Archives & Library

Library Collections

The library collections cover British painting, sculpture, drawing, prints, decorative arts, architecture and garden history from the medieval period to the present day. The collections on British artists and architects, the British and Irish country house and the eighteenth-century Grand Tour are particularly strong.

Geoffrey Beard

Approximately 50 items. This material has been fully catalogued on the Library and Photographic Archive catalogue.

The collection consists of books on the history of decorative art, furniture, and the English country house from the library of the late art historian, Dr Geoffrey Beard OBE, FSA.

The library was donated to the Paul Mellon Centre by the Attingham Trust in July 2017.

Selection of books upright on a shelf

Books from the Geoffrey Beard donation, 2017

Dr Geoffrey Beard OBE, FSA (1929–2015) was an architectural historian, museum director, teacher and writer. He was director of Cannon Hall, near Barnsley and director of the Visual Arts Centre at Lancaster University from 1972–1982. He co-founded the Furniture History Society and was a director, president and trustee of the Attingham Trust. His specialism was in the decorative arts, particularly plasterwork and furniture.