The Queens' College Old Library is a historic library at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

. The library was established as part of the college's foundation in 1448 and contains approximately 30,000 volumes spanning the 12th to 19th centuries. Dr Tim Eggington is the current ''Keeper of the Old Library'' at Queens'.

Description

The Old Library comprises a single room in the north side of Old Court, which has been in continual use as a library since its foundation. Adjacent to the college's original chapel, the room can be accessed from a passageway connecting to Walnut Tree Court. The interior retains its original medieval desks and bookshelves, made from older medieval

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

s, arranged perpendicularly to the north and south walls. Unlike many libraries of a similar age, a large number of medieval books in the collection have retained their original bindings, due to Queens' being unable to afford then-popular rebindings in the 18th century. For these reasons, the Old Library's website claims that "of all

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford, Universities of Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collect ...

libraries, it remains closest to its original state".

History

The Old Library dates from the foundation of Queens' College in 1448. The library's original layout comprised ten two-tier reading lecterns, each with double slopes, which allowed room for approximately 200 manuscripts. The volumes were chained to the lecterns in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and the location of the chain-bars is still traceable today. An inventory attributed to Andrew Dokett, the college's first president, indicates that the library had reached capacity by 1472, mostly filled with manuscript titles. Although these titles had all disappeared by 1538, the college still possessed one of the largest contemporary collections in Cambridge at the time, primarily composed of printed books. Initially, books were shelved horizontally, but began to stand upright in the 16th century with their spines facing inward. The lecterns were converted into bookshelves in 1612, and additional shelving was inserted in the mid-17th century. By this point, it became more common for books to be shelved with their spines out. Isaac Milner (1750–1820) bequeathed the college a particularly extensive collection of books during his tenure as President of the college, including his first editions of

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

, anti-slave trade pamphlets, and 16th century copies of

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

Cataloguing

A detailed catalogue of the library's collection was published by

Thomas Hartwell Horne Thomas Hartwell Horne (20 October 1780 – 27 January 1862) was an English theologian and librarian. Life He was born in London and educated at Christ's Hospital until he was 15 when his father died and he had to work. He then became a clerk ...

in 1827. It is now considered an early example of

subject indexing Subject indexing is the act of describing or classifying a document A document is a writing, written, drawing, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of nonfiction, non-fictional, as well as ...

in a library context, given that the

Dewey Decimal Classification The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) (pronounced ) colloquially known as the Dewey Decimal System, is a proprietary library classification system which allows new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject. ...

was not introduced until nearly 50 years later. However, Horne's catalogue contains numerous inaccuracies. Since 2015, the Old Library team has been systematically cataloguing the collection, with records becoming available on iDiscover, the online catalogue of Cambridge libraries.

Notable Items

The library has a number of interesting features and texts, including: * First edition copies of numerous important scientific works, including those of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

, and

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best know ...

. * What are believed to be the earliest English celestial globes, owned once by Queens' fellow of mathematics Sir Thomas Smith (1513–1577). * Five stained glass windows purchased from a neighboring

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

friary amid its dissolution in 1538, containing one of the few surviving collections of 15th century English roundels. * Four 12th century bindings exemplifying techniques previously thought to be lost outside of 20th century reconstructions.

Visiting

The library is accessible to college members and visitors by appointment, and periodically hosts exhibitions open to the public.

References

{{Reflist Queens' College, Cambridge Libraries of the University of Cambridge Grade I listed library buildings Grade I listed buildings in Cambridge