Printed Special Collections in Durham University Library: a Guide to Catalogues This guide is intended to list and briefly describe the main groups of printed material held in the University Library s Special Collections, indicating date range and subject coverage and explaining the means of access to these important research collections. Information is also given on early printed book collections in other Durham libraries. THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY The University Library has rich collections of early printed books and local material, and some specialist collections of modern printed items. Some of these are associated with particular manuscript and archive collections, but finding-aids to the manuscripts and archives are outside the scope of this guide. The Library s Special Collections are all housed in its Palace Green Section. Apart from local material, most of the collections described here are not available on open access but are produced on request for consultation in the Search Room at Palace Green. CATALOGUE ACCESS Records for a significant proportion of this material are not yet available on the Library s OPAC (on-line public access catalogue), although the OPAC does include most post-1900 material and a steadily growing proportion of the earlier Special Collections books. Access to many pre-1801 items, however, is still via the old Author Catalogues at the Main Library and at Palace Green, supplemented by the various catalogues of individual collections listed below. For more information about the old Author Catalogues see the separate Guide to the Older Catalogues; it is important to read this thoroughly. For certain categories of material, however, quick finding-aids available in the Search Room at Palace Green provide the most rapid and comprehensive way to discover what is available; most of these cover the holdings of both the University and other Durham Libraries. QUICK FINDING-AIDS TO PARTICULAR CATEGORIES OF PRINTED MATERIAL Incunabula (books printed up to 1500) See Finding-List of Incunabula in Durham Libraries, 1992. This covers all Durham holdings (i.e. the collections of the University and Cathedral Libraries, 1
Ushaw College and St Chad s College). The copy in the Search Room at Palace Green is annotated with pressmarks and additions. English books pre-1701 (i.e. books printed in Britain and books in English printed abroad) See the annotated copies in the Search Room at Palace Green of A.W. Pollard & G.R. Redgrave, A Short-Title Catalogue of Books 1475-1640 and D. Wing, Short-Title Catalogue of Books 1641-1700. These are marked up with the holdings of all Durham libraries. Books in French, 1601-1800 See the finding-list compiled by Professor J. Lough, in the Search Room at Palace Green. This covers the holdings of all Durham libraries, and of the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, acquired up to 1987. Pre-1800 periodicals See the finding-list in the Search Room at Palace Green. This covers the holdings of all Durham libraries. Maps of Durham See the catalogue in sheaf binders in the Search Room at Palace Green. This covers maps of all dates of Durham County and places and areas within it in the University Library, apart from those in the Archives section. It includes both loose maps and, up to 1872, those in books. For maps in the Archives see the maps card index in the Search Room. Topographical prints of Durham See P.M. Benedikz, Durham topographical Prints up to 1800, which indicates which are held by the University Library. For detailed location numbers, and information on post-1800 prints in the University Library, see the sheaf-binder index in the Search Room at Palace Green. OPAC Rare Books Indexes For most of those Special Collections items that are recorded in the OPAC, the OPAC s Rare Books Indexes allow you to search by place of publication or printing (town or country) and by genre (i.e. publication categories such as biographies, chapbooks, liturgical books, newspapers). You can also use the Word search option to search for key words in notes about binding and provenance N.B. always include the word Binding or Provenance in such searches to reduce retrieval of irrelevant material. 2
To find material by printer/publisher, search via the Place index first and choose the limit by publisher. This works by searching the forms of name which actually occur in imprints, not an index of standardised forms, so you will need to try variant forms, e.g. Stephanus as well as Estienne. You can allow for inflected forms by typing only the stem of the name, e.g. Steph will find imprints containing Steph, Stephanum and Stephani. Other specialist catalogues and indexes Other indexes are available in the Search Room at Palace Green to imprints, provenance, bindings, portraits, etc. in the University Library s Special Collections, although their coverage is incomplete. For more information on these consult the Special Collections staff. CATALOGUES OF PARTICULAR COLLECTIONS General Collections Bamburgh Library In origin the family library of the Sharps, beginning with Archbishop John Sharp (1645-1714), this collection was formed between the late seventeenth and mid- eighteenth centuries, with a few later additions. Particular strengths are in seventeenth and eighteenth century science and controversial literature. It includes significant runs of early journals, both English and foreign, some notable early atlases, and good holdings of theology, common law, classics and English literature, as well as some French and Italian literature. It contains over 8,500 titles, all published before 1870. Catalogue access is via the OPAC. For an older published catalogue of the collection see Catalogue of the Library at Bamburgh Castle, 2v, 1859; a copy annotated with current pressmarks is available in the Palace Green Search Room. Bishop Cosin s Library Founded by John Cosin (1595-1672) in 1669, as an endowed public library for local clergy and people with scholarly interests, this wide-ranging collection contains over 5,000 titles published before 1700; theology, liturgy, controversial literature and early French imprints are among its strengths. Catalogue access is via the OPAC. A printed version of the catalogue, with an index of printers, is available in the Search Room at Palace Green. Routh Library The library of Dr. M.J. Routh (1755-1854), the great patristics scholar. The collection is extremely wide ranging, with special strengths in patristics, classics, church history and seventeenth-century British history, politics and 3
