letter press
Hidden Treasures – Chethams Library
Chatham’s Library is the oldest public library in the english speaking world, it was built-in 1421. It houses over 100,000 books, the building was originally accommodation for the clergy of the cathedral. After this it was sold for the equivalent of £400 in 1654 and transformed into a school and library of which it has remained ever since. It still remains a public library and is free for anyone to use, It is a hidden treasure in its self being hidden away in Manchester City Centre, and you may never have noticed it! The decor is 17th century but the original 1420’s beams still remain. This visit was second in the series of the Hidden Treasures events that myself and Lauren Field (fellow HLF trainee http://lfstockmus.wordpress.com/ ) attended. It was a fantastic experience to see a library of this style and age with regards the conservation and access of both the building and books. During the 17th century most books were written in latin, so although a public library Chetham’s was very much a scholers library. The library started collecting books in 1655 and has been collecting ever since amongst the collection of books they also have a wealth of ephemera, manuscript diaries, letters and deeds, prints, paintings and glass slides.
The event started with a look at how books use to be chained to the walls or to the shelves/cabinets that they were in. A chain was attached to the spine of the book and so the book sat spine-in on the shelf , rather than having the spine visible . This was because they were very rare and expensive as not many copies of each book were printed, due to the labour intensive process. Some of the book available to view at Chetham’s were also hand written.
Librarian Michael Powell lead us through the beautiful dimly lit library and told some of it’s history before being shown some of the ‘hidden treasures’ that it has to offer. The inside of the building is like walking into a film set of Harry Potter and being in the Hogwarts library. The books were arranged by subject and sectioned off, from 1740 it was common practise to be locked in to the section of the library that wasof interest. The books were turned around and the chains taken away. When you had finished looking the gates would be opened again. This was done to prevent theift of books. We were shown and able to handle many treasures that the library owned, such as ; Issac Newton first edition book ‘Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica’, ‘Paradise Lost’ first edition, the first ever printed map of Manchester and original Hogarth Prints. Chetham’s is a real gem in the heart of Manchester and it is through these types of events that the public get to see an insight into what the collection has to offer.
Finally we were shown how books used to be printed on a letter press by letterpress printer Graham Moss. He demonstrated using a seventeenth-century common press, learning about early printing techniques and helping to reprint a ballad written in celebration of a visit to Chetham’s in the early nineteenth century. . this was extremely interesting to see and to learn about the amount of work that went in to the printing of the books, it is easy to see why books were regarded as such rare and precious items . It was also interesting to learn about how and why books were made different sizes due to the size of the printing press and the way in which the paper was made these factors restricted the size of the book.
Saving the best untill last we were shown the most precious item of all, a book full of ephemera; posters and leaflets from the 17th century onwards. These are very rare because they are items that would have been made and thrown away after use. They are probably the only copies in the world so are very important to the library. Some of my favourite examples of these are shown in the photographs above, a poster advertising a circus performance that reads ‘ This present Wednesday evening December 26 1787 Upwards of One Hundred Feats of Activity, By Astley Top, From London. To which will be added the uncommon performances of the learned PIG and Musical DOG. The whole to conclude the exertion of the TRUE ENGLISH BULL DOG who will attend in a parachute surrounded by fire works. ‘ The beautiful illustrations are of animals performing circus tricks and are fantastic graphic examples of this era’s entertainment. Items like this are extremly important for providing research material to historians giving a greater insight in to the everyday lives of people living throughout different eras. They also form brilliant inspiration for graphica and illustration purposes.
You can find out more about Chetham’s Library here: http://www.chethams.org.uk/index.html
technicalmuseumstrainee 