Provenance – Cambridge University Library Special Collections

A chance discovery: Guest post by Jason Scott-Warren

Posted on 18 October 2017 by Special Collections

One of the newest arrivals in the University Library’s Rare Books department was a chance find on Ebay. The History of Our B. Lady of […]

Christian Works, Poetry, Rare Books, Recent acquisitions, women

The Fluctuating Fortunes of the University Library during the 15th and 16th Centuries

Posted on 1 September 2017 by James Freeman

While elucidating finer points of library administration and the placing of manuscripts on the shelves, the early catalogues of the University Library additionally bear witness […]

Cambridge University Archives, Library history, Manuscripts, Subject guide, Uncategorized

Comings and Goings: The Movement of Manuscripts at the University Library before 1600

Posted on 1 August 2017 by James Freeman

A new subject guide has been published on the University Library website on the subject of the handwritten and printed registers, inventories and catalogues of […]

Cambridge University Archives, Library history, Manuscripts, Subject guide, Uncategorized

The Early Catalogues of the University Library: A New Subject Guide

Posted on 10 July 2017 by James Freeman

Perhaps the most common enquiry regarding our medieval manuscripts concerns their provenance: in particular, when they might have arrived at the University Library. Our manuscripts […]

600th anniversary, Cambridge University Archives, Manuscripts, Subject guide

Books of Hours at Cambridge University Library

Posted on 11 August 2016 by James Freeman

Within its holdings of well over 450 illuminated manuscripts, Cambridge University Library possesses some 45 Books of Hours. As books designed for personal use within […]

Cambridge Digital Library, Manuscripts

Castles in the air: two works of Renaissance and Baroque Iberian poetry

Posted on 18 March 2016 by Sophie Defrance

Thanks to a recommendation of Dr Rodrigo Cacho, Reader in Spanish Golden Age and Colonial Studies, the Rare Books department of Cambridge University Library has […]

Collectors and collecting, Hispanic, Rare Books, Recent acquisitions, Special Collections

New old books: January 2016

Posted on 1 February 2016 by William Hale

The Rare Books Department of the Library purchases over 200 printed books each year to enhance its historical collections. In the first of what we […]

Poetry, Rare Books, Recent acquisitions

His royal favour: science, communication and livres d’apparat.

Posted on 18 December 2015 by Sophie Defrance

The current exhibition His royal favour: The books that built the Library celebrates the outstanding collection of John Moore, Bishop of Ely, (1646–1714). Bought by King […]

Exhibitions, French, Rare Books

The library of Gabriel Harvey

Posted on 19 March 2015 by Liam Sims

Discoveries are made frequently in libraries, and the University Library is no exception. Staff and readers alike may call up a volume which has been […]

Collectors and collecting, Library history, Rare Books, Special Collections