Author: Alice

Work experience in the Library & Archives

Post author By Alice
Post date 16 August 2024

In July 2024 two pupils from local schools spent a week working with the Hertford Library and Archives team. The team enjoyed welcoming the pupils, introducing them to how libraries and archives work and their enthusiasm for the library’s summer stock check and the special collections digitisation projects! The placements were organised through the College’s links with local schools.

Year 10 Work Experience Week

Getting selected to work at Hertford College Library for my year 10 work experience gave me an insight into how libraries actually run. On the first day, I was given a timetable looking at what I’m doing each day, and why. I was given an induction introducing me to the workplace, along with a tour which led me to the library. Although before I didn’t have much experience of libraries, except for the one that my school has open for all students that I rarely use and go to, Hertford library taught me about things like ‘rare books’, ‘archives’ and ‘oral history’ that I quickly learnt.

Monday: I had a look at the inside of the bridge which is described as one of the most famous buildings in Oxford and attracts most of the tourists. Emilie the HR Manager gave me and the other work experience students from my school the history of the bridge and how it was built. I was shy at first when I was separated from the others, but as I was introduced to the librarians Alice and Katherine, they showed me what I’d be doing with them over the course of the five days I’m here. After having a tour of the main areas, I was introduced to ‘rare books’. I was shown features of rare books, how they were made at the time, and how they’re taken care of, by the rare books cataloguer Sophie.

View of windows and ceiling of Hertford's bridge. Curved windows with decorative leadwork and a wood panelled ceiling. — Inside of Hertford’s bridge

Hertford College's bridge over New College Lane. Historic bridge in light brown stone joining two buildings. — Inside of Hertford’s bridge

On Tuesday, since Hertford currently has a temporary library, we went to Regent’s Park College, which gave me another view of college libraries. The main thing I learned was how to stock check books. This included scanning them, organising them alphabetically, cleaning, and putting them back on the shelves. I found it a bit tiring at first but as I gradually did it for longer, I began to get into the flow and enjoyed it a bit.

Inside of Regent's Park College Library, with low shelves down the middle of the room filled with books and a large skylight. — Regent’s Park Library

Close-up of shelves in Regent's Park Library. Gold inscription n a shelf-end in the foreground, with shelves full of books in the background. — Regent’s Park Library

Wednesday: I went to the Weston, visited an exhibition on an author named Kafka, then visited another one focusing on famous writers editing their work. I saw some of the library from the ground floor, and it looked really nice with how it was showcased with the glass and shelving.

Item in the Kafka display at the Weston Library

Thursday, I met the College archivist Lucy, I learnt about her job which involves looking at old archives and records from former students and learnt how to scan and digitise them. This included documents, statements, old records and even sound recordings. On Friday, I did more work with Lucy, I listened to a tape recording of someone answering a questionnaire, and wrote notes about it. Then I had a trip to Balliol College which was really fascinating as I saw the variety of books and rooms they had.

Reading room in Balliol College Library. Wooden study table with chairs, shelving in background with books and photographs on display. — Balliol College Library

Wooden book shelves in Balliol College Library — Balliol College Library

I’m now writing to summarise and explain the highlights of my work experience here at Hertford and experience here. The highlights were definitely looking at the archives, stock checking and visiting other colleges, meeting different people who had different jobs and roles and having to get into routine of getting up for work.

Year 12 Work Experience Week

I arrived on Monday and Emilie showed me around the site then took me to see Alice and Katherine (the librarians) in the library where I started doing stock checking which is repetitive but fun. Afterwards I took some pictures of Ortus Sanitatis – it was really old and had interesting annotations I couldn’t read.

Woodcut print of an apple tree form Ortus Sanitatis, with the annotation 'Apples' next to it. — ‘Apples’ in *Ortus Sanitatis*

Initial letter 'H' from a page of Ortus Sanitatis — ‘Apples’ in *Ortus Sanitatis*

On Tuesday I came in and started with stock checking again, then we went to visit Wadham. We went down into their library and saw really old and rare books. One was the huge King James bible (Wadham’s librarians have made a video about this one). Another was an eleventh century book of gospels and not many people have seen it so I feel really lucky.

