This room is named the ‘Spanish’ library after the 17th-century Spanish leather decorating its frieze. ‘Spanish leather' is a generic term given to all embossed and gilded leathers. This leather actually came from the Netherlands.
This room was originally the State Dressing Room, one of the grandest rooms in the House. In the Victorian period it became a Breakfast Room and converted into a library. The jib door to the left hand side of the fireplace leads directly to a service staircase and passage, which would have allowed servants to come and go quickly and discreetly.
There are more than 10,000 books held across the three State Floor libraries at Harewood. The collection contains books collected by every generation of the Lascelles family, covering a vast range of genres including literature, history, design, gardening and geography.