Donations for Summer 2011

The Library is always very grateful to receive donations of books and material of local interest.

Recently, we have been presented with a magnificent facsimile edition of the 17th-century Legge Report, of the highest quality, from the publishers who also gave us the wonderful edition of the collated Festung, German maps, documents and illustrations concerning the fortifications of the island by the German occupation forces in the Second War; the Library has some of the original documents. These marvellous editions of important material can be seen on request.

A large number of very useful and hard-to-obtain titles to bolster our local studies collection were presented to the Library on behalf of the late Richard Blower, by his wife, for which we are extremely grateful.

We have also received Conversations in Guernsey French, an introduction to the language based on lessons broadcast by BBC Radio Guernsey, from the authors, Hazel and Harry Tomlinson, and a useful modern addition to our Guernsey French collection. The book contains phonetic and English versions of colloquial Guernsey French. We have copies for sale here at the Library.

Angela Jianu of Warwick University has kindly sent us a copy of her new work, A Circle of Friends, Romanian Revolutionaries and Political Exile, 1840-1859. One of the protagonists in this tumultuous period of Romanian history, which is also of interest for students of French and European political history in general,was Maria Rosetti, née Grant, who was born and brought up in Guernsey and whose mother was a Le Lacheur. Maria, who was baptised Marie,was something of a Romanian George Sand—as far as her political and writing career were concerned, at least. In Guernsey we have plenty of historical heroes, but we are always looking for more Guernsey heroines, so we would like to thank Angela for bringing her to our attention. We were glad to help research her early life and family here in Guernsey.

Do you have books, photographs, or documents with a Guernsey connection that you would like to be kept safe and made easily accessible to the public? Why not donate them to the Library? Find out how.