We offer year-round access to researchers from anywhere in the world with an interest in studying the collections. We also welcome the public and school groups to experience this historic environment and engage with our dynamic collections through a rolling exhibition and outreach programme.
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St John's first opened its doors in 1516, and the original College Library was situated in First Court (then the only court), on the first floor to the south of the Great Gate. A century later, St John’s alumnus Henry Wriothesley (Earl of Southampton and patron of Shakespeare) promised the College a large donation of books and manuscripts formerly owned by another alumnus, William Crashaw. This generous gift of ‘almost 200 volumes of Manuscripts in Greeke, Lattine, English and frenche, and about 1000 printed books’ prompted the building of a new library facility where these precious items would be more conveniently housed.
The building now known as the Old Library was constructed between 1623 and 1628, thanks to a generous benefaction of £1400 from John Williams, Lord-Keeper and Bishop of Lincoln. Williams had originally wished for his gift to remain anonymous, but following his significant involvement in the building’s design he admitted he was 'pleased now to be knowen to be the founder'. The date 1624 which appears on the south gable of the western oriel window marks the conclusion of the building’s shell.
Work subsequently began on the interior, including 42 oak cases with exquisite carving typical of the Jacobean age, together with the wooden ceiling fittings, all probably crafted by local carpenter Henry Man. Bishop Williams inspected the new building in 1628 and a banquet was held to celebrate. A portrait of Williams was hung in the Library and his arms, impaled with those of the See of Lincoln, still hang on the east wall above the entrance door. The stone letters ILCS (for Iohannes Lincolniensis Custos Sigilli) above the oriel window are another reminder to the College of its benefactor.
The Library’s opening inspired donations of books and money from numerous benefactors, and a book, Mnhmosunon Collegii Divi Joannis Evangelistae or Liber Memorialis, containing their arms and details of their benefactions, was produced to commemorate them (MS K.18). On 31 August 1654, diarist John Evelyn visited the Library and acclaimed it as 'the fairest of that University'. Some years later, in July 1710, German scholar and bibliophile Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach was less enthusiastic but conceded that the books were 'more tidy than we have found them elsewhere in England'. Over time the shelves filled, and an entry in the College rentals shows that the bookcases were altered in 1711, perhaps to allow for more shelf space.
A shortage of space was certainly revealed when on the death of Thomas Baker, Fellow and antiquary, in 1740 the College acquired a large and very fine part of his library. An entry in the Conclusion Book for 12 July 1742 shows that in order to accommodate Baker’s books the College decided to raise all the dwarf bookcases in the Library with the exception of the two nearest to the entrance, which remain to this day at their original height. As the Library’s collections expanded through purchase, donation and bequest, it became necessary in the nineteenth century to extend the Library to the floor below.
In 1858 two sets of chambers on the ground floor at the west end were taken over and connected to the Upper Library by a spiral staircase, and in 1874 a third chamber adjoining the former was also appropriated. These areas are now known collectively as the Lower Library, which houses the manuscripts and Personal Papers collections as well as rare books. In the 1990s the construction of a new library facility exclusively for student use enabled the Old Library’s operations to extend further, and a dedicated Rare Books Reading Room and exhibition area now connect the 17th-century Old Library with the modern Working Library.
The Old Library is home to more than 40,000 rare books and manuscripts, as well as Personal Papers and photographic collections. Researchers and students from anywhere in the world are welcome to consult these items in the Old Library’s Rare Books Reading Room, which is open Monday to Friday and has desk space for up to eight readers at a time.
The Upper Library provides an atmospheric venue for school and adult-education groups to engage with the historic building and its collections. We also open the Upper Library to the public on several days throughout the year, with themed exhibitions in conjunction with the University Festivals.
For College members, the Upper Library is open every Wednesday afternoon from 2pm to 4pm during Full Term, showcasing treasures from our Special Collections.
St John’s is home to an internationally significant Designated Special Collection which includes 270 medieval manuscripts, 50,000 early printed books, and the papers of over 100 members of the College from its earliest times to the present day. We also look after a surprising selection of artefacts, from poet William Wordsworth’s breakfast cup to astrophysicist and mountaineer Fred Hoyle’s ice axes. Researchers from anywhere in the world can consult items from the collection in the Library’s Rare Books Reading Room, which is open all year round.
The manuscripts collection encompasses medieval, post-medieval and oriental manuscripts, and papyrus fragments. Among our 270 medieval manuscripts are religious and devotional works, science and medicine, literature, law, music and history. While Latin is the most common language, English, French, Greek, Hebrew, Old Irish and Flemish are all represented. Our post-medieval manuscripts include commonplace books, scientific and literary texts, letters, speeches and diaries from the 16th century to the present day. We also hold 50 oriental manuscripts in Arabic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, Panjabi, Persian, Syriac, Tamil, Turkish and Urdu, as well as over 100 fragments of Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Demotic, Coptic and Greek papyri.
Highlights include:
Among the 50,000 printed books housed in the Old Library are some of the key milestones in printing history, many of the major texts of the early modern period, and numerous volumes with exceptional bindings and decoration. Some of these date back to within 20 years of the development of printing in Europe, and there are 340 incunabula (works printed before 1500) in all. The collections continue through the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, covering a broad range of topics reflecting the subjects studied in the University (eg theology, classics, law, mathematics, medicine) and the interests of individual members of the College (eg history, travel, art, literature).
Highlights include:
Our Personal Papers collection comprises papers relating to the professional and private lives of alumni and Fellows of St John’s from the sixteenth century to the present day, with the nineteenth and twentieth centuries being most strongly represented. The collections include manuscript papers, photographs, artworks, maps, music and printed material, as well as artefacts, audio-visual and electronic media.
Highlights include:
Libraries aren’t just for books, and since the collections began we’ve acquired an eclectic range of objects, from marble busts and Nobel Prize medals to some notable persons’ personal ephemera.
Highlights include:
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