Dr Richard Palmer has begun a project to produce new online descriptions of the early catalogues of Lambeth Palace Library 1610-1785, funded by the Friends of Lambeth Palace Library.

New descriptions have been completed of the early catalogues of the Library up to the transfer of the books to Cambridge. In addition work began on a guide to the catalogues, shelf marks and other physical evidence of the collection and its arrangement over the centuries. This now covers the early history of the Library until the return of the collections from Cambridge in 1664, including accounts of the catalogues produced at Cambridge and the shelf-marks added there. Photographs are being taken as the work progresses. The guide will be hosted on the Library’s website.

Of special interest is the new description of LR/F/57, which has hitherto been overlooked by scholarship. This is a catalogue of the printed books, made in preparation for their return to Lambeth in 1664 and probably delivered to Lambeth with them. It begins as a packing list, recording the books in the order of the barrels in which they were placed for transport. Then the compiler gives up the task, recording the rest in the order of the shelves from which they came.