Books

We have many reference titles available for research purposes, including A History of Brighton by Weston Bate, Henry Dendy and his Emigrants by L.A. Schumer, A Portrait of J. B. Were and his Family by Clive Were and a number of Sands and MacDougall’s directories.

We also have quirky and interesting items such as a receipt book kept by the local night cart man, illuminated addresses given to Tommy Bent and his wife, an original petition to the Brighton Council for electric railway along New Street to Brighton Beach, and a Brighton Council receipt book of fines for wandering cattle.

Other books of note are include a collection of the published works of Adam Lindsay Gordon and many interesting novels awarded early last century to school children as prizes from local schools. Most of these schools are no longer in existence.

Another feature of our collection is books written by local authors. Some books are current, such as the Bitterbynde trilogy by internationally acclaimed fantasy writer Cecilia Dart-Thornton, but many writers like Zofia Kruk who wrote The Taste of Fear about her Polish childhood in Germany 1939–1946, have long gone and their books are hard to come by.

If you are a local author and have published a book recently, we would love a copy to add to our collection.