Page of Wadham's copy of the Book of Gospels, with a large letter B illuminated in Blue and Red. — Book of Gospels

The front desk of Wadham's Library, with a column and handrail for steps in the foreground. — Book of Gospels

After this we went back and took more pictures of books for the display. This one was a first edition copy of Newton’s Principia which had another edition’s corrections as annotations.

Newton’s Principia

On Wednesday I stock checked more books and have now done over 700 (1300 done total). I also went to Mansfield College and looked around their grounds. Their library has a lot of intricate decoration and some displays of books. I also made notes on a recorded interview of an alumnus talking about their time as a student in the 1940s, which was interesting. I also talked to the accountant (Judi) and discussed her job and surrounding jobs as I am interested in joining that field of work. She gave me some good advice and thought I would be a good accountant.

On Thursday I met with the archivist Lucy and looked at some of Jackson’s architectural drawings of Hertford College, University of Oxford. We then gave a tour to another work experience student from Mansfield.

A page from the Jackson drawings, showing a close-up detail of an altar cloth in blue red and gold. — Altar cloth detail

A page from the Jackson drawings, showing a plan for the chapel portico. — Altar cloth detail

On Friday with Lucy we digitalised some old portraits and letters from the 1800s and some alumni questionnaires from the survey in 1985. I then stock checked more books, with 1500 done in total.

I didn’t really know what to expect coming into a library but I learnt that you need to be confident in your hands, you need to be able to carry multiple books easily but also be able to gently handle old and rare books.

Tags Archives, Digitisation, Library, Rare books

Rare books

Astronomy and Alchemy in Hertford’s Manuscript Collection

Post author By Alice
Post date 27 May 2024

While the rare books are stored off site during Hertford’s major library re-development, rare books expert Sophie Floate takes a further look into our manuscript collection, most of which are currently housed at the Bodleian Library. Several of the items there are on broadly astrological or alchemical themes, some of which are quite strange. Ranging in date from the 15^th to the 18^th centuries, and given by various alumni, they cover an eclectic mix of subjects!

MS 3: 15th century Arabic texts in translation

MS 3 is a collection of Latin translations of mainly Arabic texts; the manuscript was probably written in the second half of the 15^th century but is of uncertain origin. The texts themselves are mainly those of the polymath Thābit ibn Qurra, born in Mesopotamia in approximately 826 or 836 CE. He wrote extensively on mathematics, medicine and astronomy, though only a few of his works have survived. The texts in this manuscript are some of his own work and some based on Ptolemy and al-Farghani’s theories relating to astronomy, including discussion of celestial lines, the distances and sizes of the heavenly bodies. Some of the texts (for example De motu octavae spharae on the now-obsolete theory of the oscillation of the equinoxes) may in fact have been written by others, including his own grandson Ibrahim ibn Sinan. The other texts are on similar subjects, including tables used for computing the position of the sun, moon and planets relative to the fixed stars.

Hertford MS3 f19r: part of ‘Regulae astrologicae de motibus caelestibus’

The manuscript is written on parchment and seems to consist of several different hands, so perhaps were collected together at a later date. The manuscript has an inscription at head and foot of the first folio:

“Liber Aulæ Magd: Oxon: 1673. Ex dono Nath: Freind de Westerly in agro Glocestrensi”.

Hertford MS 3 f1r: donation note in the standard early modern Magdalen Hall style

Hertford MS 3 record in Medieval Manuscripts in Oxford Libraries catalogue

Nathaniell Freind is probably the same man who was schoolmaster of Westerleigh Endowed School in Gloucestershire from 1662-1687.¹ He doesn’t appear to have matriculated at Oxford, though he is listed as subscriber to the publication of Anthony Wood’s Athenae Oxoniensis, printed in 1692. He wrote a brief life of his brother John, detailing how he and John had fought for the Parliamentarians at Cirencester and were taken prisoner and held at Oxford. He also wrote some touching memorials to his son (also John) and one of his daughters, Sarah. The words he wrote about Sarah are particularly moving since she died aged only 5 years old. His son John had matriculated at St Edmund Hall in 1672 and Freind has pasted into this book cut-out signatures from John’s letters to him, which he has reproduced in manuscript, as John also died young. The volume is now in the Bodleian Library (MS. Top. Oxon. f.31).² A few books from Freind’s library are now in other institutions, for example, a copy of Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (“On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres”) in John Ryland’s library.

