Dutch librarian discovers one of Guille-Alles’ oldest books

Dutch librarian Garrelt Verhoeven was browsing an online antiquarian bookshop when he came across a copy of The Destruction of Jerusalem, written in 1805 by the British MP George Holford.

He bought the book, discovered the words ‘Thomas Guille, 1832, New York’ written on the flyleaf – and became intrigued to find out more about its previous owner.

Fifty years before he would co-found the Guille-Alles Library, in 1832 Thomas Guille arrived in New York as a 14-year-old, and began buying books that he hoped one day to bring home to Guernsey and start a library with.

Many of the first books he acquired were theological in nature and included The Destruction of Jerusalem, which was indeed part of the library’s collection when it eventually opened in 1882.

Nearly 200 years after Thomas Guille wrote his name inside, Mr Verhoeven read the inscription and was inspired to find out more about him and the institution he founded.

He made contact with the chief librarian at the Guille-Alles and returned the book to the library just before Christmas. It is now on display as part of the ongoing Boundless Curiosity exhibition, which runs until 21 January.

‘This is a wonderful discovery, and we’re extremely grateful to Garrelt for returning the book to us,’ said Adam Bayfield, head of marketing at the library.

‘It must have been one of the very first books Thomas Guille ever collected – perhaps even the first.

‘We can just imagine him proudly writing his name on the flyleaf. We believe it was removed from the library sometime in the 1950s – after that, who knows what happened to it over the decades before it wended its way to the Netherlands?

‘Having devoted so much time last year to researching the library’s history and putting together our Boundless Curiosity exhibition, it’s fair to say that a few of us were quite emotional when we opened the book and saw Thomas Guille’s handwriting inside.’

Mr Verhoeven bought the book online from a dealer in the city of Ede, close to Utrecht.

The dealer had acquired it from another antiquarian bookshop in the UK some years earlier.

‘As a librarian myself I am fascinated by the history of books, especially ones that seem to have been overlooked,’ said Mr Verhoeven, who has been equally impressed by the Guille-Alles Library and its story.

‘It fills me with pleasure that this little treasure has now returned to Guernsey, and to see the librarians embrace it as a lost son.’

n View our video about the book dicsovery at https://youtu.be/VFvgTxtn6cs