Three Centuries of a City Library

Three Centuries of a City
Library, by George

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George A. Stephen
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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)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE
CENTURIES OF A CITY LIBRARY***

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