The Old Palace in the city of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, North Yorkshire, England, is also known as the Minster Library and is in Dean's Park. It houses York Minster’s library and archives as well as the Collections Department and conservation studio. Its name is a new one and renders homage to the part of the building that used to be the chapel of the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, which was built in the 13th century.

History

On 29 March 1628 the Archbishop of York Tobias Matthew died and he left his fortune not to his sons or the church but to his wife Frances Matthew. Amongst his possessions was a large collections of books that were said to be the "largest private collection in England". There were 600 books and they were valued then at £300 and Frances decided to give all of these to York Minster. These books are the basis of the library and it was said that her gift deserved 'to live as long as the church itself'. Frances had been married for fifty years and she died the year after making the gift. This building was refurbished in 1810 and shortly thereafter became the home of the Minster library. Notable items held in the collection include cathedral records dating to back to 1150 and a copy of the 1631

Wicked Bible The Wicked Bible, sometimes called the Adulterous Bible or the Sinners' Bible, is an edition of the Bible published in 1631 by Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, the royal printers in London, meant to be a reprint of the King James Bible. The name i ...

. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. An extension was added in 1998.

References

External links

Treasures and Collections: Library
York Minster website
About the York Minster Library

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

website Cathedral libraries Grade I listed buildings in York Libraries in North Yorkshire Archives in North Yorkshire Episcopal palaces in England York Minster {{Yorkshire-struct-stub