This topic is currently marked as "dormant"—the last message is more than 90 days old. You can revive it by posting a reply.
1Katya0133
Is the Pepys Library at Cambridge synonymous with the personal collection of Samuel Pepys? Or does it contain other books as well?
2sabreuse
It's his own library -- in his own bookcases, even. The terms of the original bequest were that no books could be added to or removed from the collection, so it's easier to find a complete list than most.
3Katya0133
>The terms of the original bequest were that no books could be added to or removed from the collection
Oh, very interesting. Thanks!
Oh, very interesting. Thanks!
5jburlinson
Interesting article in the current issue of The Review of English Studies 2010 61(249):214-233. "Books and Sociability: The Case of Samuel Pepys's Library" by Kate Loveman. Here's the abstract:
Samuel Pepys's library provides an excellent case study through which to investigate the many social uses of a ‘private’ library in the seventeenth century. Using Pepys's extensive records, this article explores changes in how his collection was housed and presented; the ways it was used to create and affirm relationships; and the role of his networks in shaping the collection's contents. From its beginnings in the 1660s, Pepys's book collection, initially kept in the intimate space of his closet, was a source of pride and came to serve as an index of his mental and social condition. As it grew over the decades the library took on new functions, becoming central to the hospitality Pepys offered groups of nobles and literati. The detailed records surviving from earlier periods of the collection give us a diachronic perspective often lacking with other libraries, allowing us better to judge the decisions behind the extant collection now kept at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Crucially, research into Pepys's library suggests avenues for interpreting those early modern library collections which survive today, especially in relation to our use of such collections as a means of understanding reading practices.
Samuel Pepys's library provides an excellent case study through which to investigate the many social uses of a ‘private’ library in the seventeenth century. Using Pepys's extensive records, this article explores changes in how his collection was housed and presented; the ways it was used to create and affirm relationships; and the role of his networks in shaping the collection's contents. From its beginnings in the 1660s, Pepys's book collection, initially kept in the intimate space of his closet, was a source of pride and came to serve as an index of his mental and social condition. As it grew over the decades the library took on new functions, becoming central to the hospitality Pepys offered groups of nobles and literati. The detailed records surviving from earlier periods of the collection give us a diachronic perspective often lacking with other libraries, allowing us better to judge the decisions behind the extant collection now kept at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Crucially, research into Pepys's library suggests avenues for interpreting those early modern library collections which survive today, especially in relation to our use of such collections as a means of understanding reading practices.
6thorold
Isn't academic English wonderful? I just love the scare-quotes around "private". "Diachronic perspective" is one I hadn't seen before, too. Next time I see "timeline" in a document I'm going to steal it.
For the less scholarly, Henry Petroski has quite a bit to say about Pepys and his bookcases (not so much about their contents, though) in The book on the bookshelf.
For the less scholarly, Henry Petroski has quite a bit to say about Pepys and his bookcases (not so much about their contents, though) in The book on the bookshelf.
7stringcat3
>6 thorold: Slightly off-thread, I highly recommend The Book On the Bookshelf. Wonderfully readable and even library geeks will discover much they didn't know about book storage. Which subject will fascinate them, being library geeks.
8michigantrumpet
Just came across this topic. I have the below posted on my profile. I accidentally came across it, when pulling a volume of Pepys Diary researching something else. I found it incredibly timely (after 340 years!) and descriptive of my own situation.
"The truth is, I have bought a great many books lately to a great value; but I think to buy no more books till Christmas next, and those that I have will so fill my two presses, that I must be forced to give away some or make room for them, it being my design to have no more at any time for my proper library than to fill them." ~Samuel Pepys, January 10, 1668
"The truth is, I have bought a great many books lately to a great value; but I think to buy no more books till Christmas next, and those that I have will so fill my two presses, that I must be forced to give away some or make room for them, it being my design to have no more at any time for my proper library than to fill them." ~Samuel Pepys, January 10, 1668
