Institute of Historical Research

Private collections and public libraries in ancient book culture

Professor Greg Woolf

(Director , Institute of Classical Studies, University of London)

The history of ancient libraries has traditionally be written around major bibliographic projects such as the Library of Alexandria and the imperial libraries of Rome, projects that are the subject of most ancient testimonia. Recent research - papyrological, epigraphic and archaeological - has raised some doubts about the scale of those projects and also emphasized the key role played in textual transmission by the collections of private individuals and small textual communities. Drawing on this work I shall suggest a new approach to the history of ancient libraries.

History of Libraries seminar series

Ian Willison, C.B.E. (Institute of English Studies)

9 November 2013

History of Libraries

Institute of Historical Research

Institute of Historical Research

Adaptees aux milieux canadiens-francais et catholiques: Educating Librarians to be Censors at the Universite de Montreal, 1937-61

Geoffrey Little

(Concordia University Libraries)

The narrative of North American public libraries as bastions of intellectual freedom and librarians as champions for books and reading in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is challenged by the history of libraries in the Canadian province of Quebec. In 1902 the Catholic archbishop of Montreal described public libraries as more dangerous than smallpox. Access to libraries and books, particularly novels, books in English, and works by Protestant writers, was severely limited by the Catholic Church, which promoted parish libraries in the place of public libraries and regulated access to existing libraries through pressures exerted in pulpits and through restrictive cataloguing and classification schemes. Francophone librarians also received training on how to be censors at Universite de Montreal, where a course on censorship was mandatory for all students from 1937 to 1961. The legacy of this system of library control and censorship has frustrated the development of public libraries in Quebec to the present.

History of Libraries seminar series

Institute of Historical Research

Adaptees aux milieux canadiens-francais et catholiques: Educating Librarians to be Censors at the Universite de Montreal, 1937-61

Geoffrey Little

(Concordia University Libraries)

The narrative of North American public libraries as bastions of intellectual freedom and librarians as champions for books and reading in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is challenged by the history of libraries in the Canadian province of Quebec. In 1902 the Catholic archbishop of Montreal described public libraries as more dangerous than smallpox. Access to libraries and books, particularly novels, books in English, and works by Protestant writers, was severely limited by the Catholic Church, which promoted parish libraries in the place of public libraries and regulated access to existing libraries through pressures exerted in pulpits and through restrictive cataloguing and classification schemes. Francophone librarians also received training on how to be censors at Universite de Montreal, where a course on censorship was mandatory for all students from 1937 to 1961. The legacy of this system of library control and censorship has frustrated the development of public libraries in Quebec to the present.

History of Libraries seminar series

Institute of Historical Research

Seventeenth-Century Library Benefactors Books in Oxford Colleges: Some Examples and Some Uses

Dr William Poole

(New College, Oxford)

This talk will concern the rise of the genre following the opening of the Bodleian Library, and how we can exploit college examples of the form for different historical purpose; in other words not just to track the growth of specific collections per se but to ask if and how far such resources can be used to discuss intellectual change more generally.

History of Libraries seminar series

Institute of Historical Research

'The necessity of clear expression' home-grown writing, organisational learning and the library staff magazine in Britain in the first half of the twentieth century

Professor Alistair Black

(University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)

History of the Libraries seminar series

Institute of Historical Research

'The necessity of clear expression' home-grown writing, organisational learning and the library staff magazine in Britain in the first half of the twentieth century

Professor Alistair Black

(University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)

History of the Libraries seminar series

Institute of Historical Research

The Invisible Library; Books, Book Rooms and Inventories at a Northamptonshire Manor House

Mark Purcell

(National Trust)

First founded as an Augustinian Priory in the twelfth century, Canons Ashby was for over 400 years the home of the Dryden family. The history of libraries on the site is complex and many-layered, but one thing is striking: the near invisibility of books in the pre-nineteenth century documentary record. The paper will discuss the reasons which may underlie this, and will explore the pitfalls of relying on inventories when writing the history of domestic libraries.

History of Libraries seminar series

Institute of Historical Research

The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland - Five years on: a review

Ian Willison

(CBE)

Peter Hoare was not there at the very beginning but not long after – in fact he became editor very soon after Robin Alston had decided it was worthwhile doing a history of libraries as well as a history of the book. Alistair Black was then brought in not long after and then the proposals began. The title changed various times. In 1994 for example the publication was to be called A History of Libraries in the British Isles. Ireland was added in to the title not long after as it was an important element of the work. Eventually Cambridge decided that it should become one of the Cambridge histories and thereafter it became known as the Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland.

This talk by Peter Hoare himself, looks at the three volumes five years after the final volume was published and gives insights into the creative process, purpose, and also the elements that fell by the way. For instance, there were various ambitious related activities that never saw the light of day. At the time ideas were thrown around of joining with the Institute of Historical Research in a similar way to the Victoria County History. The idea was to produce a continuous series similar to the county histories. Although that never came to pass the History of Libraries seminar is a partial benefactor of those initial discussions.

There were also long discussions on where divisions between volumes should occur and it was even considered that this should be a 4-5 volume set purely for chronological reasons. Quite late in the day a 4th volume on statistics and appendices was abandoned.

Volume 1 was worked upon by an editorial group, volume 2 by Robin alone, and volume 3 brought in Giles Mandelbrote around 1996. In about 1998 Robin Alston decided he had too many ‘irons in the fire’ and felt that he should drop out. This meant that Mandelbrote was on his own for a while, until Keith Manley was brought on board as a second editor for volume 2. Volume 3 was easier being edited by Alistair Black and Peter Hoare.

The accolade of being accepted as a ‘Cambridge History’ rather than one of their normal publications was a decision that truly showed the importance and high quality of the work. The second half of the podcast looks into the process of publication, the costs involved and the commercial success of the history.

History of Libraries seminar series

Institute of Historical Research

The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland - Five years on: a review

Peter Hoare

(Nottingham)

Peter Hoare was not there at the very beginning but not long after – in fact he became editor very soon after Robin Alston had decided it was worthwhile doing a history of libraries as well as a history of the book. Alistair Black was then brought in not long after and then the proposals began. The title changed various times. In 1994 for example the publication was to be called A History of Libraries in the British Isles. Ireland was added in to the title not long after as it was an important element of the work. Eventually Cambridge decided that it should become one of the Cambridge histories and thereafter it became known as the Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland.

This talk by Peter Hoare himself, looks at the three volumes five years after the final volume was published and gives insights into the creative process, purpose, and also the elements that fell by the way. For instance, there were various ambitious related activities that never saw the light of day. At the time ideas were thrown around of joining with the Institute of Historical Research in a similar way to the Victoria County History. The idea was to produce a continuous series similar to the county histories. Although that never came to pass the History of Libraries seminar is a partial benefactor of those initial discussions.

There were also long discussions on where divisions between volumes should occur and it was even considered that this should be a 4-5 volume set purely for chronological reasons. Quite late in the day a 4th volume on statistics and appendices was abandoned.

Volume 1 was worked upon by an editorial group, volume 2 by Robin alone, and volume 3 brought in Giles Mandelbrote around 1996. In about 1998 Robin Alston decided he had too many ‘irons in the fire’ and felt that he should drop out. This meant that Mandelbrote was on his own for a while, until Keith Manley was brought on board as a second editor for volume 2. Volume 3 was easier being edited by Alistair Black and Peter Hoare.

The accolade of being accepted as a ‘Cambridge History’ rather than one of their normal publications was a decision that truly showed the importance and high quality of the work. The second half of the podcast looks into the process of publication, the costs involved and the commercial success of the history.

History of Libraries seminar series