Mervyn Laurence Peake was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the Gormenghast books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived as a lengthy cycle, the completion of which was prevented by his death. They are sometimes compared to the work of his older contemporary J. R. R. Tolkien, but Peake's surreal fiction was influenced by his early love for Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson rather than Tolkien's studies of mythology and philology.
Gormenghast is a fantasy series by British author Mervyn Peake, about the inhabitants of Castle Gormenghast, a sprawling, decaying, Gothic structure. Originally conceived as a single on-going novel, the series was ended by Peake's death and comprises three novels: Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950) and Titus Alone (1959); and a novella, Boy in Darkness (1956), whose canonical status is debated. Peake was writing a fourth novel, Titus Awakes, at the time of his death in 1968. The book was completed by Peake's widow Maeve Gilmore in the 1970s, but was not published until 2011 after it was discovered by their family.
Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild,, is a British peer, investment banker and a member of the Rothschild banking family.
Macmillan Publishers is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers. Founded in London in 1843 by Scottish brothers Daniel and Alexander MacMillan, the firm would soon establish itself as a leading publisher in Britain. It published two of the best-known works of Victorian era children's literature, Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1894).
Art Fund is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as well as lobbying on behalf of museums and galleries and their users. It relies on members' subscriptions and public donations for funds and does not receive funding from the government or the National Lottery.
Titus Groan is a novel by Mervyn Peake, first published in 1946. It is the first novel in the Gormenghast series.
Culture24, originally the 24 Hour Museum, is a British charity which publishes websites, Culture24, Museum Crush and Show Me, about visual culture and heritage in the United Kingdom, as well as supplying data and support services to other cultural websites including Engaging Places.
Lungbarrow is an original novel written by Marc Platt and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Published in Virgin Books' New Adventures range, it was the last of that range to feature the Seventh Doctor.
John William Beaumont Pease, 1st Baron Wardington, was a British banker.
The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its long history, from the most famous to the most obscure, whose cases are judged to be deserving. It also operates a Fellowship scheme, placing established writers in universities to encourage writing skills, and to monitor standards of writing in the higher education world.
Khalid Hameed, Baron Hameed, CBE, DL is the chairman of Alpha Hospital Group, and chairman and chief executive officer of the London International Hospital. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of the Cromwell Hospital in London. He hails from Lucknow, India.
Sir John Henry Birchenough, 1st Baronet, was an English businessman and public servant.
Gloriana, or The Unfulfill'd Queen is a work of literary fantasy by British novelist Michael Moorcock. It was first published in 1978 and has remained in print ever since.
The Harold Pinter Archive in the British Library is the literary archive of Harold Pinter, which Pinter had first placed "on permanent loan" in the British Library in September 1993 and which became a permanent acquisition in December 2007.
The Dering Roll is the oldest English roll of arms surviving in its original form. It was made between 1270 and 1280 and contains the coat of arms of 324 knights, starting with two illegitimate children of King John. Sir Edward Dering acquired the roll during the 17th century and modified it to include a fictitious ancestor of his own. It was eventually purchased by the British Library following fund raising involving a number of other charities and individuals.
The British Museum Friends (BMF) is a registered charitable organisation in the UK with close links to the British Museum, and was set up in 1968. It provides funding in the form of grants to the British Museum in order to support the educational objectives of the Museum including to allow the Museum to acquire new items and collections, and assists with financing research programmes, conservation, and new technologies throughout the Museum.
Margaret Audrey White, Lady Wardington was a red-headed English model who was refused a job as a BBC announcer in case her powerful looks "alarmed timid men from Wigan and country districts." Later she had a career in fashion journalism before concentrating on charity work.
Westholme House is a historic building in the English market town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, set in 32 acres of parkland and school grounds. Built around 1849 in the style of a French Gothic mansion by Charles Kirk for his business partner Thomas Parry, it was privately owned until the 1940s, when Kesteven County Council acquired the house and its grounds. It subsequently served as the county library and part of Sleaford Secondary Modern School. The stone house follows an asymmetrical layout and incorporates a range of Gothic elements in its design. In 1974, it was recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, recognising it as of "special interest".
The Doria Atlas is a 16th-century atlas commissioned by and named for the Genoese military leader Giovanni Andrea Doria. Likely compiled around 1570, it is a composite atlas featuring 186 printed and manuscript maps from two distinct atlases of the Lafreri school. It also contains rare Italian maps dating to the 1620s, in addition to a series of manuscript maps, written by little-known publishers during the 1620s and 1630s and detailing the commercial, political and military interests of the Doria family. As of the 21st century, it is one of the world's most expensive books.
James Alastair Stourton, is a British art historian and a former chairman of Sotheby's UK.
