From Books to a Library: The Collection of Sir Richard Ellys (1682-1742)
- Event type
- Seminar
- Series
- History of Libraries
- Address
- Online- via Zoom
- Speakers
- Eleanor Greer (University of Cambridge)
- Event dates
- Contact
- ihr.events@sas.ac.uk Email only
Eleanor Greer (Academic Skills Librarian, Hughes Hall, Cambridge): 'From Books to a Library: The Collection of Sir Richard Ellys (1682-1742)'.
Sir Richard Ellys amassed a collection of over 12,000 books and manuscripts, some exceedingly rare and beautiful and some apparently mundane and uninspiring. And yet from these disparate components, he was able to create and consolidate a library built around his personal interests, public connections, and social aspirations. This paper will examine closely the development of Ellys’s library, including the sources of his books, the work of his librarian, John Mitchell, and the ways in which Ellys and others made use of the collection. It will finish by addressing the recent history of the collection under the care of the National Trust at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, and will explore the contrasting histories of Ellys’s collection and comparable libraries owned by his contemporaries.
The following seminar will be on Zoom only, commencing at 5.30 p.m. BST. Booking essential.
Sir Richard Ellys amassed a collection of over 12,000 books and manuscripts, some exceedingly rare and beautiful and some apparently mundane and uninspiring. And yet from these disparate components, he was able to create and consolidate a library built around his personal interests, public connections, and social aspirations. This paper will examine closely the development of Ellys’s library, including the sources of his books, the work of his librarian, John Mitchell, and the ways in which Ellys and others made use of the collection. It will finish by addressing the recent history of the collection under the care of the National Trust at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, and will explore the contrasting histories of Ellys’s collection and comparable libraries owned by his contemporaries.
The following seminar will be on Zoom only, commencing at 5.30 p.m. BST. Booking essential.
