The Parker Library is a library within
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge which contains rare books and manuscripts. It is known throughout the world due to its invaluable collection of over 600 manuscripts, particularly medieval texts, the majority of which were bequeathed to the college by
Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...
, a former Master of Corpus Christi College.
Collection
![AugsutineGospelsFolio129vStLuke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/AugsutineGospelsFolio129vStLuke.jpg)
The library houses a significant proportion of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, including the earliest copy of the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' (Version A of the ASC, Corp. Chris. MS 173, known as the Winchester Chronicle or the Parker Chronicle, c. 890), the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
Bede, and
King Alfred
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who ...
’s translation of ''
Pastoral Care'' (a manual for priests), as well as the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
St Augustine Gospels, one of the oldest bound books in existence. The collection also includes key
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
texts, such as the ''
Ancrene Wisse
''Ancrene Wisse'' (also known as the ''Ancrene Riwle'' or ''Guide for Anchoresses'') is an anonymous monastic rule (or manual) for female anchoresses written in the early 13th century.
The work consists of eight parts: divine service, keeping th ...
'', the ''
Brut Chronicle
The ''Brut'' Chronicle, also known as the Prose ''Brut'', is the collective name of a number of medieval chronicles of the history of England. The original Prose ''Brut'' was written in Anglo-Norman; it was subsequently translated into Latin and E ...
'' and
Geoffrey Chaucer's ''
Troilus and Criseyde
''Troilus and Criseyde'' () is an epic poem by Geoffrey Chaucer which re-tells in Middle English the tragic story of the lovers Troilus and Criseyde set against a backdrop of war during the siege of Troy. It was written in '' rime royale'' a ...
''. Other items include medieval travelogues and maps,
apocalypses,
bestiaries
A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history ...
, one of the oldest pieces of extant written music, and illuminated manuscripts, such as the two giant Romanesque bibles of
Bury
(c. 1135) and Dover (c.1150) and the ''
Chronica Majora
The ''Chronica Majora'' is the seminal work of Matthew Paris, a member of the English Benedictine community of St Albans and long-celebrated historian. The work begins with Creation and contains annals down to the year of Paris' death of 1259. ...
'' by
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...
(c. 1250). A full, alphabetised catalogue is availabl
here
Its most prestigious possession is the
St Augustine GospelsCambridge, Corpus Christi College, Lib. MS. 286, believed to have been brought to England by the
Augustinian mission
The Gregorian missionJones "Gregorian Mission" ''Speculum'' p. 335 or Augustinian missionMcGowan "Introduction to the Corpus" ''Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literature'' p. 17 was a Christian mission sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 to conver ...
, sent by
Pope Gregory I
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregor ...
to convert the people of Britain in AD 597. It is an
illuminated
Illuminated may refer to:
* "Illuminated" (song), by Hurts
* Illuminated Film Company, a British animation house
* ''Illuminated'', alternative title of Black Sheep (Nat & Alex Wolff album)
* Illuminated manuscript
See also
* Illuminate (disambi ...
Gospel Book
A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth ...
created in Italy in the 6th century and has been in England since soon after its creation. It has 265 leaves measuring about 252 x 196 mm, and is not entirely complete, missing pages with miniatures in particular. This manuscript is the oldest surviving
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
(as opposed to
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
or
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
) illustrated Gospel book, and one of the oldest European books in existence. Although the only surviving illuminations are two full-page
miniatures, these are of great significance in
art history
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
, as so few comparable images have survived. The Gospels are used in the enthronement of the
Archbishops of Canterbury today and are transported to and from
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
for this occasion by the
Master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
and college representatives.
In October 2016,
Christopher de Hamel announced that an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon
psalterCambridge, Corpus Christi College, Lib. MS. 411 in the library's collection had "undoubtedly" belonged to
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...
, and it was possible that Becket was holding this very psalter when he was murdered in 1170. The psalter bears a 16th-century inscription attributing its ownership to Becket, but this claim had previously been dismissed as ridiculous. However, after learning of a reference to a psalter owned by Becket in a sacrists' roll from
Canterbury Cathedral, de Hamel realised that the library's psalter matched the one described in the sacrists' roll. The identity of the psalter was supported by a 13th-century stained glass portrait of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in which he cradles a similarly bound and coloured book under his left arm. Based on the workmanship of the psalter, de Hamel guesses that it was originally created for an archbishop, possibly
Ælfheah of Canterbury
Ælfheah, "elf-tall" ( – 19 April 1012), more commonly known today as Alphege, was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot of Bath Abbey. His reputation for ...
.
Although exhibitions of some of the materials are periodically held, access to the full collection of manuscripts held in Corpus Christi College is limited to scholars. The public are able to see some of the treasures of the library at open days, notably during the annual 'Open Cambridge' event, or, since the addition of the vault and new learning facilities on the ground floor has freed up room in the original library, on private tours.
History
The collection was begun in 1376, shortly after the college's founding, and much improved by a bequest from
Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...
in 1574, the college's Master between 1544 and 1553. He served as
chaplain to
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
,
Vice-Chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...
of
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
, and
Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 to 1575. It was during this time that he formed a fine collection of manuscripts, salvaged from the libraries of
dissolved monasteries.
As part of his collection process, Parker employed a number of scholars, scribes, and book artisans to acquire, curate, maintain, and edit his manuscripts.
Stephen Batman
Stephen or Stephan Batman or Bateman (died 1584) was an English translator and author.
Life
Batman was born at Bruton, Somerset, and, after a preliminary education in the school of his native town, went to Cambridge, where he had the reputation of ...
