Hidden treasures of the Old Library revealed

The most prized historic books and artefacts from St John's Old Library have been brought together for a new book, launched this week, which gives a glimpse into the remarkable and diverse collections held by the College.

A book of Psalms over a thousand years old, Elizabethan charts showing the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the 1807 Parliamentary Bill that finally abolished the transatlantic slave trade are just some of the historic treasures held in the Old Library of St John’s College.

Now, 50 of the Library’s most important, interesting and beautiful volumes and artefacts have been gathered together in a new book celebrating the College’s unique collections.

The Library Treasures of St John’s College, Cambridge, published by Third Millennium, provides a rare glimpse behind the vast oak door of the Old Library, and reveals the treasures preserved by the College for the purposes of education and research.

Built in 1624 and housing over 30,000 early printed books and some 270 medieval manuscripts as well as personal papers, archives and artefacts relating to the College’s 500-year history, the Old Library of St John’s is one of the finest in Cambridge, and in the world.

The Librarian, Dr Mark Nicholls, said: “The Treasures book aims to make people aware of the wonderful items in the College collections, which are available for researchers from around the world. Sometimes in a historic library the treasures of the collection can be overlooked, and I hope that this will help to remedy the situation and allow people a look into the Library and the diverse range of items we hold”.

Amongst the remarkable items included in the book are a tenth century Psalter from an Irish monastery, annotated throughout with explanatory notes in Old Irish, a richly illuminated 1539 Great Bible which formerly belonged to Thomas Cromwell, advisor to King Henry VIII, the devotional "Book of Hours" of the College's Foundress, Lady Margaret Beaufort, and a fifteenth century encyclopaedia, or Polychronicon, described as “the Wikipedia of its day”.

Like many historic collections, St John's Old Library can also be likened to a museum, with artefacts and objects ranging far beyond the printed word. These items all reveal something of the personal lives and interests of past College members. From the Nobel Prize medal of physicist Paul Dirac to the breakfast crockery of William Wordsworth, or the diary of leading abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, the objects housed in the Library and Archives are amongst the most diverse collections in Cambridge.

Choosing which items to feature in the final Treasures book out of a collection of thousands was a challenging task, as Dr Nicholls confirms: “Selection has been incredibly difficult, for a glance at the catalogues will show that the Old Library is home to many treasures ranging widely in subject and time. We could easily have filled a book ten times this size with equally wonderful items.The final 50 pieces were chosen as representative of the diversity of the collections, not just books, but artefacts and objects as well, each with their own story to tell”.

The founding documents of St John’s, approved by Bishop John Fisher, instruct the College to “possess and preserve a library”. Five centuries later, the treasures of the Library have been brought together for all to see, a snapshot of an internationally significant library which continues to be a working, living resource for learning, not just for members of St John’s, but for people of all ages around the world.

The book, Library Treasures of St John’s College, Cambridge, will be available to purchase from the College or via the publisher’s website. For more information, contact the College Library on 01223 338662.