controversial literature. It contains over 20,000 titles published before 1860. Catalogue access is via the OPAC. Howard Collection Predominantly the surviving undispersed portion of the library of Lord William Howard (1563-1640), it comprises over 200 printed books mainly from the 16th and early 17th century (and a few manuscripts). The books reflect particularly the collector s antiquarian interests and his Roman Catholicism. A separate interim handlist is available for this collection in the Search Room at Palace Green. Maltby Collection Books from the library of Bishop Maltby (1770-1859). Greek and Latin literature and theology are prominent. It contains over 1,500 titles published before 1870. Catalogue access is via the old Author Catalogue. St Chad s Deposit Early printed books, mostly pre-1700, from the library of St Chad s College. A finding list is available in the Search Room at Palace Green. Wilson Collection Books from the library of Professor Dudley Wilson (1923-95), largely 16th and 17th century but also including a number of modern private press books and literary first editions. The collection contains over 200 titles, and reflects the collector s interests in the Renaissance and in book illustration and fine typography. It also includes his assemblage of facsimiles of 16th to 18th century illustrations of the monstrous, and other working materials for his book (1993) on monstrous births. There is a printed catalogue of the books, a copy of which is available in the Search Room at Palace Green. Winterbottom Collection Books from the library of Thomas Winterbottom (1766-1859). Areas of note include history and travel especially in Africa and Asia, natural history, and French, German, and Italian literature. It contains over 1,600 titles published before 1870. Catalogue access is via the old Author Catalogues. University s general early printed book collections These, together with rare nineteenth and twentieth century material of typographical interest, rare local and other closed access material are recorded largely in the old Author Catalogues but post-1900 material and some other items can be found on the OPAC. 4
Thematic Collections Local Collection This large and expanding collection covers County Durham, with particular emphasis on Durham City, the University and Cathedral, and background collections on Northumbria, Cumbria and the North Riding of Yorkshire. Catalogue access is via the OPAC for items on the open shelves, but note that records are of mixed standards as for the main collections, and the old Author Catalogues are often still of help in finding material (for acquisitions up to 1990). Access for most closed access material is only via the old Author Catalogues. For subject searches the old Subject Catalogue (on cards) at Palace Green is a valuable reinforcement to the OPAC (for acquisitions up to 1990). Kellett Collection (Renaissance medicine) Its theme is Renaissance medicine and more particularly developments in anatomical teaching and illustration in sixteenth and seventeenth century France. There is a mixture of primary printed texts and secondary works. It contains approximately 700 works printed between the fifteenth and twentieth century. Catalogue access is through the old Author Catalogues. Post-1800 items can also be found on the OPAC. There is also a collection catalogue at Palace Green. Elliott Collection (Cryptography and Science) This small collection comprises 80 works on cryptography, plus some seminal works in the development of scientific thought, printed between the sixteenth and twentieth century. Catalogue access is via the old Author Catalogues there is also a collection catalogue at Palace Green. Sunderland Society of Friends (Quaker literature) This consists of material relating to Quakerism from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Catalogue access is via the old Author Catalogues. There is no separate collection catalogue. Pratt Green Collection (Hymns) This growing collection on hymnology includes many nineteenth and early twentieth century hymnbooks and a little earlier material. It is accessible via the OPAC. Plomer Collection (20th century English literature and libretti) This contains over 500 items from the library of William Plomer, 20th century literary author and Benjamin Britten s librettist. The contents are chiefly copies 5
of Plomer's own works or those of his associates and contemporaries, often corrected or inscribed by the authors. Catalogue access is via the OPAC. Bunting Collection (20th century English literature) Works by and about the Northumbrian poet Basil Bunting (1900-1985). It is based on the collection formed by Roger Guedalla for his bibliography of Bunting and additions are made regularly. An interim handlist is available at the Palace Green Section. Most printed material is also on the OPAC. Grey Pamphlets (19th century politics, economics, colonies) This collection includes over nearly 2000 printed items from among the Earl Grey papers, mainly from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, dealing with political, economic and colonial issues. Catalogue access is by separate catalogue at the Palace Green Section. Oriental early printed book collections These are strongest on early travel literature particularly for the Middle East with some coverage of East Asia. Catalogue access is via the old Author Catalogue, supplemented at Palace Green by a separate catalogue or, at the Main Library, by the old Oriental Draft Catalogue. Use the OPAC for acquisitions from mid 1990 onwards, and for material on the Sudan. Sudan Archive pamphlet collection The main focus of this growing collection of c.1200 items of grey literature is the Sudan during the Condominium period 1899-1955. Catalogue access is via the OPAC. Abbas Hilmi II pamphlets These comprise some 300 printed items from among the papers of Abbas Hilmi II (1874-1944), Khedive of Egypt 1882-1914. Access is via a brief handlist at the Palace Green Section. Cremation Society of Great Britain Archive The Cremation Society of Great Britain was founded in 1874, to campaign for the use of cremation rather than burial as a means of disposing of the dead. Its archive includes a substantial collection of pamphlets, periodicals, books, ephemera and cuttings, relating to the cremation movement worldwide, and more broadly to attitudes and rituals relating to death. Access to books, pamphlets and periodicals is via the OPAC. Lists of the contents of the archive are also available in the Search Room. 6
OTHER LOCAL LIBRARIES Durham Cathedral Library, Ushaw College and St Chad s College all have significant collections of early printed books, including many not held by the University Library. Pre-1801 books in the Cathedral Library (and the greater part of its later holdings) are recorded in the University Library s old Author Catalogue. In the catalogue area at Palace Green catalogues are available of the Ushaw College Big Library, and of older books in the libraries of St Chad s College, Durham, and the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle; early French books are a particular strength of the latter collection. For information on access to these collections consult the Special Collections staff. The illustrations, from items in the collections, show the device or trademark of the 16th-century French printer, Josse Bade, and Speed's 1611 map of Durham. Sub-l/md/guides\prsc.doc Rev. Sept 2000 7
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