We are delighted to announce the next instalment of Bookscapes, a series of workshops thinking about the materiality of libraries and books across the medieval and early modern periods. These are funded by CHASE and run by a consortium of colleagues across the constituent universities, led by MEMS.
For our first workshop of 2025, we will be visiting several collections in Essex, giving differing insights into early modern libraries and their medieval predecessors. The first stop, on the afternoon of 17th February, will be the Special Collections of the University of Essex, on the outskirts of Colchester, which holds the library of Samuel Harsnett, archbishop of York (d. 1631). Harsnett built up his collection through various routes but what marks out his books is that most are in sixteenth-century bindings, often with fragments of medieval manuscripts inside them.
The next morning, Tuesday, 18th February, we will be given a private tour of a very special library, that named after Thomas Plume (d. 1704) in the town of Maldon. It occupies the upper floor of an abandoned church and has its original furnishing with the books in place, giving us an evocative sense of the early eighteenth-century library. This will be followed by a trip to Chelmsford and its intriguing example of a parish library in what is now its cathedral.
Please note that because of the nature of the Thomas Plume Library, access is only be a narrow winding staircase.
Accommodation will be provided on the Monday night. Spaces are strictly limited so do book yours now by emailing Bookscapes. Registration will close at the latest by 30th January but earlier if all spaces are taken.
