Welcome to the Kate Sharpley Library

The Kate Sharpley Library exists to preserve and promote anarchist history. (More information.)

Everything at the Kate Sharpley Library - acquisitions, cataloguing, preservation work, publishing, answering enquiries is done by volunteers: we get no money from governments or the business community. All our running costs are met by donations from members of the collective, subscribers and supporters, or by the small income we make through publishing. Please consider donating and subscribing.

We also try to promote the history of anarchism by publishing studies based on those materials - or reprints of original documents taken from our collection. Check out our books and pamphlets available for sale or explore our online documents or browse back issues of our Bulletin.

Our physical library (in California) includes books, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts and ephemera documenting the history of anarchist movements. Contact us to arrange a visit.

Recent news

October 2015 Kate Sharpley Library Bulletin online

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 84, October 2015 has just been posted on our site. The PDF is up at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/x3fh0j

Contents:
Anarchist History: confessions of an awkward pupil by Barry Pateman http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/02v7v0
Tenth Anniversary of the death of Eliezer Hirshauge (1911-1954) [A work in progress] by Dinah Hirshauge http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/tb2szq
Library News (October 2015) (inc. New publication: What Does Syndicalism Want?) http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/9cnqd0
Anarchism by George Woodcock [Review] by Frank Mintz http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/j6q60z

London Anarchist Bookfair 2015

The 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair is coming soon. It will be on Saturday 24th October from 10am to 7pm.

Location: Central Saint Martin’s
University of the Arts London
Granary Building
1 Granary Square
London N1C 4AA
For more details (the list of meetings is up) go to: http://www.anarchistbookfair.org.uk/

See you there!

New publication: What Does Syndicalism Want? Living, Not Dead Unions By Max Baginski

What does syndicalism want? was first published in 1909, when the syndicalist revolt was growing worldwide. Baginski is clear in his call for working class rebellion: the task is not to fight simply for better conditions but ‘to break the chains of wage labor and at the same time the shackles of servitude to the state.’ At the same time, Baginski is no joyless martyr to ‘the cause’: personal freedom joins collective struggle at the core of his anarchism.
Max Baginski (1864-1943) was a German-born American anarchist activist and writer. Rudolf Rocker called him “one of the most outstanding human beings I have met in my life”. Nathan Jun’s introduction puts Baginski in his political and intellectual context as writer and anarchist.

What Does Syndicalism Want? Living, Not Dead Unions
By Max Baginski
Edited and introduced by Nathan Jun, translated by Friederike Wiedemann; with an obituary by Rudolf Rocker, edited by Nathan Jun, translated by Yvonne Franke
ISBN 978-1-873605-36-3 £3 / $3
Anarchist Library series ISSN 1479-9073 #25
See http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/ksn1fh

July 2015 Kate Sharpley Library Bulletin online

KSL: Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library No. 82-83, July 2015 [Double issue] has just been posted on our site.
The PDF is up at: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/vmcx14

Contents:
An Appeal to the Young: Some thoughts on a best seller by Barry Pateman: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/47d8wf
Two American anarchist newspapers online: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/q2bx7t
La Nueve – 24 August 1944. The Spanish Republicans who liberated Paris by Evelyn Mesquida [Book review]: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/s4mxrf
Death of Eduardo Escot Bocanegra, Andalusian libertarian shipped to the Nazi Camp in Mauthausen by Ángel del Rio: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/2fr053
London Anarchist Bookfair 2015: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/612kp8
Marcelino de la Parra, Anarcho-syndicalist Guerrilla from León by Antonio Téllez Solà: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/dr7v18
Help AK Press & Friends Recover from Fire: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/j9kfh9
Thoughts on local anarchist newspapers in 1980s Britain: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/69p9gj
Colin Parker 1948-2015 by Nick Heath: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/wm39bd
International Anarchist Manifesto on the War [1915]: http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/cjsztv

Help AK Press & Friends Recover from Fire

Our comrades at AK Press in Oakland are currently dealing with the aftermath of a major fire. They're appealing for donations to spread between between AK Press, their neighbors at 1984 Printing, and building residents who have lost their homes and belongings.
Details are at: http://www.akpress.org/fire-relief.html. The direct link to the fundraising page is: http://www.gofundme.com/akpressfire.
Please help!