Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1930s (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 file
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Left Book Club was a very successful radical left wing group that flourished in Great Britain from the mid 1930s to the beginning of World War Two. It was started in 1936 by the barrister, Stafford Cripps, and publisher Victor Gollancz, with the goal of selling left wing books at very cheap prices. Those who joined agreed to buy at least one book a month for a 6-month period. By 1939 it had 57,000 members and sold about 6 million books. During the war the British Communist Party agitated for an end to war and transformed a number of Left Book Club groups into 'Stop the War' committees. By the end of World War Two there were only 7,000 subscribers and it formally shut down in 1948.
Repository
Archival history
GB 1556 WL 1389 1930s Collection level 1 file Left Book Club
The Left Book Club was a very successful radical left wing group that flourished in Great Britain from the mid 1930s to the beginning of World War Two. It was started in 1936 by the barrister, Stafford Cripps, and publisher Victor Gollancz, with the goal of selling left wing books at very cheap prices. Those who joined agreed to buy at least one book a month for a 6-month period. By 1939 it had 57,000 members and sold about 6 million books. During the war the British Communist Party agitated for an end to war and transformed a number of Left Book Club groups into 'Stop the War' committees. By the end of World War Two there were only 7,000 subscribers and it formally shut down in 1948.
Jewish Central Information Office
Leaflets, advertising membership to the Left Book Club, 1930s.
N/A
Open
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
English
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.
Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
March 2008 Europe UK Left Book Club Literary forms and genres Literature Radical literature Western Europe London England
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Jewish Central Information Office
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Leaflets, advertising membership to the Left Book Club, 1930s.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
N/A
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
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Subject access points
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Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English