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

LOCAL COLLECTION.

The collection of literature relating to Norfolk and Norwich was first mooted on January 15th, 1879, when the Committee resolved that works of interest connected with Norwich should be purchased. This decision was doubtless the result of a recommendation from the Librarian, Mr. George Easter, as Mr. James Reeve, F.G.S., then Curator of the Castle Museum, had suggested to him the wisdom of forming a Local Collection. In April of the following year the Librarian reported to the Committee that he had received during the year £10 for fines, and he requested that he might retain the amount for the purpose of forming a Local Reference Library. The Committee sanctioned his request, and from that time to the present the fines imposed for the detention of lending library books beyond the time allowed for reading have been exclusively devoted to the Local Collection. Mr. Councillor Stanley, a member of the Committee, by way of a commencement, gave “the books containing a complete list of the city and county charities,” and the annual report for 1880 stated that “A collection of Books of local interest is proceeding very satisfactorily.” The collection had grown in ten years to 1,603 volumes and 1,933 pamphlets. In the annual report for 1893-94 it was stated that the receipts for fines from 1880 to that date had been £620, and that the collection numbered 2,646 volumes, 3,462

pamphlets, and numerous engravings, maps, portraits, etc. Mr. Easter was mainly responsible for the selection of the books for the Local Collection, and owing to his great enthusiasm in its development the collection comprised at his death in December, 1900, nearly 4,000 volumes and about 5,100 pamphlets.

Mr. Walter Rye joined the Committee as a co-opted member in the latter part of 1904, and within a few months the Committee had accepted his voluntary services as a Norfolk antiquary, to compile a card catalogue of the local books and pamphlets. This catalogue he has kept up to date. The collection soon engaged his special attention, and from the time of his joining the Committee until the present year he has been zealous in its development, giving each year donations from his private collection, and working in its interest in various ways. In 1908 he published at his own expense the following catalogues which he had compiled: “Catalogue of the Topographical and Antiquarian portions of the Free Library at Norwich” (81 pp.), “Calendar of the Documents relating to the Corporation of Norwich, preserved in the Free Library there” (22 pp.), “Catalogue of the Portraits referring to Norfolk and Norwich Men . . . preserved in the Free Library at Norwich” (33 pp.), and “Short List of Works relating to the Biographies of Norfolk Men and Women, preserved in the Free Library at Norwich” (34 pp.).

Mr. Rye’s donations have been both numerous and valuable. In 1905-06 he presented his collection of prints, comprising about 700 portraits and nearly 7,000 views, which included the well-known Smith Collection. During the years 1911-16 his donations became more extensive, and were crowned by his promise made to the Committee in 1916 that he would bequeath his valuable Norfolk manuscripts and the remainder of his printed books, of which copies were not in the Library. Some of the more important manuscripts which he has given to the Library are the following: Friar Brackley’s Armorial Manuscript, circa 1460—a paper volume of 142 pages, with 75 coloured drawings of arms of the Pastens and Mautbys and their matches, being the oldest Norfolk Armorial manuscript known; Collection of original manuscripts relating to the

Carpenters’ Company of Norwich, 1594; Rev. F. Blomefield’s Original Entry Book for his “History of Norfolk,” 1733-6; Norfolk Pedigrees, compiled by Peter Le Neve—a volume (86 pp.) of Norfolk pedigrees, with the arms in colours, and an index of names. For these and other gifts the Committee provided an oak exhibition case in the Reading Room in February, 1912. In May 1916 the Council placed on record its appreciation of, and grateful thanks for, Mr. Walter Rye’s munificence to the Library.

At the close of 1911 the Committee, having a considerable balance in hand, resolved to bid for a number of items at the auction sales of Dr. Augustus Jessopp’s Library and the Townshend Heirlooms. At these sales many interesting and valuable documents relating to the history of Norfolk and Norwich were purchased for about £92, including fifteen of Dr. Jessopp’s note-books and an “Address from the Gentry of Norfolk and Norwich to General Monck” in 1660, bearing the signatures of about 800 persons. The latter manuscript was published in facsimile by Messrs. Jarrold and Sons in 1913, the volume also including an introduction by Mr. Hamon Le Strange, F.S.A., biographical notes and index by Mr. Walter Rye, a catalogue of the collection of books in the Library on the Civil War period by the City Librarian, and several portraits.

