The Salopian - Winter 2021

SCHOOL NEWS 45
Notes from the Taylor Library and Archives
What is the essence of the Taylor Library? We tend
to take our wonderful collection of rare books and
manuscripts for granted. Acquired through purchase and gift
over more than 400 years, it is a splendid heritage. So how
should we characterise this treasure?
The Taylor Library has very few rivals among leading schools
and can hold its head high among many fine Oxbridge
College libraries. It is consulted by scholars worldwide. It
was ordained under our first Headmaster, Thomas Ashton,
in his Ordinances of 1578 under the indenture of Elizabeth
1. The original Library building was completed in 1596 and
was situated in the top floor of what is now the Shrewsbury
County Library. Since then it has grown with the School,
mirroring some of its character, intellectual tenor, curriculum
and spirit. Not only that, it reflects the changing ethos and
struggles of the times through which the School has traversed
with such distinction. As I am fond of pointing out to visitors,
“As you enter the Library, you can almost smell the 17th
century”. With its remarkable set of catalogues dating from
the early 1600s onwards and a Benefactor’s Book from 1596,
it is of unique bibliographic interest. As a repository of many
rare and beautiful books and medieval manuscripts, including
rare book bindings and incunabula (books printed before
1501), it encompasses science, the classics, philosophy,
medicine, literature, history, and geography, as well as the
great works of Judeo-Christian thought and an extraordinary
collection of early printed bibles. In short, it houses some
of the very seed corn of our civilisation that is under such
ruthless assault in our time. Pupils and adults who visit can
step out for a brief moment into the atmosphere of different
times, conflicts, and modes of thought. They can look with
different eyes on ages of faith, science, reason, discovery,
political struggle for freedom and the rule of law.
As the notes below aim to show, we are making efforts to
make this heritage more widely accessible in the School
and beyond.
Our Team
Mrs Naomi Nicholas has continued to develop her work
in the Library and Archives, bringing a very high level of
expertise, training and passion to all her work and taking on
new responsibilities. We currently benefit from her services
for about one day a week and we are undoubtedly in need
of more of her time. She has contributed greatly to the whole
range of our work including cataloguing, research, book
curation and cleaning, helping with visits and a multitude of
other tasks. Naomi has made a specialist study of the private
press books held in the Taylor Library and hopes to publish a
booklet on them in our Taylor Library Monogram Series.
Our two Upper Sixth volunteers of last year (Ed Bayliss (Rt)
and Arthur Bramwell (R)) did a magnificent job and made
a very considerable contribution to the work of the Library
and Archives and I think learned a lot along the way. They
were fun to have as part of the team. The bulk of their work
was cataloguing the Archives and developing the Archives
searchable spreadsheet. They also helped with book cleaning
and with the book search prior to the Sotheby’s visitation in
July. We were sorry to say goodbye to them in July.
The new Upper Sixth volunteer for 2021-22, Eustacia Feng
(M), has settled in quickly and is already doing great work
with the Archives cataloguing work, carrying on from where
Ed and Arthur had left off. She is also learning the skills of
book curation and cleaning from Naomi Nicholas. She has
helped very ably with meeting, guiding and greeting visitors.
Archives and Gallery (left), Taylor Library (right)
The Lent and Summer Terms of 2021 saw the School
gradually return to some form of normality after the
lockdowns, and the Library and Archives were back to a
more normal routine. Due to the pandemic, there was no
Library Open Day on Speech Day in July 2021, and most
other visits were curtailed.
Eustacia Feng
Our adult volunteer, Izzy Goodman, has been a huge
asset to us and has almost single-handedly moved forward
the work on the main Taylor Library catalogue. She has
also contributed to our book cleaning programme and the
Sotheby’s book search work. In February she took up the
appointment of Assistant Librarian at Cambridge University
Library and since September has been Assistant Librarian at
the Gladstone Library in Hawarden. We thought we had lost