Book Launch and Musical Evening, 29 January 2025
Sarah Clarke (ed), The Periodicals of Ferdinand Pelzer (1833-1857), A German Musician in London, has been published and is the LRS Vol. 59. It will be launched with a musical event at the Music Hall of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, holders of the original Pelzer documents, from 6-8 pm on 29 January 2025.
Pelzer was a renowned guitarist and choral teacher with an influential voice in the London musical scene of the 1830s. He helped popularise the guitar as a domestic instrument (remember Dora in David Copperfield) and on the concert stage, before diversifying as a teacher of massed amateur choruses in London and around the country.
Besides a talk about the book from the editor, Declan Hickey (guitar) and Ally Dunavant (soprano) will perform a musical cross-section of Ferdinand Pelzer’s life and legacy. The programme includes works by Pelzer, his daughter Catharina (better known as Madame Sidney Pratten), and the namesake of his 1830s guitar journal, Mauro Giuliani. Declan will perform on an original Panormo guitar from 1840.
Free tickets (numbers are limited to 100) can be booked with Eventbrite at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launch-and-musical-evening-the-periodicals-of-ferdinand-pelzer-tickets-1145702239239?aff=oddtdtcreator
Brewers’ Book Launch Event
The launch of the London Record Society’s volume 58, The Brewers’ Book Part 1, 1418-25: An Edition of the Minute Book of William Porland, Clerk of the Brewers’ Company, edited by Caroline Anne Metcalfe, took place on Tuesday 5 March 2024 at 5pm at:
Brewers’ Hall
Aldermanbury Square
London, EC2V 7HR
The programme was:
5.30pm: Introduction to talks by:
Caroline Metcalfe, ‘William Porlond’
Laura Wright, ‘The Language of the Brewers’ Book’
Judith Bennett, ‘Women in the Brewers’ company’.
c. 6pm: Reception and sale of books
7pm End
London Through Russian Eyes 1896-1914 – Launched November 28th 2022
London through Russian Eyes was launched at an event jointly hosted by the Jewish Historical Society of England and the London Record Society. The outline programme was as follows:
London Through Russian Eyes, 1896-1914: An Anthology of Foreign Correspondence
Edited by Anna Vaninskaya; Translated by Anna Vaninskaya and Maria Artamonova.
(Boydell and Brewer, 2022)
Professor Miri Rubin (QMUL) and President of the Jewish Historical Society of England
Professor Caroline Barron (RHUL), President of the London Record Society
Panel Discussion, chaired by Professor Jeremy Hicks (QMUL)
Dr Anna Vaninskaya (Edinburgh), on editing London through Russian Eyes
Professor Nadia Valman (QMUL), Russian Jews in the East End
Professor Alastair Owens (QMUL), Radical Traditions and the Problem of East London
Dr Andy Willimott (QMUL), The Russian Radical Press
Afterword by Professor Jerry White (Birkbeck)
London Through Russian Eyes 1896-1914 – Launch Event Monday November 282022
You are warmly invited to attend an event arising from our next volume, London through Russian Eyes, jointly hosted by the Jewish Historical Society of England and the London Record Society. The outline programme is as follows:
London Through Russian Eyes, 1896-1914: An Anthology of Foreign Correspondence
Edited by Anna Vaninskaya; Translated by Anna Vaninskaya and Maria Artamonova.
(Boydell and Brewer, 2022)
Date: Monday November 28th 2022
Location: David Sizer Lecture Theature, Bancroft Building, QMUL Mile End Campus.
Welcome – 6:30pm
Professor Miri Rubin (QMUL) and President of the Jewish Historical Society of England
Professor Caroline Barron (RHUL), President of the London Record Society
Panel Discussion, chaired by Professor Jeremy Hicks (QMUL)
Dr Anna Vaninskaya (Edinburgh), on editing London through Russian Eyes
Professor Nadia Valman (QMUL), Russian Jews in the East End
Professor Alastair Owens (QMUL), Radical Traditions and the Problem of East London
Dr Andy Willimott (QMUL), The Russian Radical Press
Afterword by Professor Jerry White (Birkbeck)
Reception, meeting the author and book sales – 7:30pm
Mercers’ Hall Visit for the London Record Society
3.00 pm, Wednesday 13th July 2022
The Mercers’ Company has very kindly agreed to a visit for up to 30 members of the London Record Society on Wednesday 13th July. The visit will be led by our Mercer Council member, Mike Dudgeon, and will include all the ceremonial rooms of the Hall, concluding with a cup of tea or coffee. Joining us for tea will be the Company Archivist with samples from the archives.
If you are interested in attending, please contact for further details and/or to book a place. This is on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis and the list will close on 30 June:
London Record Society 