London’s best museums for book lovers, from Keats House to the Sherlock Holmes Museum

Literary lovers, listen up. There really is nothing like a good story to take away the anxieties of the world, and with the heaps of poets, authors and playwrights who have called London home over the years, there’s no better place to explore the wonders. story.

According to Oscar Wilde, London is made up of “all beautiful fools and clever madmen”, and their stories are waiting to be discovered.

If you want to learn more about what lies between the lines, London has you covered.

It is the second largest library in the world (beaten only by Washington’s Library of Congress) and contains more than 150 million items dating back 4,000 years. Rare books, illuminated manuscripts, audio cassettes, journals, newspapers and photographs are all housed in this huge Kings Cross building. Many are only accessible with a reader’s pass (which is easy to get), but the Treasures Gallery has some real gems: the Magna Carta, Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, several works by Shakespeare, Jane Austen and the death warrant of Mary Queen of Scots, signed by the Queen Elizabeth I. Regular exhibitions take place across the museum, with free entrance hall.

The National Poetry Library is the largest public collection of modern poetry in the world. Since TS Eliot and Herbert Read opened it in 1953, it has moved house several times to house the ever-growing collection, living on the South Bank. This library has works from 1912, a collection of all books of British poetry released by mainstream and independent publishers: if it’s out there, it’s here. There are postcards, magazines, audio poems and press clippings to enjoy – and it’s free to visit.

The former home of the Romantic poet John Keats was home to his most prolific years of writing between 1818 and 1820. Today, the Regency villa contains many original manuscripts and artefacts documenting his work, relationships and inspiration.

Tucked away by the Regent’s Canal in King’s Cross is a little gem. Founded by Sir Quentin Blake himself, the Quentin Blake Illustration Center (formerly House of Illustration) is the UK’s only charity for illustration. Exhibitions show several illustrators – both historical and contemporary – while workshops for children and adults teach the art of picture books. The gallery also hosts an annual book illustration competition with publishing house The Folio Society, to discover the best new talent.

Oliver Twist, The Pickwick Papers and Nicholas Nickleby were all written in this terraced house in Holborn. Now a museum, each room tells a different story about the life of Charles Dickens: from the drawing room where he used to read theater and improvised plays, to killing famous literary guests; for learning, which contains early editions of great works. Treasures on display include a writing desk, handwritten drafts and her husband’s engagement ring.

Built to give children an introduction to the immersive world of reading, Discover at Stratford is all about the power of storytelling. The Story World and Story Park are filled with giant hollow trees, castles and reading caves to give your imagination a little extra boost. Authors, poets, illustrators and storytellers drop in throughout the year for readings and workshops, but the main feature is the exhibition that creates a life-size playable book experience.

Where else is this but 221B Baker Street? Well, not enough: The Sherlock Holmes Museum is actually between numbers 237 and 241. The Marylebone townhouse has been converted into a house, imagining how Holmes and Dr Watson could live there. The interior has been well furnished according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s specific description in the novel. Despite being fictional, the pair’s mystery-solving is so good that the building is now protected for its ‘special historical interest’.