'But the Empire Cannot Live by Muscle Alone': An Architectural History of the Edwardian Public Library

Abstract This paper is a synopsis of a recent successful doctoral thesis (University of Newcastle) on Edwardian public library architecture, and was given as a lecture to the Victorian Society in November 2004. Surveying the work of the most successful Edwardian library architects, when library building in England was at its peak, it argues for a thematic reading of the libraries, examining their architecture, sculpture, planning and building technologies, alongside the more abstract issues of authority, citizenship, imperialism and progress.