Three Centuries of a City Library

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Three Centuries of a City Library, by George

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Title: Three Centuries of a City Library an Historical and Descriptive Account of the Norwich Public Library Established in 1608 and the present Public Library opened in 1857
Author: George A. Stephen

Release Date: November 14, 2006 [eBook #19804]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
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Transcribed from the 1917 Norwich Public Library Committee edition by David Price, [email protected]

THREE CENTURIES OF A CITY LIBRARY
AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE NORWICH PUBLIC LIBRARY ESTABLISHED IN 1608 AND THE PRESENT PUBLIC LIBRARY OPENED IN 1857
BY GEO. A. STEPHEN
City Librarian, Norwich Fellow of the Library Association Silver Medallist of the Royal Society of Arts Author of "Guide to the Study of Norwich," "Commercial Bookbinding," etc. Joint-author of "Manual of Library Bookbinding"
NORWICH THE PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMITTEE 1917
[Picture: Blackfriar's Church, now called St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich, circa 1650. Showing House in which the Public Library was originally established]
"I can wonder at nothing more, than how a man can be idle; but, of all other, a Scholar; in so many improvements of reason, in such sweetness of knowledge, in such variety of studies, in such importunity of thoughts. . . . To find wit, in poetry; in philosophy, profoundness; in mathematics, acuteness; in history, wonder of events; in oratory, sweet eloquence; in divinity, supernatural light and holy devotion; as so many rich metals in their proper mines, whom would it not ravish with delight!"--Joseph Hall, Bishop of Norwich, 1641-7.

PREFACE.
This book was prepared by instruction of the Norwich Public Library Committee, and it is now published as a souvenir of the sixtieth anniversary of the opening of the present Public Library, which will take place on March 16th, 1917. Norwich occupies a unique place in the history of libraries: it has the distinction of having established in 1608 one of the earliest provincial public libraries, if not the first in England, and it was the first municipality to adopt the Public Library Act, 1850. It is hoped, therefore, that the following sketch, besides giving local readers and archaeologists a detailed account of an important Norwich institution, will form an interesting chapter in the history of British Libraries.
The compilation has been made from the recently discovered Minute Book of the old Public Library, covering the period 1656-1733, from annual reports and other official records, and from notes accumulated since 1911. The work has been done under difficulties due to the abnormal conditions caused by the Great War, and I am conscious that imperfections have resulted; for these I crave the reader's indulgence.
I am grateful to the Dean of Norwich (the Very Rev. H. C. Beeching, D.D., D.Litt.) for his kind help in several matters, for many suggestions, and for reading the galley proofs. To Mr. Walter Rye I am indebted for reading the proofs, and for assistance. Thanks are also due to Mr. F. Johnson, the Assistant City Archivist, for consulting the City Records and providing me with some extracts; and to Mr. F. R. Beecheno, the historian of the parish of St. Andrew's, for assistance and information. My obligations to Dr. Montague Rhodes James, the Provost of King's College, Cambridge, and Mr. A. W. Pollard, M.A., of the British Museum, are acknowledged in the text. For any errors in the book I am solely responsible.
January, 1917. GEO. A. STEPHEN.

INTRODUCTION.
In mediaeval times the making, collecting, and preserving of books, as well as the maintenance of learning, were almost exclusively confined to monastic institutions, some of which lent books to laymen, and thus became the public libraries of the surrounding district. As to the literary life of Norwich in the fifteenth century, the late Dr. Jessopp wrote: "Whatever may have been the case in other dioceses, it is certain that the bishops of Norwich during the fifteenth century were resident in their see, and that they were prominent personages as scholars and men of culture and learning. . . . It is clear that . . . their influence was not inconsiderable in encouraging literary tastes and studious habits among their clergy. Pitts, in his list of distinguished Englishmen of letters who flourished during the latter half of the fifteenth century, mentions no less than twenty-four Norfolk men who were recognised as prominent scholars, controversialists, historians, or students of science." {1} Coincident with the decline of monastic learning in Europe were the revival of secular learning and the invention of printing, which gave a great impetus to the collection