What began as a passion for collecting has blossomed into a treasure trove. We are standing before Mary Evans Picture Library a place brimming with history and visual stories.
Mary Evans Picture Library isn’t just any archive. It’s a private company. They supply historic images for newspapers exhibitions and TV documentaries. Think of it as a bricks-and-mortar Getty Images.
Founded in 1964 by Mary Evans and her husband Hillary their love for antiquarian books prints and ephemera sparked its creation. The very first picture sold by Mary Evans Picture Library went to the BBC. Back then it was posted stuck to blue pieces of card with cow gum.
Interestingly the current building has its own story. It stands on a site once devastated by a Zeppelin bomb in August 1916. A row of houses was destroyed. The land was donated by the Earl of Dartmouth and funds were raised. In 1928 the new building opened.
Mary Evans had a fondness for illustrated children’s books. One quirky find is a collection of children’s activities written by H.G. Wells the author of The War of the Worlds. There is also a miniature alphabet book so precious that Mary Evans herself warned “Guard with your life please”.
Among the shelves you can find a collection of ephemera dedicated to Women’s Suffrage. There are photographs of the Pankhurst family published as postcards. Some postcards bear stickers related to the ‘Black Friday’ protest a day when suffragettes were beaten assaulted and arrested. One striking postcard from 1913 urges women not to suffer in silence.
The Mary Evans Picture Library also holds a film negative showing an anti-Nazism image. It declares “the world cries out against ‘The Outrages of History'”. On a lighter note they also have a large collection of 1930s-50s night club costume sketches. These sketches feature performers from Murray’s Night Club in Soho whose slogan was “forget your worries come to Murray’s”.
The Illustrated London News archive has been housed at Mary Evans since 2007. This archive is an unequalled visual document of the past. It contains other titles such as The Graphic The Sphere and The Sketch.
The building itself has a fascinating history. Designed in 1927 by Charles Canning Winmill it has attractive patterned brickwork. During World War II it served as a restaurant for rations. Later it became a ballet school. Mary Evans’ daughter even attended classes here. The school chairs numbered ‘one’ through ‘ten’ are still used in the meeting room.
The library’s founders were most interested in collecting things that didn’t have value as fine art items. Hilary had a passion for folklore and the paranormal. A broomstick still hangs from a beam over the librarian’s desks. Mary was obsessed with photographs of dogs. In 2003 she acquired Thomas Fall’s collection of historical dog pictures.
Mary Evans Picture Library offers an unbiased view of history. It’s a vast collection meticulously labeled and cataloged. It has survived due to Mary’s values and the dedication of her employees.
So as we leave Mary Evans Picture Library remember it’s more than just a collection of images. It’s a living breathing testament to the power of visual communication throughout history. It’s a democratic approach to collecting ensuring that this material is opened up.