Blog

  1. Note, Gentle Reader

    Thomas Gudlawe’s annotations in the Nuremberg Chronicle The Chetham’s Library copy of the Liber Chronicarum (“The Book of Chronicles”, more commonly known as the Nuremberg Chronicle and previously featured in...

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  2. William Hogarth talk

    Public talk on the art of William Hogarth, 8 March 2023 William Hogarth’s paintings and prints are for many the very image of eighteenth-century England. His ‘Gin Lane’ and the...

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  3. A Weaving of Words

    Inspiration from the early textile industry Chetham’s Library owes its very existence to the popularity of fustian, a coarse cloth of which the warp was linen and the weft was...

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  4. Poetry in the Margins

    Poetry in the Margins: A Marian Missal Annotated by Lawrence Langley We’re delighted to be able to publish a first post here by Ellen Werner, who has joined us to...

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  5. The Blavatnik Honresfield Library

    We recently received a donation of books and archival material from the Blavatnik Honresfield Library through the kindness of the Friends of the National Libraries. The FNL successfully raised £15 million...

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  6. The Medals Of The Sun King

    Inspired by the recent anniversary of the death of Louis XIV, we investigated our two editions of  the Médailles sur les principaux événements du règne de Louis le Grand, avec...

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  7. Who’s got the better Flea?

    Out for photography this week was the Micrographia Nova of Johann Franz Griendel von Ach (1631-1687), a small quarto response to the ground-breaking Micrographia by Robert Hooke (1635-1703), one of...

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  8. The Kingdom and People of Siam

    On the desk today is a lovely three volume set of The Kingdom and People of Siam (1857), with a foreword by King Mongkut. These books were composed by Sir John Bowring,...

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  9. Instruction With Delight

    As well as a vast collection of rare and academic works the library is home to a small collection of children’s stories and fairytales. In a change of pace for...

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