Rare books at Durham Cathedral Library
It appears I have another excuse to visit Durham – and a library!
Not content with a forthcoming shopping trip and a business-related event, I’ve just heard about an exhibition of rare books from Durham Cathedral Library’s collections.
A special show-and-tell session, for National Libraries Day, will showcase Bibles and other books printed between 1500 and 1850, in different languages.
I bet there’s some stunning calligraphy inside!
Highlights include a 1st edition of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, a polyglot Bible embroidered by Arabella Stuart in the Tower of London and the first example of Arabic type used in Europe, from 1516.
Durham Cathedral
Sarah-Jane Raymond, assistant librarian at Durham Cathedral Library, said: “National Libraries Day offers a great opportunity for us to showcase our collections.
“Most artefacts are currently in storage for want of suitable space to display them.
“The creation of new exhibition spaces as part of the Cathedral’s major development project, Open Treasure, will increase public access to some of our most precious treasures.
“In the meantime, we hope that people will take the opportunity to attend our show-and-tell sessions to see first-hand the incredible items.”
The show-and-tell session will take place at 2.30pm on Saturday, February 7, in No 5 The College, at the back of Durham cathedral.
For ticket details contact 334 3805.
Further events are planned for later in the year.
The last time I was in Durham I saw the Book Binding exhibition at the Palace Green Library. Read more here.