York Minster England, officially, the Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St. Peter in York, is one of the country’s top five historic visitor attractions. It also has the largest cathedral library in the country. York Minster Library, with its wealth of resources and unique architectural setting is a real must-see for visitors and scholars. Particularly now.
History of York Minster Library
The library started life around 750 AD, thanks to the influence of successive archbishops and the scholar Alcuin, who managed the collection from c778-781. Unfortunately, however, nothing remains of these books today.
The origins of the current collection can be found in 40 volumes of manuscripts bequeathed to form a library by Canon Treasurer John Newton in 1414. Then, in 1629, Archbishop Tobie Matthew’s widow enhanced the collection considerably when she donated his 3,000 volumes. The library hasn’t looked back since.
York Minster Library: Resources
The current collection, which contains some 120,000 volumes, is a gift to the researcher. History and theology sit on the shelves alongside art and architecture, including stained glass. There is also extensive material on York and Yorkshire. The items themselves are often unique.
Librarian Sarah Griffin notes, “Cathedral libraries are storehouses for both English and international collections. They frequently contain material which has been there for centuries. They also tend to be stable places with limited resources, so books in such collections often retain the elements that make them interesting.”
Examples of such elements include original bindings, manuscript bindings, inscriptions and inserts, such as newspaper cuttings and notes. It’s an historian’s dream. The architecture of the building also tells a story.
York Minster Library: History of the Building
From the early 15th century, York Minster Library was housed in a building attached to the Minster (South entrance). Today, that building is the Minster shop. By the early 19th century, the library had expanded to 6,000 volumes and had outgrown its current environment. So around 1810 it moved – to its present location in Dean’s Park.
What is now the ‘Old Library’ (and the loan collection below) was once a private chapel, built c1230 for Archbishop Walter Gray’s York palace. But by the 16th century it was no long used and in the early 19th century the derelict building was restored to house the library. Within the building, the Old Library (or former chapel) is particularly noteworthy, with its gallery and shelves and 19th century stained glass windows.
Since then, there have been several extensions. The most recent, in 1998 (Alcuin wing), included a spacious and light-filled reading room. The library has also developed a valuable association with the University of York.
A Book Fit for a King: Celebrating 400 Years of the King James Bible
2011 marks the 400-year anniversary of the King James Bible. The Bible drew on a variety of earlier works and was the culmination of a long period of Bible translation into English. The library, which holds four copies of the original 1611 edition, is celebrating this anniversary with an exhibition, which runs through November 2011.
As well as learning about the history of the Bible, and its legacy to language and literature, visitors can view a number of unique items, including a chained Bible from 1611 and a velvet edition presented in 1633. Distinctive on the latter is the crossed keys symbol, representing the keys to heaven, as held by St Peter.
Griffin says, “We want to promote the library collection to a wider audience. We hope this exhibition will help people to know that the cathedral library exists, and that it is there for them.”
The Old Palace, York: Historic Collections
The Old Palace, as the building is known, doesn’t just include York Minster library. It also contains the Collections and Conservation Departments of the Minster, together with York Minster Archives. As a group these are known as the Historic Collections.
And, until November, it’s also home to the exhibition A Book Fit for a King – in a palace.
Visiting the Minster Library
Visitors are welcome and readers can become borrowers for a small annual fee.
There are several routes to the library, one via Goodramgate, turning off at the National Trust shop, and passing St William's College on the right, and then the Minster on the left.
An alternative route, accessing Dean’s Park via the Minster’s West entrance and following the path, will lead to the library via the Archbishop’s Palace ruins, now a Second World War memorial.
Sources
- Church of England website
- Dean and Chapter of York. York Minster Library: Collections and Information. Sept. 2005.
- Fitzgibbon, Sinead. King James Bible 1611–2011. History in an Hour website, May 2011. Accessed August 15, 2011.
- Interview with York Minster Librarian, Sarah Griffin, August 15, 2011.
Further Information
Ellie Stevenson - Ellie writes on history, travel, careers & the arts. Her novel, Ship of Haunts (http://tinyurl.com/cyryp2m) is on Amazon as an ebook.