, one of Parker's chaplains, boasted to have collected 6,700 books over the course of four years for the Archbishop, though very few of them were selected for the library:
"Among whose Bookes remayned, althoughe the moste parte according to the tyme, yet some worthy the viewe and safe kéeping, gathered wythin foure yeares, of Diuinitie, Astronomie, Historie, Phisicke, and others of sundrye Artes and Sciences (as I can truely auouche, hauing his Graces commission wherevnto his hande is yet to be séene) sixe thousand seauen hundred Bookes, by my onelye trauaile, whereof choyse being taken, he most gratiouslye bestowed many on Corpus Christi Colledge in Cambridge."
In his correspondence, Parker often discussed his curatorial process. Writing to
William Cecil in 1573, Parker defended his collection of manuscripts as part of his duty to preserve and print "such rare and written authors that came to my hands, until the days of King Henry the VIIIth, when the religion began to grow better." With this purpose in mind, Parker claimed to "have within my house in wages, drawers and cutters, painters and limners, writers, and bookbinders." In another letter to Cecil from 1565, Parker described the process of supplementing missing pages of text within his manuscripts by having his skilled scribes imitate the style and layout of other medieval models. Noticing that an early English Psalter of Cecil's (in this case, Parker was describing the
Vespasian Psalter
The Vespasian Psalter (London, British Library, Cotton Vespasian A I) is an Anglo-Saxon illuminated psalter decorated in a partly Insular style produced in the second or third quarter of the 8th century. It contains an interlinear gloss in Old E ...
) lacked the first psalm, Parker suggested moving a miniature of David with his harp from the 30th folio to the opening of the book and supplying the missing portions in an imitative style "counterfeited in antiquity."
Though he had already been collecting manuscripts for many years, Parker received official support from the Privy Council in 1568 to continue his search for important historical and religious documents throughout the country. This letter is now preserved in the Parker library i
CCCC MS 114a, p.49 As one of the architects of the
Elizabethan Settlement
The Elizabethan Religious Settlement is the name given to the religious and political arrangements made for England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Implemented between 1559 and 1563, the settlement is considered the end of the E ...
and the modern
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
, Parker was keenly interested in collecting and preserving manuscripts from
Anglo-Saxon England as evidence of an ancient English-speaking church independent of Rome. Parker wished to demonstrate an
apostolic succession for the English Church. The original gift from Parker consisted of about 480 manuscripts and around 1000 printed books spanning the 6th–16th centuries.
As early as the sixteenth century, this collection was recognised as a unique treasure, and Parker did not bequeath it without any strings. Within the terms of his endowment, Parker stated that if any more than a certain number of books were lost, the rest of the collection would pass first to
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
and then (in the event of any more losses) to
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...
. Every few years, representatives from both of those colleges ceremonially inspect the collection for any losses. Parker placed a similar condition on the silver that he also bequeathed to the college, and these stipulations are part of the reason that Corpus Christi College retains to this day the entirety of the library and the silver collection, as they were unable to sell off (or melt down) the less valuable parts of either collection without losing both.
The collection has been housed in the
Wilkins' Room, along the length of the south side of
New Court
New Court (also known as The Rothschild Headquarters) is a collection of proximate buildings in London having served as the global headquarters of the Rothschild investment bank since 1809. The current building is the fourth incarnation of the R ...
within the college, since 1827. The ground floor, which was until 2006 the college's student library, has been converted into a temperature-controlled, fire-proof vault and separate reading room for visiting academics.
The current
librarian
A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users.
The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...
is Dr Philippa Hoskins, elected as the second Donnelley Fellow Librarian in 2019. In 2004 the college established ''The Friends of The Parker Library'', a small subscription-based club in order to raise money and secure the future of the library.
List of Parker librarians
*
R. I. Page, 1965-1985
* Nigel Wilkins, 1985-1997
*
Frederick William Ratcliffe, 1997-2000
*
Christopher de Hamel, 2000-2019
* Dr Philippa Hoskins, 2019-
Parker Library on the Web
![ParkerPart](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/ParkerPart.JPG)
The
Parker Library on the Web project is a joint venture run by
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...
and
Stanford University Libraries in the United States of America. The main goal of the project is to digitise all of the medieval manuscripts in the Parker Library and to be the first project that seeks to make an entire library publicly accessible on the web.
The project is funded by the
Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pitt ...
.
The initial phase of the project began in the summer of 2003, when the first two manuscripts, MSS 16 and 26, were digitised. These images were available as an initia
prototype A feasibility study was conducted during the early months of 2005 and the main project began at the end of 2005. The images were made by
Cambridge University Library
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...
imaging staff, working at
Corpus Christi College. The project has digitised the 538 manuscripts described in
M. R. James
Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...
' ''Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College'' (
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambridge University Pre ...
, 1912) creating a subscription-only interactive web application in which the manuscript page images can be used by scholars and students in the context of editions, translations and secondary sources. A very small number of these are printed books, mistakenly catalogued as manuscripts in the 18th century, and so were excluded. Additionally, there are a few manuscripts with paper pages which are badly damaged by moisture, or those with very fragile bindings, which at present cannot be successfully imaged in their totality. Exterior images were made of the present bindings of each manuscript. Additional information was drawn from the supplemental hand-list by Richard Vaughan and John Fines of 1960, and descriptive material provided by the Parker Library for any manuscripts acquired more recently.
Completed in 2010, the process involved the
digitisation
DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-r ...
of over 200,000 separate pages.
A
beta version
A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...
, although incomplete and with some errors, is currently available free to all registered users.
References
External links
Parker Library Blog
The Parker Library(official website from Corpus Christi College)
*
{{Authority control
Libraries of the University of Cambridge
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge