As the President and Chairman of the London Library say
in their appeal for a fund, not to assist the library gener- ally, but to ease the way for those users of it who find the necessarily increased subscription (from four guineas a year to six) a serious strain on limited gleans, this historic and invaluable institution has no parallel in the world. There may be specialised collections of books more nearly complete in a narrow field, but nowhere can the serious student be so sure of finding what he needs in almost any field, and in any language, with the liberty to take out a dozen volumes at a time and keep them for any reasonable period unless some other member wants them. It is hard indeed to be a serious student of anything without being a member of the London Library. In founding it Carlyle served humanity at least as well as by writing The French Revolution or Sartor Resartus.
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