On a Case by Case Basis: The History Case

Every great hero of English history needs a zealous and over-enthusiastic biographer, and Matthew Parker is no exception. His champion was the English clergyman and historian John Strype (1643-1737), whose biography, The Life and Acts of Matthew Parker, published in 1711, represents the first proper, full length biographical study of Parker. [1] The work is...

On a Case by Case Basis: The Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic (ASNC) Case

The Parker Library is celebrated as one of the finest libraries of its kind in the world. Its holdings of medieval manuscripts and early printed books constitute a resource of unparalleled international importance for the study of Britain’s premodern past, and a repository of historical materials of exceptional importance to our nation’s culture and heritage....

History by the Month: August and Thomas Markaunt

    This late thirteenth-century Apocalypse was owned by Thomas Markaunt (c.1382-1439), senior proctor of the University and Fellow of Corpus Christi College. The pictures here show the elders around the Throne of God. By his will of November 1439, Markaut bequeathed 76 books to the College. The Apocalypse was no. 72, valued at 2...

Matthew Parker as Collector: The ones that got away I

Although the Parker Library contains hundreds of manuscripts given by Parker to Corpus, he did give manuscripts to other people and institutions. Inspired by Cambridge University Library's Shelf Lives exhibition, I thought I'd look at some of the 'ones that got away'. Perhaps the most significant Parker manuscripts elsewhere are those in the University Library,...

Samuel Savage Lewis and the Library globes

With reference to the Parker Library globes mentioned in my blog about Samuel Savage Lewis - it seems that Lewis did not give these to the Library. Our Archivist, Dr Leedham-Green, has found a reference in the Library account for 1840 which shows that the college paid for them, presumably expressly for the newly-built Parker...

Shelf Lives: Four Centuries of Collectors and their Books

A new exhibition has just opened at Cambridge University Library entitled Shelf Lives: Four Centuries of Collectors and their Books. The exhibition focuses on ten individuals who collected books in different times and places and eventually donated their treasured volumes to the University Library. The exhibition gives a great flavour of the variety of special...

Samuel Savage Lewis

Samuel Savage Lewis, son of William Jonas Lewis, surgeon, was born at Spital Square, Bishopsgate, London. His studies at St John’s College, Cambridge,  were interrupted by poor eyesight and he moved to Canada, farming from 1857-60. In 1864, with his sight improved through several operations, he re-entered St John’s, moving in 1865 to Corpus Christi...