Hertford MS 4: astrology and urine

MS 4 is another collection of texts, in different hands, and all probably copied in the 15^th century. They are broadly astrological in content, including Johannes de Sacrobosco’s De sphaera mundi (On the sphere of the world), William Rede’s Canones tabularum and a catalogue of constellations by Bernard of Parma. The third work is by William of Marseille – De urina non visa (On unseen urine). William was a physician at a time when a popular way to diagnose illness was to examine urine. However, William’s treatise suggests checking the configuration of the sky at the time of the consultation instead. It proved to be a popular work and much copied.

Hertford MS 4 f44v: William of Marseille’s De urina non visa

This volume is unusual for its quire guards, also know as sewing guards. 14 leaves of parchment have been palimpsested in order to be used as quire guards to protect the paper manuscripts, as discussed by Hannah Ryley in her article ‘Constructive Parchment Destruction in Medieval Manuscripts’.³ This is a process of re-using parchment by removing the text written on it – usually by scraping the ink off with a knife. Sometimes parchment treated in this way would be used again for writing, but in this case, the now-blank leaves were used as guards to protect the manuscript texts (which are written on paper) within the volume.

Hertford MS 4 f42v: palimpsested parchment

Hertford College MS 4 record in Medieval Manuscripts in Oxford’s Libraries catalogue

Hertford MS 7: 18^th century alchemy

MS 7 is a curious item. Written much later than the two previous manuscripts, possibly in a juvenile hand, this work entitled Coronatio Naturae (Crowning of Nature) is an alchemical work probably compiled in the 18^th century.

The text of the Coronatio Naturae had been circulating since the 16^th century, usually accompanied by illustrations depicting an alchemical vessel, various symbolic figures (lions, toads, birds, angels, trees, moon and star) shown dissolving, evaporating and in various ways transforming into different substances.⁴

Handwritten title page in black ink beginning 'Coronation naturae / sive / doctrina de suma medicina / 67. Hieroglyphicis expliocator per / anonymum.' — Hertford MS 7 (click each image to expand)

Book opening showing a hand drawn image of 7 circles surrounding a yellow star. At the centre of the start are two concentric grey and white circles. The surrounding 7 circles each contain a red circle and yellow stars with many zodiac symbols and notes in Latin. At the top of the page is a banner with Cha[x?]s Veterum written in black ink. To the left of the image is a book weight running from top to bottom. — Hertford MS 7 (click each image to expand)

Frustratingly, we do not know at present how this manuscript came to Hertford, but further work into the history of the library collections may throw up clues.

Footnotes

1. For another example of a book owned by Nathaniel Freind see: Hartshorne, Steven. “A Revolution in Print” Rylands Blog (blog). 19 February 2023, https://rylandscollections.com/2023/02/19/a-revolution-in-print/.

2. Record for MS. Top. Oxon. f.31 in Manuscripts and Archives at Oxford University: https://marco.ox.ac.uk/ark:29072/x02r36tz006q

3. Ryley, Hannah. “Constructive Parchment Destruction in Medieval Manuscripts”, Book 2.0, 7(1) (2017): 9–19, https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:89b3c490-c489-4952-82c1-18d162fd25bf.

4. For another example of a ‘Crowning of Nature’ at Cambridge see: Type & Forme. “Alchemy at Cambridge University Library: The Crowning of Nature.” Accessed 27 May 2024. https://www.typeandforme.com/index.php/2021/05/03/alchemy-at-cambridge-university-library-the-crowning-of-nature/.

Historic discovery during building project

Post author By Alice
Post date 1 April 2024

Hertford Library is currently undergoing a major library renovation project and has moved to a temporary library in Holywell Quad to continue offering 24/7 study spaces, core texts and support from library staff throughout the building works. During the creation of the temporary Holywell Library, a historic library reading room has been unearthed. The Librarian recounts:

‘While we were installing the shelves in the Holywell Library and we found a very unusual, small door. We couldn’t have imagined what lay beyond it!’

