Gili Catalan Collection

The collection

Approximately 2,500 items of Catalan interest, dating from the mid-nineteenth century to the late-twentieth century. Particular collection strengths are Catalan literature and literary criticism, and social, political and economic history of the region. Gili’s publications in Oxford under the Dolphin imprint are also present. Material is primarily in Catalan, with about one-quarter in Spanish and smaller numbers of books in English and other languages. In conjunction with material in the British Library, the Gili Catalan Collection gives London the strongest Catalan holdings in the United Kingdom.

The collector

Joan Gili (1907-1998), an antiquarian bookseller, publisher, and translator of Catalan origin. Following his immigration to England in 1934, Gili helped to develop Catalan studies within British Hispanism, and was a leading member of the Anglo-Catalan Society.

Acquisition

Purchased from Martin Gili in 2002.

Access

Catalogued online. To view the entire collection, do a mixed classmark search on “[Gili]”; within this, books are arranged in order of Library of Congress classification. You can also do an author search on “Gili, Joan” as former owner.

Related archives

MS 1154 (on political and cultural events); MS1197 (Dolphin Book Company)

Select publications

Yates, Alan, ‘Joan Lluís Gili I Serra (1907-1998)’, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, 76 (1999), 281-92 (biographical)