The Salopian no. 160 - Summer 2017

32
SCHOOL NEWS
the librarian away from his dangerous labour, but failing he
turned and remarked, “Let the wretched fellow burn then”.
There were no casualties; nor, thankfully, were the books
greatly harmed.
In 1916 the Library moved to purpose-built accommodation
in the present Moser Library, conceived by Dr Alington and
designed by W.A. Forsythe, the architect of Oldham’s Hall, as
a home for the Taylor Library, a picture gallery and a Modern
Library of English Literature and other subjects. Until 1967 the
Taylor Library occupied the Kennedy Room, but it was then
removed to its current purpose-built location to make way for
the modern Library.
The Foundation stone of the Library was laid in July 1914 by
King George V from the Square in town, by means of a newfangled
electric cable to the School. The building was opened
for use in 1916.
The Range of the Collections
The contents of the Library are catholic in subject, covering
a wide spectrum of knowledge, reflecting the interests of the
staff, curriculum and benefactors, ranging from the classics
through science, maths, theology, bibles, medicine, the arts,
literature, music, drama and beyond.
Most of the books of greatest scholarly interest in the Taylor
Library are listed in the Bodleian Catalogue in Oxford, as
well as the on-line English Short Title Catalogue and the
Incunabula Short Title Catalogue.
Students of Harvard University, on their annual visit, study the Darwin
Collection, Aug 2015
Some Important Items
• A superb collection of rare Bibles, including a first edition
of Tyndale’s English New Testament printed in Antwerp
in 1534; a first edition King James Bible of 1611; Bibles by
Coverdale, Taverner, Erasmus, Polyglot Bibles, Bibles in
Latin, Greek, Welsh, Hebrew, Dutch and French.
• First editions of Ben Jonson’s plays; Spenser’s Faerie
Queen; Darwin’s Origin of Species; a collection of Darwin’s
letters and other memorabilia; writings and memorabilia of
Sir Philip Sidney; Newton’s Principia Mathematica.
• A collection of Atlases, by Ptolemy, Augsburg 1521;
Ortelius 1605; Mercator, & Hondius, Antwerp c.1606;
Ogilby, London 1675.
• A third Century BC Grecian Urn; the death mask of Oliver
Cromwell; Fragment of Homer’s Iliad from 1st Century BC.
• Anton Koberger’s Nuremberg Chronicle, printed in
Nuremberg in 1493.
• The oldest bound book in the collection is The Catholic
Epistles and Apocalypse, handwritten and bound at the
Cistercian Abbey in Buildwas (just south of Shrewsbury)
c. 1150 AD
Moser Building under construction 1915
Italian Binding, Rome 1552
Tyndale New Testament, 1st Edition. Antwerp
1534, Title Page
J.B. Oldham. Librarian 1910 – 60.
Portrait by John Alford
Library in Old School