the library at Hurtfew
Gilbert Norrell’s library at Hurtfew Abbey is the library I always wanted to have–with loved carved wooden book cases, and large fireplaces crackling in the winter evenings, and strange, dark-eyed mysterious servants to conspire with.
“Mr. Honeyfoot and Mr. Segundus, being magicians themselves, had not neded to be told that the library of Hurtfew Abbey was dearer to its possessor than all his other riches; and they were not surprized to discover that Mr. Norrell had constructed a beautiful jewel box to house his heart’s treasure. The bookcases which lined the wall of the room were built of English woods and resembled Gothic arches laden with carvings. There were carvings of leaves (dried and twisted leaves, as if the season the artist had intended to represent were autumn), carvings of intertwining roots and branches, carvings of berries and ivy – all wonderfully done. But the wonder of the bookcases was nothing to the wonder of the books.â€
–Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
