Russell's Library
Along with Russell's papers, he also agreed to donate his personal library. In 1978, after the death of Edith, Countess Russell, approximately 3500 books were transported to Hamilton and reshelved in the order that Russell had them.
The collection spans many topics: religion, history, psychology, fiction, biography, and of course logic, philosophy, and mathematics. The collection is not complete, missing his beloved detective novels, and other tomes that drifted out of the collection through sale, divorce, moving, and the other challenges of life.
Many of the books contain marks of his ownership from marginalia, to pipe cleaners bookmarks, gift tags, and unfinished letters used as bookmarks.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was one of the foremost philosophers and public intellectuals of the 20th century. He contributed to a broad range of topics, from logic, epistemology, and the philosophy of mathematics to social and political thought. In particular, he was critical of many aspects of war, beginning with protests to the First World War and through to nuclear war, and the Vietnam War. It is many of these themes, especially those in which he championed "humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought" earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.
"Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind."
