Volunteers needed in the St George’s Chapter Library
Volunteers are wanted for a project in the Chapter Library. A rare opportunity to discover the collection while preserving it for future generations!
Category: Rare Books
The book that almost killed a man
Perhaps the best-known among the many renowned musicians to have worked in St George’s Chapel is John Marbeck, who was associated with the Chapel for more than half of the sixteenth century. The exact date of his appointment is not ...
Wheels within wheels
In the secure, humidity-controlled strongroom ‘A’ in St George’s Chapel Archives and Chapter Library, Windsor, far away from the secrets of the sea and all things nautical, are four precious books printed in Italian and written by Robert Dudley, the ...
Adopt a Book: preserving the library’s treasures
This weekend, the Archives and Chapter Library is hosting its annual Adopt a Book Open Day, an opportunity for our supporters to have a guided tour of the building, including exhibitions of archival and library material, and to see their ...
Conservator’s eye view: book bindings
Once the scribes and illuminators had completed their exemplary work on the vellum pages the quires were re-assembled in the correct order and the binder would start to sew each quire with linen thread around upright thicker leather thongs within ...
Conservator’s eye view: scripts
My last blog ended thus…’with the parchment, ink and quill ready, the scribe could start work on the text.’ Anyone who has seen early manuscripts will perhaps understand the bewildering number and diversity of different styles of script there are, ...
Views of a Solar Eclipse
A letter from Canon Henry Cockayne Cust (Canon of Windsor, 1813-1861) to the then Chapter Clerk, Thomas Batcheldor, describes how he viewed the total eclipse of the sun on the 18 July 1860: “I am glad you had a good ...
Conservator’s eye view: book structure
My blog dated 23 January gave a short introduction to the remarkable natural material called parchment or vellum and its durability. The collection of medieval documents and early books at St George’s Archives and Chapter Library is testament to its ...
Archive’s got talent
If an Archive could talk then I am certain it would boast about the wealth of stories it holds within its walls. Perhaps it would even shout out, drawing our attention to a hidden gem which has lain dormant, patiently ...
On the reading habits of canons
It is perhaps to be expected that the majority of the books that make up the Chapter Library of the College of St George should be serious texts, concerning the great academic and theological issues of their respective times. More ...