Ron Heisler Collection

A collection of c18,000 books, c19,000 pamphlets, c3,000 journal and newspaper titles and a quantity of ephemera, published by or relating to labour and radical political movements and political expression in art, drama and literature. A substantial proportion was published in very small quantities; some is not widely represented in British libraries, if at all. There are also some manuscripts. The collection was donated to Senate House Library in 2004 by Mr Ron Heisler who created this notable collection over many years.

The collection covers much of the world. There is particular emphasis on Britain and Ireland, including late-18th, 19th and early-20th century items published by radical groups, friendly societies and the Chartists. From the early to mid-20th century there are many publications of Trotskyist groups, the Independent Labour Party and the Communist Party. British material is particularly strong for local and desktop publishers since the 1960s. From the 1960s and 1970s, the holdings of New Left material are very extensive, and there are some uncommon publications from the women's movement of that period. There are very good holdings on Africa, particularly South Africa. Also there is good representation of items from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States and the West Indies. West European countries are represented with material from and about France, Germany, Italy and Spain (notably the Spanish Civil War). There are publications from and about the former Soviet Union, some in Russian, including books on art. Political fiction, poetry and drama are a particular feature of the collection.

Related collections include the Goldsmiths' Library of Economic Literature and the Richardson Collection.

Cataloguing of the books in the Ron Heisler Collection began in 2005 and continues; entries can now be found on the main catalogue. To gain an overview of the collection, do a mixed classmark search on Heisler. Archives have been catalogued as part of the archives catalogue. Please apply to Special Collections for items from this Collection, but please note that it is currently stored in the Depository and some days' notice is required for books to be fetched.

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