'ON THE EXTRAORDINARY RISE AND INEXPLICABLE DECLINE OF PUBLIC REPOSITORIES OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE'.

The article examines the history of the rise and decline of public repositories of knowledge and learned societies in Great Britain in the 19th-century. Topics discussed include the founding of the Literary and Philosophical Society or Lit & Phils, the society's emphasis on teaching skills, systemic education and promiscuous learning, tax exemption of learned societies under the Scientific Societies Bill, and Lit & Phils as testament to the prosperity of individual towns and cities.