Fall in Love with Furniture - The Library of John Bedford

For Heritage Open Days 2024 we invite you on an exclusive tour of our exhibition, Part of the Furniture: The Library of John Bedford.

Beautiful books dating back to the 17th century cover every aspect of the home – from furnishings, ornaments and metalwork to drapery, architecture and lighting – and chart developments in furniture design over the centuries. You will see rare items relating to Otley-born cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale, as well as treasures by other leading furniture designers and makers such as Thomas Sheraton and George Smith.

The tour will be led by Special Collections Curator Rhiannon Lawrence-Francis and Rare Book Specialist Rachel Eckersley, and afterwards you will have the opportunity to see more of this exceptional collection up close.

The antique dealer John Bedford traded in London for 35 years and gained an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of furniture and interior design. He gathered together a sensational library of rare and colourful pattern books, early catalogues, trade cards, manuscripts, drawing books, artworks and other furnishing-related ephemera, which he left to the University of Leeds on his death in 2019.

The exhibition in the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery displays highlights from John’s incredible library, and invites you to think about what furniture history should address next. What stories are yet to be told and what themes are still to be revealed?