The Salopian no. 160 - Summer 2017

SCHOOL NEWS 31
George V laying foundation stone (by electric line) 3 July 1914
from Lichfield Cathedral. The next year Richard Bostock
of Tattenhall, Cheshire, bequeathed a further twelve MSS.
By 1640 most of the present collection of Manuscripts had
been acquired either by gift or purchase. There are now
over 40 bound volumes of medieval manuscripts, but some
volumes contain several works bound together so that,
counted separately, there are 88 distinct works. Most are
written in medieval Latin and archaic English; there is one
in Welsh (Gwassanaeth Meir - Hours of the Virgin) and
another in medieval French (Norman-French, Arthurian
and other Lays). 11 contain the Bible (including two
Vulgates, i.e. Latin Bibles), whole or in parts. 16 may be
classified as theological. Three are church service books.
Six are intended solely for school use as dictionaries and
grammatical treatises. Six date from the 12th century, 14
from the 13th century, two from the 14th century and 14
from the 15th century. They represent an interesting variety
of handwriting typical of these periods. Some also contain
fascinating examples of early musical notation.
In addition, the Library contains over 70 ‘incunabula’ - books
printed in or before 1500. The most notable of these is
perhaps Caxton’s Confessio Amantis by Gower, printed in
Westminster in 1483 and donated in 1669 by Isaac Watkis, a
bookseller of Shrewsbury.
In 1737 the Headmaster, Leonard Hotchkis, reorganised the
Library and the chains were removed from the books. There
exists a record in the School accounts for the receipt of £1-7s-
0d ‘for old iron sold that was in the Library’ – presumably the
now discarded chains.
The Library doubled in size in 1766 with the bequest of
Dr John Taylor (OS) - ‘Demosthenes Taylor’ as he was
called - a distinguished Classical Scholar of St John’s College
Cambridge and University Librarian. This increased the size
of the Library to around 7,000 volumes. The Taylor Bequest
immensely strengthened the Library both in quantity and
quality. Shortly after Taylor’s bequest the Library had the
distinction of a visit from the illustrious 18th century man of
letters, Dr Samuel Johnson.
In the latter part of the 18th century the Library was sadly
neglected. The room was said to have “been used as a
hairdressing salon for boys” and a book, which Dr Butler
later wanted to lend to a friend, had first to be fumigated.
When Atcherley became Headmaster in 1771 he sent a
circular to booksellers in the county asking for the return of
books belonging to the School!
When Butler, a bibliophile, was appointed Headmaster in
1798, he immediately set about to reorganise and re-catalogue
the Library. This catalogue is still in place today.
The bibliographical importance of the Library, especially
relating to rare items and unique editions, was increasingly
recognised in the later 19th century under the librarianship
of T.E. Pickering. Gordon Duff, bibliographer and librarian of
the Rylands Library in Manchester, was engaged to research
the collection thoroughly. In 1897 the Manuscript collection
was transferred to the British Museum to be reviewed,
catalogued and assessed by J.A. Herbert. This was followed
by the researches of Basil Oldham, under whose care the
Library gained a worldwide reputation among scholars.
Oldham is still renowned worldwide as a pioneer of the
study of rare book bindings. His works such as J.B. Oldham,
English Blind Stamped Bindings, (Cambridge University
Press, 1952); and J. B. Oldham, Shrewsbury School Bindings
(Oxford University Press, 1943) are still widely used.
Oldham was an avid collector of rare book bindings and his
astonishing bequest of many rare bindings from the 16th to
20th centuries is on permanent display in the Taylor Library.
The Move to Kingsland
When the School moved to Kingsland in 1882, the Library
occupied rooms on the first floor of the Main School
Building. It came under threat in 1905 when a fire destroyed
the entire top storey of the building along with the clock
tower. A human chain was formed to pass the books down
the stairs and into the Chapel. Some were dropped from
the windows. E.B. Moser, the Housemaster, tried to drag