Layton's Library: A Book Group

Discussing plague and pestilence in 17th and 18th century writing

The exhibition Layton’s Library: A Curious Collection was so popular with visitors since opening in January that a spin-off book group was formed which meets in Chiswick Library in Dukes Avenue.

The subject of their next meeting which takes place on 5 May is 'Plague and Pestilence'

The meetings discuss some of the best known writings of the 17th and 18th centuries and the following meeting is on 2 June.

The group has been set up by local volunteers to raise awareness of the Thomas Layton library collection.

Participation is free, though space is limited. If you would like to go please email sarah@laytoncollection.org.

Thomas Layton (born in 1819, died 1911) lived for the majority of his life on Kew Bridge Road in Brentford, West London. He was a lighterman, a coal merchant, a churchwarden, a member of the Burial Board and a Poor Law Guardian but, above all, he was a “collector”. During the course of his life he built up an enormous and intriguing collection of ‘every conceivable thing that can be found in an antique store’, including maps, prints, spears, swords, tokens, medals and coins, but his plans to endow a museum and library in Brentford ran into difficulties. Many of his antiquities are on public display in the Museum of London.

However, by far the largest element of his collection – his extraordinary collection of books – has remained relatively unknown and little used.

The Layton Collection web site has brought many of the elements together as a “virtual museum”.

April 1, 2016