Conservation expert Ekoja Sti was called in to investigate further. ‘We couldn’t find a key small enough to open the door. Then we realised it was a special eighteenth century library door that only unlocks if you whisper gently to it. Once we spoke to it in our special library voice, it opened up and we were able to explore an unbelievable room.’

Close up of historic looking wooden door with black metal finishing. Door has a white wall around it and modern wooden vinyl on floor in front. — The uncovered door

Two set of tall white book shelves with modern books. In between the two shelves is a gap with a tiny historic looking wooden door. — The uncovered door

Behind the door was the only known example of a guinea pig library. Historian A.P. Rilfule describes this discover as ‘mindblowing’. It is thought that the space was created during the Hart Hall era of Hertford College’s history. In the 1720s the great ‘guinea pig companion craze’ hit Oxford and many students and fellows brought a furry companion with them to Hart Hall.

Artist’s impression of how the guinea pig library may have looked (1)

The space has significantly degraded over the centuries, but the remnants of the original shelves, desks and books have survived. Tiny titles found on the shelves include ‘The Art of Magick as Practiced by the Most Honourable Knight of the Realm, Sir Cavia Porcellus’, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and ‘Around the World in 80 Wheeks’. The team have also found a copy of Hobbes’ Leviathan with an inscription in an unknown 18th century hand on the front fly leaf reading ‘To the Guinea Pigges of Harte Hall, for truly life is nasty, short and brutish.’ The library team will use specialist magnifying tools when cataloguing these titles.

For more information about the library’s major renovation project visit https://www.hertford2030.co.uk/.

(1) Created using images: Guinea pig by pulgoman/OpenClipArt, Wooden Table from Glitch by annares/OpenClipArt, Graduation cap by GJP/OpenClipArt, Library background National Library in Vienna/Rawpixel

Rare books

Library Treasure

Post author By Alice
Post date 23 January 2024

Hertford College Library’s Michaelmas Term 2023 rare books display included a selection of items that have recently been worked on by the library team. Over the past year the team have also been preparing the collection for the library’s renovation project, packing up material for specialist storage.

The display was curated by Sophie Floate (Rare Books Cataloguer), Alice Roques (Librarian) and Katherine Knight (Assistant Librarian).

Guard book of 15th century fragments, Hertford College MS 41

Two page opening of MS41 showing part of Versor's commentary on Aristotle. Two columns of manuscript text per page with an illuminated letter on each. Additional marginalia surrounds the columns.

Examples of different sized items attached via guards to the guard book

This is a guard book – a book with ‘guards’ or stubs that various loose sheets are attached to. Bound in 1954, this guard book contains various manuscript (i.e. handwritten) fragments from works made in the 15^th century. Some of these pieces were treated as scrap material and recycled, probably in Oxford, into later bindings for other books. Finally, at a later date, they were rescued from these bindings and preserved in this guard book.

Thanks to the work of Sophie Floate, Hertford’s rare book cataloguer, and the Bodleian Special Collections team, information about this guard book is now available in the free public website that lists manuscripts in Oxford. This means it will be easier for researchers from all over the world to discover.

The volume includes a beautiful section of Johannes Versor’s 15th century Commentary on Aristotle and other works in Latin, German and Italian. There are a number of illuminated initials at the beginnings of columns in Versor’s work, showing very finely detailed and colourful patterns with gold.

View the record for this manuscript in the online Medieval Manuscripts in Oxford Libraries catalogue

Cyrano de Bergerac, The Comical History of the States and Empires of the Worlds of the Moon and Sun, trans. Archibald Lovell, (London, 1687)

Book open to show printed title page and engraved title image of the Comical History.

Close up of page showing text and music score

Hertford’s rare books cataloguer, Sophie, has also been working on the college’s early printed book collections to create online records that meet modern standards. This means that information is being added to the SOLO website about each book, including descriptions of bindings, additional handwritten notes (marginalia) and details of previous owners (provenance). The data is publicly available and searchable, making it easier for our collections to be discovered by researchers.

This book is an English translation of a set of works first published by Cyrano de Bergerac in French. They are recognised as some of the earliest works of science fiction and an influence on authors like Hertford alumnus Jonathan Swift (author of Gulliver’s Travels).

