyclopedias, dictionaries and some research monographs are held on the open shelves.

 

Please check the catalogue or contact the social sciences reference team for more information.

 

Ben Hadley, Social Sciences Subject Librarian