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Literary cities

36 cities · writers, publishers and public collections

A book usually has a place attached to it: where the writer trained, where a printer set the type, where a story was set, or where its readers first borrowed it. These pages describe those connections in English and point to one public institution per city whose catalogue can be checked from anywhere.

We have deliberately left out street addresses, opening times and admission prices. They go out of date quickly, and a wrong address is worse than no address. What you will find here is the literary link, the books it explains, and a research collection worth searching.

The cities

  1. London, England — 17 books in this collection; research starting point: The British Library.
  2. Edinburgh, Scotland — 6 books in this collection; research starting point: National Library of Scotland.
  3. Dublin, Ireland — 6 books in this collection; research starting point: National Library of Ireland.
  4. Oxford, England — 4 books in this collection; research starting point: Bodleian Libraries.
  5. Boston, United States — 4 books in this collection; research starting point: Boston Public Library.
  6. New York, United States — 7 books in this collection; research starting point: New York Public Library.
  7. Cambridge, England — 3 books in this collection; research starting point: Cambridge University Library.
  8. Bath, England — 3 books in this collection; research starting point: Bath Record Office.
  9. Canterbury, England — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Canterbury Cathedral Library.
  10. Manchester, England — 3 books in this collection; research starting point: John Rylands Research Institute and Library.
  11. Haworth, England — 5 books in this collection; research starting point: Brontë Parsonage Museum.
  12. Stratford-upon-Avon, England — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
  13. Galway, Ireland — 3 books in this collection; research starting point: University of Galway Library.
  14. Paris, France — 3 books in this collection; research starting point: Bibliothèque nationale de France.
  15. Rome, Italy — 3 books in this collection; research starting point: Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma.
  16. Florence, Italy — 3 books in this collection; research starting point: Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze.
  17. Venice, Italy — 4 books in this collection; research starting point: Italian national library catalogue (OPAC SBN).
  18. Naples, Italy — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III.
  19. Granada, Spain — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Andalusian public library catalogue.
  20. Cairo, Egypt — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: AUC Rare Books and Special Collections Library.
  21. Cape Town, South Africa — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: National Library of South Africa.
  22. Mumbai, India — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Asiatic Society of Mumbai.
  23. Kolkata, India — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: National Library of India.
  24. Sydney, Australia — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: State Library of New South Wales.
  25. Melbourne, Australia — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: State Library Victoria.
  26. Wellington, New Zealand — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Alexander Turnbull Library.
  27. Montreal, Canada — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: McGill University Library.
  28. Philadelphia, United States — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Free Library of Philadelphia.
  29. Baltimore, United States — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Enoch Pratt Free Library.
  30. Chicago, United States — 3 books in this collection; research starting point: Newberry Library.
  31. New Orleans, United States — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: The Historic New Orleans Collection.
  32. San Francisco, United States — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: San Francisco Public Library.
  33. Salem, United States — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum.
  34. Concord, United States — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Concord Free Public Library.
  35. St. Louis, United States — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: St. Louis Public Library.
  36. Buenos Aires, Argentina — 2 books in this collection; research starting point: Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno.
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