The Committee received in 1915 an intimation of a munificent bequest of £500 by the late Mrs. Elizabeth Russell Hillen, of King’s Lynn, for the advancement of local archæology, etc., on condition that the name of Hillen should be permanently associated with the use of the money. The Norwich Castle Museum also received a similar bequest. Mrs. Hillen was the widow of Mr. Henry James Hillen, a native of King’s Lynn, who died in 1910. After retiring from the profession of schoolmaster he devoted much of his time to historical and archæological research, and subsequently published the fruits of part of his work in local newspapers, several brochures, and his monumental “History of the Borough of King’s Lynn,” 2 vols., 1907. Mr. Hillen made considerable use of the Local Collection, and his wife’s bequest was no doubt partly in recognition of the services it had rendered.

For many years the Committee has tried to make the collection as complete as possible, its wise object being to collect everything local: it has endeavoured to obtain all books, pamphlets, prints, plans and maps, and important manuscripts relating to Norfolk and Norwich, all books and pamphlets printed locally until about 1850, all books and pamphlets by authors associated with the county either by birth or residence, portraits and biographical publications relating to Norfolk people, local newspapers, election literature, early theatre bills, broadsides, book-plates, reports and proceedings of local authorities and societies, etc.

When the present Librarian commenced his duties in 1911 the collection, as recorded in the stock-book of the Library, comprised 5,129 volumes and 6,362 pamphlets, since which time by purchase, spontaneous donations, and systematic application for local publications the collection has increased to 6,364 volumes and 8,126 pamphlets. In addition there are about 7,900 topographical prints and photographs, 950 portraits, and 380 maps, exclusive of the Photographic Survey Collection.

The collection contains extremely valuable files of local newspapers, including a rare volume of “Crossgrove’s News or the Norwich Gazette” for the years 1728-32, the “Norwich Gazette” 1761-64, a long file of its successor the “Norfolk Chronicle” from 1772 with a few gaps to date, the “Norwich Mercury” 1756-60, 1771-80, and from 1802 to date, and “The Eastern Daily Press” from 1875 to date. Recent features introduced in the Local Collection are files of obituary notices of Norfolk people, extracted from various papers and mounted on large cards, and cuttings from newspapers and periodicals of items of local interest, which are mounted on uniform sheets, classified, and filed for reference.

Donations to the Local Collection have been far too numerous even to allow mention of the names of all the chief donors, but the interest of Mr. James Reeve, F.G.S., the Consulting Curator of the Castle Museum, should not pass unnoticed. He has given in recent years several scarce books and prints, including a copy of his rare monograph on “John Sell Cotman,” and a volume of etchings by the Rev. E. T. Daniell.

In order to provide a handy guide to the extensive literature

relating to Norwich, the present writer prepared an annotated and classified catalogue of the books, pamphlets, articles and maps in the Local Collection dealing with the City under its most important aspects. The catalogue, entitled “Guide to the Study of Norwich” was published in 1914, and the Norfolk and Norwich Archæological Society marked its appreciation of it by purchasing 360 copies. In 1915 a series of special annotated catalogues of literature in the Library relating to Norfolk Celebrities was commenced in the “Readers’ Guide.” The first was devoted to the collection of literature relating to Lord Nelson (comprising 218 books, 39 pamphlets, 81 articles, and 31 prints), and the second to Norfolk Artists. Both catalogues were reprinted as pamphlets for sale at sixpence each.

He also prepared a scheme of classification for the entire collection, and began classifying and cataloguing the contents in 1915, but the work has been suspended owing to the absence of his trained assistants on service. However, about 3,000 books and pamphlets have been classified and catalogued in accordance with modern bibliographical practice, and it is hoped that in due course a complete catalogue will be prepared and printed, which will not only serve as a key to unlock this vast store of local information, but will also form an extensive bibliography of Norfolk and Norwich.