The book was owned by Katherine Blount, who has recorded her name, a date and the price at the front of the book. Sophie’s cataloguing uncovered this previously unrecorded information and she shared her findings further in a blog post for the Early Modern Female Book Ownership project. Subsequent work by other researchers has uncovered further books owned by Blount in other collections, including a manuscript collection of sermons by John Donne (a Hertford alumnus) now housed in the St Paul’s Cathedral Library.

View the record for this book in the online SOLO library catalogue

Set of Astrological Works, 17-18th century

Handwritten contents list of 11 items in bound volume.

Title page of 'Magick & Astrology Vindicated' (1651)

Hertford’s early printed book collections contain a very wide array of subjects. Along with standard theological and classical works, there are also many scientific, geographic and popular texts. Many of the books were owned by other people before they became part of Hertford’s collections. It was common for multiple short works to be gathered together and bound into a single book. Sometime booksellers intentionally sold sets of works bound together but many others were bought individually and bound in an entirely unique combination by their owner. This item is a collection of books about astrology. Each item has its own individual description on the SOLO library catalogue.

The book includes a fold out item showing a hand-coloured, illustrated timeline of the world that goes back to biblical times and into the future. This is a particularly rare item. One other copy is known to exist in the British Library according to the English Short Title Catalogue website.

As well as cataloguing items on SOLO, relevant information about Hertford books is also added to the internationally shared English Short Title Catalogue, which includes works from over 2,000 libraries around the world.

See all items in this volume in the online SOLO library catalogue

Thomas Hyde, De Ludis Orientalibus Libri Duo, (Oxford, 1694)

This history of chess and other games was written by Thomas Hyde (1636-1703), who was a scholar and translator of Asian and Middle Eastern languages and the Bodleian’s Librarian. It has engraved and woodcut pictures and diagrams and is written primarily in Latin but includes excerpts in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Sanskrit and Chinese. The book was made in Oxford, on printing presses in the basement of the Sheldonian Theatre.

This copy of the book was loaned to the Oxford University Press Library by Hertford College, along with many other books printed in Oxford. As a result, these books were missed out of the previous printed catalogue of the Hertford collections that was made in the mid-20^th century. These books were catalogued as a priority in the library’s current cataloguing project and records for them are now available in Oxford’s online catalogue, SOLO.

View the record for this item in the SOLO library catalogue

Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, (London, 1613)

Illustrated frontispiece to Poly-Olbion showing a seated woman decorated in a map of England and with sea in the background.

Page of Poly-Olbion with a poetic description of the illustrated frontispiece.

Poet Michael Drayton (1563-1631) collaborated with engraver William Hole and historian John Selden on this 15,000-line poem. The poem tells the story of England and Wales in a series of songs dedicated to counties. The history, legends and geography of the counties are described by transforming natural topological features into characters in a story. Hole contributed engraved maps and Selden provided notes to explain the verses.

Selden (1584-1654) was a student at Hart Hall (a forerunner to Hertford College) and was in his twenties when he wrote the Poly-Olbion’s annotations. He went on to have a career as a lawyer, MP, linguist and historian. Selden was a major collector of books and bequeathed 8,000 books to the Bodleian Library.

View the record for the Poly-Olbion in the online SOLO library catalogue

What has happened to Hertford’s rare books?

Hertford’s rare book collections (and most archives) are temporarily being stored offsite in specialist conservation storage as part of the library building project. Every book sent offsite over the past 12 months has gone through a special process to prepare it for storage. This work has been done by the library staff, with additional support from a brilliant team of trained student employees and volunteers.

Items have been:

Graded for condition and categorised by size.
Gently cleaned using a brush to remove surface dust and dirt.
Details recorded in a temporary database.
Title pages and other unusual features photographed.
Tied using cotton tape (ribbon made out of cotton, not sticky tape!) if parts were damaged.
Wrapped in archival tissue paper.
Placed in a suitable acid-free archival box. Larger books had custom-made boxes that fit them individually.
Securely transported to the specialist storage.

Whilst in offsite storage the use of these resources will be minimised to reduce the risk of damage during transport. Cataloguing and a small number of research consultations and displays will continue.

Cataloguing at Hertford College Library

Post author By Alice
Post date 27 October 2021
1 Comment on Cataloguing at Hertford College Library

A page from Hertford's typed catalogue listing dozens of books per page, with handwritten additions. — A page from Hertford’s typed catalogue listing dozens of books per page, with handwritten additions.

