...and other new accessions
We have recently received some wonderful new items for the Collection. They can now be seen in our online catalogue.
We have local historian Les Brook’s research report on the 1872 visit of the Iwakura Embassy to Saltaire. You can read about how the globe-trotting Japanese mission stopped off in Saltaire to marvel at the mill and model village.
Les has been busy. We’ve also got a copy of his Salt before Saltaire recounting Sir Titus’s pre-Saltaire career in Bradford. And an updated version of his history of Saltaire’s allotments.
All of Les’s documents can be read online, as can Ian Watson’s Sir James Roberts leaves Saltaire. Ian’s paper is based partly on research into the Collection’s Baker letters. Ian tells the story of Sir James’s many land dealings near Saltaire and Hirst Wood even after he had retired and moved away.
For consultation in our reading room are several Saltaire-related books. Simon Ross Valentine’s recent biography of Sir Titus Salt. Another biography, but for the younger members of the family, is Emily Parkin’s beautifully illustrated Titus Salt and how he built Saltaire. And we have two books featuring the Saltaire-based artist Govinder Nazran.
Ever wonder what people were reading 150 years ago? You can find out by consulting the printed catalogue of Saltaire’s own library based in the Club and Institute.
There’s also an intriguing piece of lead pipe found recently in a Saltaire house. It’s direct evidence for the claim that gas lighting was installed 150 years ago when the houses were built.