Provenance and Binding indexes
The early printed books and manuscripts held in the Library were often owned by various individuals before they ended up in its collections. Sometimes well-known or celebrated individuals left their mark on a volume, whether a signature, motto, bookplate or specially made binding. More often they were more obscure, leaving just a name or a doodle. The following indexes do not provide a comprehensive listing of provenance, but are an attempt to list both the most substantial donors and some of the more interesting names associated with volumes in the Library. The Upper Library Cataloguing Project has included provenance information in its records, with individual names searchable under 'Author' on the iDiscover catalogue. A complete listing of provenance names is being compiled as part of the Project; for details please ask the Special Collections Librarian.
If you would like to see any of the early printed books or manuscripts mentioned in the index, please contact the Special Collections Librarian (tel. 01223-339393).
Items can be located either by using the following indexes or by keyword searching:
- Bequests and donations - Chronological index of significant benefactors to the Library.
- Other interesting provenances - Index of other names associated with books in St John's organized by profession.
- Types of provenance evidence - Index of selected provenances organized by physical type.
- Interesting bindings - Index of interesting bindings organized by material used.