Edward Edwards in Retrospect

When, some fifteen years ago, I first became interested in public library history and decided that any subsequent literary endeavours of mine should be in this field rather than in those of practical administration and book selection which had primarily interested me hitherto, I formed the opinion that biographies of Ewart and Edwards ought to be written. Much later I decided that I ought to write them. In due course I tackled Ewart first because there had been no earlier biography; Thomas Greenwood's book on Edwards had appeared in 1902. It was only after William Ewart M.P. had been published in 1960 that I realized how fortunate had been my scale of priority. Ewart's many non‐library and non‐literary activities had encouraged me to make a detailed—frequently a day to day—study of early and mid nineteenth century social and political history that provided the stage on which Edwards could also act out his part.