Lady Welby Library

A collection of books and pamphlets formed and extensively annotated by the Hon. Victoria A M L Stuart-Wortley, afterwards Lady Welby-Gregory (1837-1912), was given by her husband Sir Charles Welby-Gregory. It consists of 1,500 volumes and 1,000 pamphlets, mostly 19th century, on theology, philosophy, economics, education, science and philology. Current interest in the collection stems from Lady Welby's development of "significs", now understood as a forerunner of semiology.

The collection is described in:

P.M. Baker, ‘The Lady Welby Library at the University of London’, in: H. Watler Schmitz (ed.), Essays on Significs: Papers Presented on the Occasion of the 150th Annviersary of the Birth of Victoria Lady Welby, 1837-1912 (Foundation of Semiotics, 23). Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1990, pp. 279-287

shl.specialcollections@london.ac.uk 020 7862 8470