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17 Aug 2010 15:20:01
A Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Bedfordshire went to Spain this summer to extend the famed Hockliffe Collection of children’s books.
Dr Clare Walsh travelled to Lanzarote in July to meet Gill David, the granddaughter of a local bookseller and former mayor of Bedford, Frederick Hockliffe. His son, Maurice Frederick Rich Hockliffe, had donated his father’s collection of rare early children’s books to what was then Bedford Training College back in 1927.
The Hockliffe Collection comprises almost 1,000 works of fiction and non-fiction for children from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. These include a wide range of literary genres, from fables and fairytales, through periodicals and instruction books, to poetry and fiction, as well as books on games and pastimes, natural science, history, maths, geography and travel among others.
The books are held in specially designed cabinets in the foyer of the library at the Bedford campus.
A successful one-day conference on the history of the collection was held at the Bedford campus in June 2009, an event Gill came across at the time while she was on the internet.
Now in her 70s and living in an old farmhouse in Spain, she was unable to attend the event but instead wrote a letter to Dr Walsh. Gill had been completely unaware of the existence of the collection but was keen to return to her birthplace of Bedford, which she had not revisited since childhood, to view the books.
Gill and husband Christopher visited Bedford in October last year and she was delighted by the many and varied books in the archive. With the help of a local historian, Gill was also able to locate and visit for the first time the grave of her grandfather in Bedford cemetery.
An invitation was then extended by Gill to visit her villa in Lanzarote to select books from her own childhood reading to add to the collection. This treasure trove of books will be available to students at the University for research purposes.
Dr Walsh said: “Although having now contracted double pneumonia, Gill was determined to donate the books personally since she felt it was a way of reconnecting with her father and grandfather and of commemorating their shared love of books.
“It was an emotional moment for Gill since many of the books evoked vivid memories of childhood reading. The books will now be carefully catalogued and added to the collection.
“The University extends its formal thanks to her for consolidating the connection between her family and several generations of our students from two generations to three.”
Several books include the bookplate specially designed by her father and which show an image of the Medieval poet and the family’s possible forebear, Thomas Hoccleve (1368-1450?), presenting a book of his poetry to King Henry V.
Latest news» 2010» August» Hockliffe Collection receives some much-loved additions
