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The Parker Library is the rare books and manuscripts library for Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; it is known throughout the world due to the invaluable collection over 600 manuscripts, particularly medieval texts, the core of which were bequeathed to the College in 1574 by Archibishop Matthew Parker.
The original gift from Parker, a former Master of the College, consisted of about 480 manuscripts and around 1000 printed books spanning the sixth to sixteenth centuries. Parker himself was, as Archbishop of Canterbury and one of the architects of the Elizabethan Settlement and the modern Anglican church, keenly interested in collecting and preserving manuscripts from Anglo-Saxon England as evidence of an ancient English-speaking church independent of Rome. Parker wished to demonstrate an apostolic succession for the English Church.
The library houses nearly a quarter of all extant Anglo-Saxon manuscripts in the world, including the earliest copy of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Old English Bede, and King Alfred’s translation of Pastoral Care (a manual for priests), as well as the Latin St. Augustine Gospels, one of the oldest bound books in existence. The collection also includes key Middle English texts, such as the Ancrene Wisse, illuminated manuscripts (including the Bury Bible, c. 1135), and one of the oldest pieces of extant written music.
Even in the sixteenth century, this collection was recognised as a unique treasure, and Parker did not bequeath it without any strings. Within the terms of his endowment, Parker stated that if any more than a certain number of books were lost, the rest of the collection would pass first to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and then (in the advent of any more losses) to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Every few years, representatives from both of those colleges ceremonially inspect the collection for any losses. Parker placed a similar condition on the silver that he also bequeathed to the college, and these stipulations are part of the reason that Corpus Christi College retains to this day the entirety of the library and the silver collection, as they were unable to sell off (or melt down) the less valuable parts of either collection without losing both.
Parker Library on the Web
The Parker Library on the Web project is run by Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Cambridge University Library and Stanford University Libraries. The main goal of the project is to digitise all of the medieval manuscripts in the Parker Library, and the first project that seeks to make an entire library publicly accessible on the web.
Although exhibitions of some of the materials are periodically held, like most other medieval manuscript collections, access to the Parker Library in Corpus Christi College is limited to scholars and few people ever get to see the treasures of the library, which houses Matthew Parker's manuscripts.
The initial phase of the project began in the summer of 2003, when the first two manuscripts, MSS 16 and 26, were digitised. These images are currently available as a prototype. A feasibility study was conducted during the early months of 2005 and the main project began at the end of 2005. The project is funded by the Mellon Foundation. A beta version, very incomplete and with many mistakes, is currently available to all registered users - registration is free.
External links
- The Parker Library (webpage from Corpus Christi)
- Parker Library on the Web
Coordinates: 52°12′14″N 0°07′04″E / 52.203786°N 0.117792°E
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