Library

The library holds over 36,000 rare books and manuscripts ranging in date from the tenth century to the twentieth.

In addition to the books purchased for the library over more than five centuries, many books and collections were donated to the library. Donors of major collections of rare books include Kingsman Jacob Bryant (1715-1804), whose collection contains nearly 150 incunabula (books printed before 1501), Provost George Thackeray (1777-1850), who donated 160 theological books, and Thackeray's daughter Mary Ann (1818-1879), who left most of the residue of her father's book collection to the College, some 3,200 volumes in total.

On his death the economist and Kingsman John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) bequeathed to the College his collection of books, which is especially strong in editions of Hume, Newton and Locke, and in 16th- and 17th-century literature, along with a collection of manuscripts by Newton, Bentham, Mill and others.

More recent additions include a collection of mainly 19th-century children's books donated by Kingsman George Rylands (1902-1999), a collection of books on Renaissance architecture and the Grand Tour donated by John Bury, and items by or related to Jane Austen donated by Dorothy Warren and David Gilson.

Rare books and manuscripts may be consulted in the Archive Centre by prior appointment with the College Librarian. The Pote Collection of Oriental Manuscripts is on permanent deposit with the University Library. To consult manuscripts from the Pote Collection, contact the Near and Middle Eastern Department of the University Library.

Many, but not all, of the printed rare books are now catalogued in the Library's online catalogue. Manuscripts are listed in M.R. James's Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts other than Oriental in the Library of King's College, Cambridge. The manuscripts are housed in the Library, and appointments to see them must be made through the College Librarian.

The Rowe Music Library was the gift of Kingsman Arthur Cole (1883-1968), who bought the collection of his friend Louis Thompson Rowe, a noted bibliophile, when Rowe died in 1927. The collection is particularly rich in English 18th-century printed music, and also includes 16th- and 17th-century partbooks and manuscripts.

The collection was further strengthened in 1930 by the addition of around six hundred volumes from the library of Arthur Henry Mann (1850-1929), who served as Director of Music at King’s College Chapel for over 50 years. Mann was particularly interested in hymn tunes and the music of Handel, and built up a collection of early editions of both. Other notable donations include a small group of 16th- and 17th-century English manuscripts (including the Turpyn Lutebook) given by John Maynard Keynes.

The Rowe Music Library is briefly described in The Music Review XII (1951), pp. 72-77. The books and music printed before 1801 are catalogued in the appropriate volumes of RISM and in BUCEM, and a number of the early manuscripts are described and illustrated in Iain Fenlon (ed.), Cambridge Music Manuscripts 900-1700 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1982).

The 'Pote Collection' arrived in England from India in 1790 and was divided between the Colleges of Eton and King's, with the first half alphabetically going to King's. It was a gift of Kingsman Edward Ephraim Pote (1750-1832). Both halves of the collection are now housed in Cambridge University Library on permanent loan. Most if not all of the manuscripts had previously been owned by Colonel Antoine-Louis Henri Polier (1741-1795).

E. H. Palmer's Catalogue of the Oriental Manuscripts in King's College Library is in the Reference Bay: 8GN ALV JGT 5VD P Pot/2. They are catalogued online at https://www.fihrist.org.uk/ Please apply to the Manuscripts Room of the University Library to see them. It is not necessary to apply to King's.