When the current project to catalogue Hertford’s books started in 2018 only a small proportion of the books had been added to the University’s online library catalogue, SOLO. For the past few decades the main source of information about the collection had been an unpublished typewritten list with minimal information and little detail of provenance or physical condition. The few existing records already in the SOLO online catalogue had been added as part of larger Oxford projects, but this current project aims to add detailed records for all books in Hertford’s rare books collection to the online catalogue.

The first books to be catalogued were around 200 volumes that had previously been on loan to Oxford University Press as part of their “Printer’s Library”. These were mainly books printed in England during the 17th and 18th centuries covering a wide range of subjects from sermons to chess playing.

The Printer's Library bookplate on the inside of a Hertford book. — Left: The Printer’s Library bookplate on the inside of a Hertford book. Centre: a selection of the books on the shelves, with distinctive added publication date in gold at the base of their spines. Right: Title page of a book once in the Printer’s Library, printed in just a few minutes away from Hertford in Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre in 1714.

A selection of the books on the shelves, with distinctive added publication date in gold at the base of their spines. — Left: The Printer’s Library bookplate on the inside of a Hertford book. Centre: a selection of the books on the shelves, with distinctive added publication date in gold at the base of their spines. Right: Title page of a book once in the Printer’s Library, printed in just a few minutes away from Hertford in Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre in 1714.

Shelved alongside these was one particularly large and fascinating volume which was given to Hertford by F.D.S. Darwin (matriculated Queen’s, 1883) in 1934. This collection of broadsides contains 43 items, spanning 200 years. They are mostly proclamations, declarations and narratives relating to events from the reign of Charles I to Queen Anne, nearly half of which relate to the English Civil War and Interregnum.

Single printed page of text with royal symbol at top — Left: Proclamation by Charles I (1633). Centre: Proclamation by Oliver Cromwell (1654). Right: Napoleonic bulletin (1812)

Single printed page of text with Protectorate symbol at top — Left: Proclamation by Charles I (1633). Centre: Proclamation by Oliver Cromwell (1654). Right: Napoleonic bulletin (1812)

There are also several very rare sheets; for example, the 28th bulletin of Napoleon’s “grande armée” issued in November 1812 when he arrived at Smolensk, relating various successes (and omitting losses), concluding with the sentence: “La santé de l’Empereur n’a jamais été meilleure” [translation: the health of the Emperor has never been better]. The volume also contains the only recorded surviving copy of the “The St. Lucia gazette, or, General intelligencer” printed on St Lucia on October 21, 1780 and gives a variety of information from items for sale to information relating to the American Revolution. Each item within the collection has been individually catalogued in the online catalogue.

Section of leather book spine with 'Broadsides 1633-1812' embossed in gold — Left: The spine label of the broadsides volume, the book is so large that it is stored flat. Right: St Lucia Gazette (1780)

Close up of title and top three columns of printed sheet of text — Left: The spine label of the broadsides volume, the book is so large that it is stored flat. Right: St Lucia Gazette (1780)

Tall, narrow book held open by book snakes. Book open to show hand drawn red and black in title page. — The title page of Hertford’s Benefactors Book.

Cataloguing an early printed book involves looking at three areas: the bibliographic text, the materials used to construct the book and the provenance. The resulting record which appears on the library catalogue therefore holds a great deal of information which will enable researchers and academics to locate books and texts which fall into their sphere of interest more easily. With the increase in the numbers of texts which have been digitised, often the scholarly interest will lie in textual differences, manuscript annotations and ownership, all of which will be evident from the catalogue record in a way which was not previously available.

Unpicking the provenance trails of early printed books can shed so much light on the history of a collection, especially where written records may no longer exist. The pattern of ownership in college libraries in Oxford is typically a mix of bequest, donation and purchase, with the emphasis on bequest and donation, and this is particularly so at Hertford. Hertford’s early printed books have a somewhat complicated provenance trail. The collection combines the earlier libraries of Hart Hall and Magdalen Hall, which were the predecessors of the current Hertford College (for more on this see our history of the college). We are lucky to still have the Benefactors Book from Magdalen Hall, which records donations from the 1650s to 1730s and often provides useful information. Books can be matched with entries in the Benefactors Book which has proved invaluable in identifying previous owners and their roles in the college.

