Durham Cathedral Library & Collections. Remarkable historic objects, medieval manuscripts, early printed books, modern theological works & friendly librarians.
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ALT Two open boxes with marbled papers in brownish pink on the left, containing two faded and worn marbled covers on two books with handwritten white labels on the right of the box. The two books in boxes are on a dark brown heavily grained table.
ALT The yellow cover of a pamphlet with the title 'Durham Cathedral Library' and the author 'Margot Johnson' below it in smaller letters. The pamphlet is on a golden wood table top with thick grains in darker brown.
ALT The cloisters and one of the towers of Durham Cathedral, with low orange and yellow lights illuminating the arches and windows. A dark blue sky is swirling with dark grey clouds behind.
ALT An printed page entry from Dr. Johnson's dictionary for the word 'Library', which Dr. Johnson defines as 'A large collection of books, publick or private'. He then also quotes works of drama and poetry mentioning libraries by Spencer, Shakespeare, and Dryden. Entries for 'librarian' and 'librate' can also be seen above and below the main entry for 'Library.
ALT Two old books with faded and worn spines, with brown labels that read 'Johnson's Dictionary' on each. The volume information is also below. Volume one (on the left) covers the letters A to K. Volume two (on the right) covers L to Z. The spines of two other books in darker brown can also be seen at the edges of the two main volumes.
ALT A large fir tree above a leaf-covered lawn in front of aged yellow stone walls and buildings to its left and right. The sun glows down softly.
ALT A red maple tree, and a Gothic building behind it, beneath a blue sky in early sun.
ALT A long room with heavy wooden beams on the ceiling and bookcases down the side, with a library at one end.
ALT Two desks and chairs, with windows looking on trees and sunlight, beside a large wooden bookcase with a cupboard at its base. The front of the cupboard has a scroll design carved into the wood.
ALT A bookcase open on three shelves of books, all different colours and sizes.
ALT The title page and portrait of the author John Milton, from the 1749 edition of Paradise Lost. There is an echo of the frontispiece on the title page, and a librarian has written a note of the shelf-mark next to the title at the top of the title page, on the right.
ALT Lines from Book 6 of the 1749 edition of Paradise Lost, page 400. The text of the poem takes up most of the page. A commentary, in much smaller type, runs along the bottom.
ALT The tower and Cathedral Church of Durham Cathedral, on a sunny almost cloudless day, viewed through the dark leaded panes of an old window.
ALT The first page of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, spelt S. Mathew at the very top. The writing is in a thick Gothic script, which makes the words hard to read. On the right hand corner is a dark rectangle where the page has been repaired. The first word begins with a letter T on the left hand-side. There is a purple library stamp just off the centre of the page towards the top over the words 'Gospel of'. Some handwriting can be seen mid-way down the right-hand side of the page, but it is very hard to read what it says. The edge of the pages of the book on the right, and the gutter of the book to the left.
ALT A book opened out on a dark wooden table, with beams of a floorboard along the top. On the left hand side is a page with a smudge and some very elaborate and curly writing. The right-hand page has the first page of the Gospel of Matthew in thick black letters, with a purple library stamp towards the top of the page and some rectangles where the page has been repaired.
ALT A catalogue entry, handwritten on squared paper for The Byble, whych is all the holy scripture. It is indexed 'BIBLE//ENGLISH' in the top right-hand side. The catalogue entry continues, with very technical information about the pagination and where it was printed. The red pasteboard and rear board are to the farthest right.