Martin Luther, Reformer
Housed in the Chapter Library is a set of the works of Martin Luther, SGC RBK L.347. Luther was born in Saxony in 1483. Despite an early career in law, he became a monk in 1505 where he dedicated his ...
Tag: Rare Books
On drinking and drunkenness
Housed in the Chapter Library are several volumes concerning drinking and alcohol, suggesting that the Deans and Canons of the past knew how to have a good time! De generibus ebriosorum [SGC RBK D.59] is a sixteenth century account of ...
Manitowompae Pomantamoonk
Housed in the Chapter Library is a very unusual volume, written entirely in Massachusetts Indian. This volume is a translation of The Practice of Piety by Lewis Bayly, Bishop of Bangor, translated by John Eliot, “The Apostle to the Indians”. ...
Shhh…no talking!
St George’s Chapel Archives holds three registers relating to books borrowed from the Chapter Library by the Dean and Canons of Windsor from 1720 to 1889 [SGC M.895]. The first volume was begun in 1720 and continued until 1760. It ...
Sisters of the Scabards
The Sisters of the Scabards Holiday is the title of a short pamphlet which was published in 1641 [SGC RBK S.372]. It was one of several satirical pamphlets which circulated in the summer of 1641 after Dr William Roane was ...
Adopt a Book Open Days
This Autumn saw the welcome return of the Adopt a Book Open Days, an occasion to thank those people who have generously supported the scheme to help conserve the Chapter Library, and an opportunity for them to see “their” book. The visit began ...
Death by elephant
Robert Knox, an English sailor and trader, worked for the British East India Company in the 17th century. Sailing to Persia in 1658, a heavy storm forced his ship to land at Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) where he and some ...
When dogs’ guts rumble…
John Worlidge’s ‘Systema Agriculturae’ is a seventeenth century guide advising ‘the Gentry and Yeomanry of England’ on all aspects of agriculture and farming. The work was first published in 1669 and was tremendously successful – within fifty years five editions ...
The misunderstanding of science
Novus Orbis Regionum is a book attributed to Simon Grynaeus (1491-1553). The book contains a map, “Typus Cosmographicus Universalis”, which shows the understanding of the world within that era. The map illustrates the misunderstanding of scientists and geologists at that ...
Mundus Subterraneus
Since it was set up in 1997, the Adopt a Book scheme has raised money to preserve and conserve the wonderful collection of rare books in the Chapter Library. One volume recently conserved is Mundus Subterraneus by Athanasius Kircher, published ...