Loughborough Parish Library at The Old Rectory Museum: New Digital Gallery and a Free Workshop

Loughborough Parish Library at The Old Rectory Museum: New Digital Gallery and a Free Workshop

New Digital Gallery

A few weeks ago I mentioned in this blog that I had attended an event celebrating the opening of a new exhibition, down at the Old Rectory, so you might be interested to know that some key extracts from items in the Parish Library have been digitised and can be found on the University of Nottingham, Manuscripts and Special Collections Digital Gallery. 

Once you’re on the site, click on an image, and this will take you to the catalogue record and give you the link to the single image view. Choose the second option: “View the digital file(s) with the Universal Viewer (allows zooming in)”

New FREE Workshop!

As well as the new Digital Gallery, you might also be interested to read about a forthcoming exciting opportunity being held down at the old Rectory … a hands-on workshop exploring Early Modern print culture using facsimile pages from the historic rare books. Decode the symbolism and powerful visual storytelling in images taken from Classical myths and Biblical stories.

The event is facilitated by Thomas Nixon-Roworth, who is studying for a PhD at Sheffield University and currently completes a placement at the University of Nottingham’s Manuscripts and Special Collections with Dr Ursula Ackrill, Librarian (Special Collections), at that institution.

Ursula has catalogued the library of old and rare books which was originally kept in the Old Rectory, and, more recently, she has curated the exhibition Loughborough Parish Library. This exhibition runs at the Old Rectory Museum until the end of August 2024, and you are invited to visit the exhibition during the Museum’s opening times, 11am-3pm on Saturdays.

Accompanying the exhibition, a new workshop is being held by Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottingham, to which you are also invited. It is hosted by the Loughborough Archaeological and Historical Society, custodians of the Old Rectory Museum. The workshop has been developed by Manuscripts and Special Collections, who also provide all learning materials required on the day. You can find further details and a description of the workshop below.

The Details

Dates: Wednesday 28 August, Friday 30 August and Tuesday 3 September.

NB The same workshop runs on all three dates.

Time: 10am-12.30pm. Doors open at 9:30 to view the exhibition.

Venue: Old Rectory Museum, Loughborough LE11 1UW

The workshop is offered free of charge, however, places are limited.

To book your place please email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk by 23 August 2024.

The Old Rectory Museum, 2024 © Manuscripts and Special Collections

The Workshop

The exhibition, which opened in June 2024 at the Old Rectory, saw the return of familiar sights back inside its walls: engravings from the 17^th and 18^th century; pages from old books with fine handwritten annotations; old letterpress ornaments. If walls could talk, they would salute these pages. The very same pages could have been glimpsed centuries ago over the shoulder of their reader: the Rev. James Bickham. He kept a formidable library of books. He lived at the Old Rectory from 1761 until his death in 1785.

As a student and later fellow of his College at Cambridge, Bickham had an interesting circle of friends. Among them were the poet Thomas Gray, who in 1751 became famous for writing the Elegy in a Country Church Yard, and the Bishop of Worcester Richard Hurd, who resided at Hartlebury Castle, with a library a thousand times bigger than Bickham’s. Unlike Bickham, his friends went on to pursue stellar careers as published authors. By reading the books of Gray, Hurd, and other former fellow students, Bickham rooted for their success from afar, as Rector of All Saints Church at Loughborough.

Bickham found plenty of work to do in the parish of All Saints. From 1772, as Archdeacon of Leicester, Bickham had responsibility for overseeing the maintenance of church buildings and sacral objects in the third largest of the six archdeaconries in the vast Lincoln diocese. However, the condition of his own private library, numbering 641 books, shows him to have been an avid reader, who studied, close-read - and sometimes made notes in the margins of - his books. Bickham and perhaps his wife Sarah were the sole readers of this library during their lifetime. In the solar, the upstairs room of the Old Rectory, we can imagine the Rector and his wife Sarah reciting the Elegy, looking out across to the graveyard, hearing the bells’ toll from All Saints Church. However, the library is now held at the University of Nottingham and can be read by all members of the public.

How can we today re-live the pleasure of knowing these books as Bickham did once? If only there was a quick and handy way in! We considered this, and realised that, whilst reading the books word for word would take more time than any one of us can spare, we have the gift of the images: the books contain illustrations! These images are rich with stories that can be “read” at a glance.

To offer you the experience of the library owner’s insight, we have created a workshop using facsimiles of select frontispieces, illustrations, printers’ devices, and ornaments.

Join us for a hands-on workshop exploring Early Modern print culture using facsimile pages from the historic rare books. Decode the symbolism and powerful visual storytelling in images taken from Classical myths and Biblical stories.

Frontispiece or second illustrated title page of Lucii Coelii Lactantii Firmiani opera (1660)

University of Nottingham, Loughborough Parish Library, Oversize BR65.L2.C60 facsimile

This engraving shows the early Christian author Lactantius presenting the emperor Constantine I with his main work, the Divine Institutes. Here Lactantius argues that the Christian doctrine is true and reasonable - against objections from pagan critics. The image shows the newly Christian emperor rule triumphant over smashed-up statues of the pagan world; he holds in his right hand a sword entwined with an olive branch.

Interested in this workshop’s learning outcomes? Read on.

Learning outcomes of the workshop

You will…

• Get a sense of Early Modern people’s sensibilities.
• Re-familiarise yourself with stories from the Bible, classical antiquity, medieval and Early Modern history, which are captured in images printed in books.
• Refresh your understanding and memories, as you identify the references which these images depict.
• Unpick layers of different stories from disparate traditions gathered together in one image, and interpret the key message it conveys.
• Learn about the art of selling books by studying examples of printer’s devices from the UK and from continental Europe, understanding the rise of the commercial middle class over three centuries.
• Be able to identify techniques such as engraving and woodcut, and explain the different mechanisms required to print them.
• Feel proud of the library which was kept in your town and survived over centuries into our time.

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Here are the details again:

Dates: Wednesday 28 August, Friday 30 August and Tuesday 3 September. The same workshop runs on all three dates.

Time: 10am-12.30pm. Doors open at 9:30 to view the exhibition.

Venue: Old Rectory Museum, Loughborough LE11 1UW

Duration of workshop: 2.5 hours, including a 15-minute break. In fine weather bring a packed lunch to enjoy afterwards in the Rectory Garden.

The workshop is offered free of charge, however, places are limited. To book your place please email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk by 23 August 2024.

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About Ursula

As a librarian at Nottingham University with Manuscripts and Special Collections, Ursula has developed a wide range of skills that enable her to promote and interrogate unique collections of material, sharing them widely with people who are interested. Ursula is a member of the Loughborough Archaeological and Historical Society, and can be found at the Old Rectory on some Saturdays during the opening season of the museum. Ursula also gives talks and presentations to groups about her work, for example in February 2024, Ursula gave a talk about Parish Libraries at St Helen's Heritage Centre, Ashby.

About Thomas

Thomas Nixon-Roworth is studying for a PhD at Sheffield University and is currently undertaking a placement at the University of Nottingham’s Manuscripts and Special Collections with Dr Ursula Ackrill, Librarian (Special Collections), at that institution.

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Please note, the views expressed in this Guest Blog Post are the views of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the blog owner, lynneaboutloughborough.

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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