The Blythe House is a grand Victorian style building that houses a number of museum collections. Its first purpose was a post office in the 1880's, until the building was bought out to serve as a storage space. Museums like the Victoria and Albert, the Science Museum, and the British Museum all have collections stored there.
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Exterior view of the Blythe House.
Source: https://bakermallett.com/projects/
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Our class visited the Blythe House during our second week in London. There was no tour of the building, but we were given a presentation about the history behind the Blythe House, children's book collection, and their Beatrix Potter collection (author and artist behind Peter Rabbit).
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| Presentation at the Blythe House. |
The Beatrix Potter collection was obtained through the wealth of Leslie Linder. He was a collector of Potter's drawings, photographs, manuscripts, and any other related items. Over the years he obtained one the largest collections of Beatrix Potter related items. He was also able to break her coded journals, notes and observations. It was on his death in 1973 his collection was given to the V&A on permanent loan. He wanted the V&A to have his collection because he knew it would be properly taken care of. The collection today is worth around 20 million pounds, and laid the foundation for the museum to further expand its collection.
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| After the presentation we were able to get a closer look at some of the Beatrix Potter items they had on display for us. |
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| There were also some items from their large children's book collection. Many of which were donated by Queen Mary. |
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| Close up of Beatrix Potters photo album. |
Source:
https://olympia.london/visiting/local-area/listings/blythe-house
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