Please press the CALL button to the left of the door. At one side of the desk is his ink pot. The chained library as a collection was created when the books were moved into the Lady Chapel in 1611, following an investigation into the care of the books. Click here to learn more or control your settings. Most of the volumes in the collection date to acquistions made in the 1100s, although the oldest book in the collection, the “Hereford Gospels,” dates to about the year 800. It contains about 1,500 books, dating from around the year 800 to the early 19th century, including 227 medieval manuscript books. Hereford Cathedral also houses one of only four known copies of the Magna Carta documents issued by Henry III in 1217. The most famous 18th century vicar choral was William Felton, who composed three series of concertos for organ or harpsichord, which were published in London in the 1740s and became very popular. Please check our website for the most up to date information in advance of your visit and if you have any concerns or questions please contact us on [email protected]. Luckily nothing had been thrown away. Instead these can be purchased on the day from the member of staff at the Exhibition entrance. From the Citadel in Game of Thrones to the library of Kamar-Taj in Doctor Strange, there’s been a resurgence in popular culture of ancient books chained to their shelves. A Mexico City Culinary Adventure During Day of the Dead, Beyond the Quarter: Music and Reinvention in New Orleans, Maryland: Tracing the Steps of Tubman & Douglass, Queering Cartography: Creating Decolonial Travel Guides With Bani Amor, Tales From the Museum: The Academy of Natural Sciences, The Ancient Art of Harvesting Fruit in the Desert, The Rise and Fall of North Carolina's National Hollerin' Contest, The Climate Isn't Just Worsening Wildfires, It Can Hobble Forests' Ability to Recover, How a Team of Calligraphers Brought Jane Austen's Fictional Letters to Life, See the Mysterious Horned Helmet of Henry VIII, Searching for Home and Connection Through Typewritten Poetry, The Female Shark Spotter Protecting Réunion Island’s Surfers, Peek Inside NYC’s Iconic Rubber Stamp Shop, Reviving the Lost Art of Cambodian Shadow Puppetry, Francis Trigge Chained Library in Grantham, England, http://www.shaneycrawford.com/2003/07/chain-reaction-the-practice-of-chaining-books-in-european-libraries/, http://lennylikeslibraries.blogspot.com/2010/03/hereford-cathedral-chained-library.html, http://www.qype.co.uk/place/159902-The-Mappa-Mundi-and-Chained-Library-Hereford, http://www.aboutbritain.com/HerefordCathedral.htm. In 1841, the collection was moved into storage and then into separate rooms for several decades. All but one (the Wycliffite Bible) are in Latin and almost all have coloured decoration, which varies from simple initials in plain red, blue and green, to fine miniature paintings and lavish illumination with gilded highlights. This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in United Kingdom. In the early 17th century, when the bookcases you see today were made, libraries similar to it could be found in universities and cathedrals, but this is the only one still to be chained.