Unlocking the Private Library at Winchester College

The last post made it 13 blog posts so far, so I thought I had better churn another one out ASAP to move away from the 'unlucky number'

As mentioned in my last post, I was recently invited to speak at 'Unlocking the Private Library', a one day symposium organised by PhD student Carly Watson and her supervisor Dr Geoffrey Day (librarian of Winchester College) to celebrate the diverse range of collaborative doctoral research being undertaken around the UK at the moment. All of the research discussed was supported by the AHRC, and everyone who presented a paper is analysing and contextualising a little-known library or book collection, such as the Thistlethwayte gift to the Fellows Library at Winchester, the Hurd Library at Hartlebury Castle, and of course, the Cwm Jesuit Library at Hereford Cathedral!

The range of papers was incredible, and it was brilliant to see that so much amazing work is being done in this country to record and preserve our literary heritage, as well as telling the story of library and book history more generally, and the important connections and contexts that can be gathered by using the books as a starting point.

It was also very nice to be speaking as part of a panel on catholic books and libraries - other papers in this section included Abbot Geoffrey Scott talking about the Benedictine collection at Douai Abbey, and Dr Simon Johnson talking about the vast array of material at Downside Abbey. Lots more potential research visits for me here!

Keynote speaker was Mark Purcell, Libraries Curator to the National Trust. His keynote address was a breathless, whistle-stop tour of some 70 libraries of the 140 libraries that the National Trust has in its care and the many many treasures hidden within each. They have nearly all been catalogued, and are actually available on Copac to search, with lots of useful information. The day was accompanied by a visit to the exhibition of the Thistlethwayte collection in the stunning Eccles Room (pictured).

The whole experience was brilliant - delivering my paper to such a knowledgeable and expert audience was a little bit terrifying, but good experience, and it seemed to be quite well received. Lots of new friendships were formed, and future areas of collaborative work hopefully identified - strong foundations to build on!


Agenda for the day:

Unlocking the Private Library Saturday 9 February 2013 Winchester College

A one-day conference in collaboration with the University of Birmingham

10.30 am Registration and tea / coffee

10.50 am Welcome

11.00 am Session 1 – Private Libraries, Heritage and Learning

Chair: Geoffrey Day (Fellows’ Librarian, Winchester College)

Carly Watson (Doctoral researcher, University of Birmingham / Winchester College): ‘The Thistlethwayte gift to the Fellows’ Library’

Helen Williams (Senior Research Assistant, Northumbria University): ‘Circulating Private Libraries: Literary Artefacts and Off-Site Heritage Education’

12.00 pm Session 2 – Libraries for Religious Communities

Chair: Paul Quarrie (author of Winchester College and the King James Bible)

Hannah Thomas (Doctoral researcher, Swansea University / Hereford Cathedral): ‘The Society of Jesus in Wales, c.1600-1679: Reconstructing and analysing the Cwm Jesuit library at Hereford Cathedral’

Abbot Geoffrey Scott (Douai Abbey): ‘The Douai Collection’

Dr Simon Johnson (Librarian and Archivist, Downside Abbey): ‘Downside Abbey: A Beacon of Learning’

13.15 pm Lunch and exhibition viewing

14.30 pm Session 3 – Libraries in the Home

Chair: Geoffrey Day

Christine Penney (Hurd Librarian, Hartlebury Castle): ‘Books do furnish a room’

Maria Kirk (Doctoral researcher, University of Sussex / Petworth House): ‘The Petworth House plays: Book collecting in the early modern country house’

15.45 pm Break

16.00 pm Keynote address

Chair: Paul Quarrie

Mark Purcell (Libraries Curator to the National Trust)

17.00 pm Drinks, followed by a further opportunity to view the exhibition.

Welcome to the project!

Welcome to the first post in this exciting new project blog! The project began in September 2011, when the first in-depth analysis of the Cwm Jesuit Library was started at Hereford Cathedral Library and Archives. 

The aim of the project is to analyse and contextualise the Cwm Jesuit Library collection, which was taken to Hereford Cathedral in early 1679 following its seizure at the Cwm, Llanrothal, Herefordshire, the headquarters of the territorial College of St Francis Xavier. This 'College' (an administrative term rather than an educational establishment) was an extensive missionary sub-division of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, covering the southern half of Wales, including Monmouthshire, as well as the English counties of Gloucester, Hereford and Somerset. The Cwm collection, which has never previously been analysed thoroughly, is one of only two surviving from all 14 missionary sub-divisions or provinces of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, and as such is an important seventeenth-century survival, which promises to throw important new light on early Jesuit missionary enterprise in South Wales and the Marches. 

This is a three-year joint project between Swansea University and Hereford Cathedral, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and under the supervision of Professor Maurice Whitehead at Swansea University. The project will form the basis of a PhD thesis, which is expected to be submitted in September 2014. 

The Cwm Jesuit Library arrived at Hereford in late 1678/9 under the direction of Bishop Herbert Croft, when the Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier at the Cwm in Llanrothal near Hereford was raided as a reaction to the so-called but non-existent 'Popish Plot'. Initially, only around 100 books were thought to have survived, but recent research has discovered another 100 or so books believed to have come from the Cwm that had been stored elsewhere in Hereford Cathedral Library. This extended Cwm Library Collection of approximately 190 volumes has now been fully catalogued, and is available to search online via the library website: http://www.herefordcathedral.org/library-and-archives/online-catalogue  

Bishop Herbert Croft described the books brought from the Cwm as "Divinity books and others in Folio and Quarto and many other lesser books, several horse loads ... many whereof are written by the principal learned Jesuits ... fifteen or sixteen several printed books containing the Decrees of the several Congregations of that Society [of Jesus] at Rome ... several books lately written and printed against the Protestant religion and many small Popish Catechisms printed and tyed up in a bundle; ... some Welsh Popish books lately written and some Popish manuscripts fairly and lately written ... "  

[Herbert Croft, A short narrative of the discovery of a college of Jesuits at a place called the Come in the county of Hereford... (London: Printed by TN for Charles Harper at the Flower de luce against St Dunstan’s Church in Fleetstreet, 1679), Hereford Cathedral Library and Archives, reference H.P.271.5]

As the project progresses, it is hoped that much more will be discovered about the provenance of these books, their printers and booksellers, and of course the role of the Jesuits and the Cwm as part of the maintenance and survival of the recusant community in south Wales and the Marches in this crucial period of history.  

All feedback, comments and questions are always welcomed, and we hope you enjoy following the development of this fascinating research project. Thanks for your time!