Gladstone’s death and the Grand Old Man’s legacy
William Gladstone died on May 19, 1898, aged 88. Contemporaries recorded the cause of death as “Syncope, Senility”, a diagnosis we might misconstrue today to mean the decline of one’s mental faculties. It was, in fact, age-related heart-failure that claimed the great Victorian. Fortunately for lifelong learner, he retained his mental faculties until the end. As befitted a man of such magnitude, Gladstone’s funeral was spectacular. It took place at a packed-out Westminster Abbey, where 2,500 people had gathered to pay tribute to the late, great politician.
The Prince and Wales and Duke of York counted among his coffin’s pallbearers, and the big names of the Victorian Age’s twilight years read out the tributes and eulogies. Every eulogy sang praises of the late, great Gladstone. That characterized by the most pathos, though, came from Mr. James Bryce, who said, “I cannot recall any other case in which the whole nation has followed the setting of the sun of life with such sympathy, such regret, and such admiration.”
Gladstone remains the only British prime minister to have bequeathed a residential library; a trend which appears to have taken off with far more much success in the US, starting with Franklin. D. Roosevelt. But Gladstone’s library wasn’t the only contribution Gladstone made to the bibliothecary world. Running beneath the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, where Gladstone studied, is a modern underground library called the “Gladstone Link.” Some might think the name reflects the usual practice of naming a building after a distinguished alumnus. But they would be wrong.
Gladstone’s library wasn’t the only contribution the great Victorian made to the bibliothecary world. Running beneath the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, where Gladstone studied, is a modern underground library called the “Gladstone Link.” Some might think the name reflects the usual practice of naming a building after a distinguished alumnus. But they would be wrong.
Home to more than 270,000 books, most of which are stored away on rolling stacks, the Gladstone Link instead derives its name from the inventor of an ingenious catalogue system, the man himself, William Gladstone. He devised this space-saving system to accommodate the constant influx of publications to the Bodleian, which as a legal depository is required to keep a copy of every book published in the UK.
This is no small task, and even with Gladstone’s rolling stacks. And with an influx of some 5,000 books a week the library has been forced to outsource its collection to the surrounding area. But Gladstone’s legacy lives on. In name, it lingers through his residential library in Wales and the underground library in Oxford. In history, it endures through the vast bodies of literature that celebrate his life, and the libraries across the world where you can find them.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“The Life of William Ewert Gladstone” John Morley
William Ewart Gladstone (1809 – 1898) – BBC History
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98): His Work With ‘Fallen Women’ – History Home UK
Gladstone’s Library: A Retreat for Readers and Writers – Times Higher Education
A Message From Peter Francis, Warden And Director – Gladstones Library