Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
Chetham's Library, Manchester, was founded in 1655 by the bequest of the Manchester merchant, Humphrey Chetham (1580-1653). Drawing on recent debates about the methods of book history, this book is a detailed study of the way in which an early modern provincial library was created, stocked with books and administered. Using extensive archival research into the Library's acquisitions and the trade in books and ideas in the later seventeenth century, Yeo examines the motivations behind the Library's foundation, the beliefs of those responsible for the selection of books and the Library's relationship with the London bookseller Robert Littlebury. The result is a refreshing reinterpretation of provincial intellectual culture and the workings of the early modern trade in books and ideas.
Price: $181.00
Pages: 264
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Library of the Written Word
Publication Date:
10 May 2011
ISBN: 9789004206656
Format: Other
“an impressive and laudable achievement … Yeo’s book, handsomely produced and elegantly written, is a significant and admirable contribution to his subject. More than 300 years ago, one visitor acclaimed Chetham’s as ‘better than any library in Cambridge’. This study goes a long way towards explaining why he and others were so impressed.”
Mark Purcell, National Trust. In: European Review of History, Vol. 20, No. 3 (2013), pp. 504-505.
"This book covers much more ground than its title would suggest. It provides interesting new perspectives on the book trade during the seventeenth century, and on the relationship of booksellers to libraries."
Brandon High, King’s College London. In: CILIP Rare Books and Special Collections Group Newsletter, No. 92, July 2012, pp. 27-78.
"Reading this book is not just to learn about Chetham’s Library, but also to be called to think about what is important about historic books and libraries, and what we can learn from them by looking from many angles. In summary, therefore: this is an excellent book whose contribution to scholarship goes far beyond the narrative account that its title might be thought to imply. Certainly, it should be of interest to early modernists of many persuasions and should be on the shelves of any library which supports serious study in such fields."
David Pearson, City of London. In: Library & Information History, Vol. 28, No. 1 (March 2012), pp. 62-63.
Mark Purcell, National Trust. In: European Review of History, Vol. 20, No. 3 (2013), pp. 504-505.
"This book covers much more ground than its title would suggest. It provides interesting new perspectives on the book trade during the seventeenth century, and on the relationship of booksellers to libraries."
Brandon High, King’s College London. In: CILIP Rare Books and Special Collections Group Newsletter, No. 92, July 2012, pp. 27-78.
"Reading this book is not just to learn about Chetham’s Library, but also to be called to think about what is important about historic books and libraries, and what we can learn from them by looking from many angles. In summary, therefore: this is an excellent book whose contribution to scholarship goes far beyond the narrative account that its title might be thought to imply. Certainly, it should be of interest to early modernists of many persuasions and should be on the shelves of any library which supports serious study in such fields."
David Pearson, City of London. In: Library & Information History, Vol. 28, No. 1 (March 2012), pp. 62-63.
Matthew Yeo studied Modern History at St Catherine's College, Oxford and at Princeton University. His PhD, completed at the University of Manchester in 2009, was on the acquisition of books by Chetham's Library, Manchester, between 1655 and 1700. He now teaches History at Charterhouse, Surrey.