Foreword

Abstract

• SCHOLARLY YET READABLE' was the editor's prescription for The British Library Journal, for the first issue of which I am glad to write a foreword. Do not let us underestimate the skill required to make a publication of this kind both scholarly and readable, if by this we mean that people who are not themselves scholars are going to become regular readers. Is the attempt worth making? Since the quality of the scholarship is not in question and no one suggests it should be watered down, at how wide a non-professional audience can we aim. The question cannot be answered without first looking at the Journals sponsor, the British Library, and asking why the Board hopes and believes this publication can attract readers in unsuspected numbers.