Lambeth Palace Library and the Church of England Record Centre regularly embark on new projects and acquire and catalogue new material, from rare books and manuscripts to modern publications.  Every two months, we post here a brief update on some of our latest acquisitions, projects and upcoming events, to keep you up-to-date with our most recent news.

Our latest modern accessions

Some highlights from our most recent acquisitions include:

• English Psalms in the Middle Ages, 1300-1450, by Annie Sutherland (Oxford: OUP, 2015). More information available here.
• Anglican Eucharistic liturgies, 1985-2010, edited by Colin Buchanan (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2011). More information available here.
• The genius of George Whitefield: reflections on his ministry from 21st century Africa, edited by Benjamin Dean & Adriaan C. Neele (London: Latimer Trust, 2015). More information and reviews available here.
• The Church in Devon, 400-1560, by Nicholas Orme (Exeter: Impress Books, 2013). More information and reviews available here.
• Ancient Christian worship: early church practices in social, historical, and theological perspective, by Andrew B. McGowan (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2014). More information and reviews available here.

For more regular updates on new accessions to the library, please follow us on Facebook.

Upcoming events

Lambeth Heritage Festival

Lambeth Palace Library is delighted to be the main partner for this year’s Lambeth Heritage Festival, a month-long showcase of the very best of Lambeth’s heritage and history. The Festival runs throughout September, and is led by Lambeth Archives and the Lambeth Local History Forum. The full programme can be viewed here.

Lambeth Palace Library will be offering the following events:

A Monument of Fame: Lambeth Palace Library’s Collections and Work

Saturday 3 September, 11.45am-12.30pm
At Michael Church, 131 Burton Road, SW9 6TG (part of a day of events for Lambeth Archives Open Day – full details on pages 26-27 of the Festival Brochure)

Lambeth Palace Library, founded in 1610, has a rich collection of manuscripts and archives, dating from the ninth century covering the history of the Church of England as well as wider British and Commonwealth history. This talk gives an overview of some of this fascinating material and of how it is used today.

‘Lambeth and its Palace’ Exhibition

Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from  Monday 5 September to Thursday 29 September, with the exception of 26 September and the afternoons of 22 and 29 September, entry at 11am, 12 noon, and 3pm. At Lambeth Palace

An exhibition of images, documents and objects from the collections of Lambeth Archives and Lambeth Palace Library, displayed in Lambeth Palace’s seventeenth-century Great Hall. The exhibition explores the history of the Palace, the surrounding area, and its role in Lambeth’s history. Entry is by timed, escorted groups only, meeting at the main gate of Lambeth Palace. Duration of visit is 45 minutes.

Booking essential for groups of five or more: email archives@churchofengland.org or phone 020 7898 1400.

Library Open Afternoons

Mondays 12 and 19 September, 12 pm-3pm
At Lambeth Palace Library

Visit our reading room and learn more about our collections, services, and talk to staff.  Entry is via the Library entrance on Lambeth Palace Rd. There is no need to book. Contact archives@churchofengland.org or 020 7898 1400 with queries.

Exploring Eden:

A Symposium exploring how the Garden of Eden has inspired the design, making, and imagining of gardens.
Wednesday 5 October 2016, 10am to 4pm, Lambeth Palace Great Hall

A partnership between Lambeth Palace Library and the Garden Museum.

Programme:

• Dr Jennifer Potter, author of Strange Blooms: The Curious Lives and Adventures of the John Tredescants and The Rose on ‘the Tredescants’ quest for Eden.
• Dr James Bartos, garden historian, on ‘The Spirituall Orchard: God, Garden and Landscape in the 17th Century’.
• Scott Mandelbrote, Director of Studies in History, Peterhouse, Cambridge on ‘Eden: the Bible and the Gardeners’.
• Christopher Woodward, Director of the Garden Museum, on ‘The search for Paradise from Captain Bligh to Stanley Spencer’.
• Margaret Willes, author of The Making of the English Gardener on ‘Working Class Edens’.
• Tom Stuart-Smith, landscape designer, on ‘Revisiting Paradise’.

The Symposium is also an opportunity to see books and manuscripts from Lambeth Palace Library, including plans of the Palace gardens, introduced by Giles Mandelbrote, Librarian of Lambeth Palace Library. At lunchtime you can visit the Palace gardens with Head Gardener, Nick Stewart.

£60 (£45 for Friends of Lambeth Palace Library and Friends of the Garden Museum) to include lunch. Please visit http://ow.ly/VZ4k302cM1Z or contact stephanie@gardenmuseum.org.uk

Concert of Tudor Polyphony performed by The Sixteen

Wednesday 26 October, 7pm (entry from 6.15pm), Lambeth Palace Great Hall

Sacred music by Robert Fayrfax, Nicholas Ludford and John Sheppard. This concert, held in the Great Hall of Lambeth Palace, will focus on works from the Arundel Choirbook (Lambeth Palace Library MS 1), which will be on display. Followed by a reception in the Guard Room.

Tickets will cost in the region of £60 and further details will be available later in the year on the Library’s website. Those wishing to register interest should send their names in advance to Juliette Boyd, Lambeth Palace Library (Juliette.boyd@churchofengland.org)

News from the Archives

Newly catalogued archive material includes a letter of the divine and Hebraist Hugh Broughton (1549-1612) given by the Friends of Lambeth Palace Library. Also received by donation was an album of photographs and other material collected by Cecil Douglas Horsley (1903-1953), bishop of Gibraltar, largely relating to the 1948 Lambeth Conference. A further section of the papers of the Council on Foreign Relations (1933-1982) relating to the Orthodox Churches was completed. Interns catalogued files relating to the relationship of the Incorporated Church Building Society with individual dioceses, and enhanced catalogue data for the plans of Lambeth Palace created by the architect Edward Blore (1787-1879) and for one of the manuscripts relating to early modern Ireland collected by Sir George Carew (1555-1629). Work to re-catalogue the Library’s historic records continues. For more information on these collections please see the online archives catalogue.

Items in the Library collection relating to Thomas Becket were displayed at a symposium on the medieval Archbishop. Some of the items are also available to view in the online image database. Further additions have been made to the image database using the ‘book’ display feature, including the Broughton Missal acquired in 2015.