Close up of hand written entry in red and black ink reads 'Richard: Day Tonsor Aulae Magd: dedit Greenhamio opera.' — Left: Entry in the Benefactors Book for Richard Daye’s donation. He is listed as Magdalen Hall’s barber. Centre: Close up of the handwritten donation note on the title page of the book. Right: Detailed notes about Hertford’s copy in catalogue record

Close up of printed title page of book with handwritten 'ex dono Richard Daye tonsoris Aulae Magd:' — Left: Entry in the Benefactors Book for Richard Daye’s donation. He is listed as Magdalen Hall’s barber. Centre: Close up of the handwritten donation note on the title page of the book. Right: Detailed notes about Hertford’s copy in catalogue record

As the cataloguing continues, the college’s understanding of the connections alumni and other donors have had to the libraries of Magdalen Hall, Hart Hall and Hertford College over the centuries is growing. This helps us learn about life at the halls and college in the past and answer archival queries about old members and staff too. The new catalogue records are making it easier for researchers from around the world to learn about Hertford’s collections. This detailed information is helpful for researchers unable to visit the collections in person, and those tentatively planning potential trips to Oxford. We also hope that, by making the books easier to discover, this will lead to more enquiries and requests to visit the collection in future.

Resources and links

Oxford’s library catalogue, SOLO

Hertford College’s Archives catalogue

Treasures from Hertford’s rare books collection

17th century, 18th century, Benefactors Book, Cale, Donation

Tags 17th century, 18th century, Benefactors Book, Cale, Donation

Rare books

The Library of John Cale (1722–1777)

Post author By Alice
Post date 3 September 2021

Most of the early printed book collection at Hertford is shelved broadly in subject order. This means any discrete collections given by individuals have been separated. Not an issue if their provenance is marked in the books, but this is not always the case.

Books containing a pencilled note “Cale” began to come to light and further research found this to be John Cale, born in Abbot’s Langley in 1722. Cale matriculated at Hart Hall, predecessor of Hertford, in 1739 and three years later was admitted to the Inner Temple where he presumably trained as a barrister. He spent most of his life as a barrister in Barming, Kent.

As I progressed along the shelves, I began to recognise particular bindings as being typical of Cale books. He seems to have favoured a type of calf marbling, and often had gold tooling applied to the board edges. Not all these books have been noted as previously belonging to Cale, and yet they match what I am learning to be his taste in bindings and subject matter. His books, in terms of subject, seem to cover quite a range of topics, from the usual theology and law you might expect in a provincial gentleman’s collection but with a definite interest in the practical, particularly gardening and horticulture.

Another interesting aspect to Cale’s library is that it contains a several books which belonged to a Phebe Cale. This is probably his aunt, who married mathematician Charles Hayes in 1713; the books have her maiden name so must have been owned before she married. There are also several books by Hayes himself in the collection, for example his Treatise of fluxions published in 1704, the first work printed in English to explain Newton’s method of fluxions, and his Of the moon: a philosophical dialogue.

Pasted in handwritten contents list at front of a Cale book, signed ‘P Cale’

In his will of 1777, Cale bequeathed his books and manuscripts to the college and left detailed instructions for the delivery of the books to Hertford, for the appointment of a librarian, and for a catalogue to be made, as well as provision for their general care and upkeep. Unfortunately, records of the college (and certainly for the library) have not survived in any significant amount for this period so we don’t know whether these plans were ever put in place. As the cataloguing of Hertford’s rare books progresses, we are gradually discovering more of Cale’s books. Each new volume brings more insight into Cale’s varied interests and makes his collections, which include some rare items, visible for researchers to locate in SOLO.

Resources and links

18th century, Cale, Donation

Tags 18th century, Cale, Donation

Year 10 Work Experience Week

Year 12 Work Experience Week

MS 3: 15th century Arabic texts in translation

Hertford MS 4: astrology and urine

Hertford MS 7: 18th century alchemy

Footnotes

Links

Related posts

Guard book of 15th century fragments, Hertford College MS 41

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Resources and links

Resources and links

Hertford MS 7: 18^th century alchemy