We were saddened to hear that Bill Martin, a longtime Friend of the Trust, passed away on on 17 February 2024 at the age of 96. Bill and and his wife, Sandra Mason, have been regular attendees of Trust events for many years. They also acted as Friends Coordinators for us in a voluntary capacity for ten years until 2018, organising Friends events and building support for the Trust’s work. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was a particular passion of Bill’s. He was an avid collector of different editions and …

by James Cormick ‘It must be something in the air’, people often say when remarking upon someone’s surprising longevity.  While that is true of the Trust’s house in Brooklands Avenue, which is situated in an oasis of green south of the centre of Cambridge, it is certainly not the whole truth.  I am convinced that books, particularly old books, add to the environmental mix that prolongs a person’s life.  How else can we explain the fact that four people closely associated with Trust have approached, reached, or exceeded 100 years …

Those of you who have been reading the articles by our trustee Sir Nicholas Barrington on his collection of books about the 19th-century history of Afghanistan, the ‘Great Game’ and northern India may like to know that a seventh article is now available. Read the eighth article here Read the seventh article here Read the sixth article here Read the fifth article here Read the fourth article here Read the third article here The first and second articles can be read in Indiran 14 and 15, respectively.