BUILDING A LIBRARY
Power, Politics and Preservation
Building a librrary
BOOKS OF ALL SORTS FOR PUBLIC USE
Cosin always intended his library to be open to others. His correspondence and final will refer to the 'public library', not simply the bishop’s library. But what did he mean by 'public'?
These days, a public library is a facility that is maintained for everyone’s use, a community space. In Cosin’s time, public libraries were owned by an institution or a private person and were accessible to specific and limited groups of people. In this case, the library was open to members of the clergy and other educated men.
Cosin probably conceived the idea of creating a public library while staying in Paris, where government officials and monasteries shared their private book collections with others. According to the diarist John Evelyn, England was all the poorer for libraries being hidden away in 'private cabinets'.
...though we have as much (if not greater) plenty and variety of the best books as any country in the learned world...they are in private cabinets
John Evelyn
Building a library
BUILDING COSIN'S LIBRARY
The location of Cosin's library was probably a deliberate choice: between the Bishop's Castle and the Cathedral on Palace Green, a wide space overlooking the River Wear. Behind the library and the Exchequer Building, Cosin laid out a pleasant garden for contemplation, as advised for example by the French scholar and librarian Gabriel Naudé.
According to Naudé, a library should be built:
between some spacious court and a pleasant garden, from which it may enjoy good light, a wide and agreeable prospect, and pure air, unpolluted by marshes, sinks, or dunghills; the whole arrangement so well planned and ordered that it is compelled to share nothing unpleasant or obviously inconvenient.
The new library that I have built upon the Palace Green in Durham…
The original charter, issued on 20 September 1669, is now lost so it is fortunate that someone copied the text of the endowment for Cosin’s Library a few years later. The text explains that the library was founded for the public good and filled with good books.
Royal exemplification of Bishop John Cosin's foundation and dotation of his library on Palace Green, Durham, 23 October 1675. DUL MSP 91, f. 171
Contemporary public libraries
Cosin’s library on Palace Green was innovative not simply because it was open to some members of the public. It was modelled on the public libraries created across Europe and introduced wall-mounted bookshelves into a library instead of college-style bays, such as in Humphrey Chetham’s Library.
Cardinal Federico Borromeo’s library (founded 1609). Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan. Christelle Molinié, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia commons
Cardinal Federico Borromeo’s library (founded 1609). Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan. Christelle Molinié, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia commons
Library of the University of Leiden (founded 1575). Drawing by Jan van 't Woudt. Engraved by Willem Swanenburgh? Printed by Claes Jansz. Visscher. Published in Stedeboeck der Nederlanden. Amsterdam: Willem Blaeu, 1649. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Library of the University of Leiden (founded 1575). Drawing by Jan van 't Woudt. Engraved by Willem Swanenburgh? Printed by Claes Jansz. Visscher. Published in Stedeboeck der Nederlanden. Amsterdam: Willem Blaeu, 1649. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Bibliotheca Thysiana, Leiden (founded 1655). Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Bibliotheca Thysiana, Leiden (founded 1655). Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Cardinal Jules Mazarin, founder of the Bibliothèque Mazarine, seated in his library and gallery in the Palais Mazarin, now part of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Engraving by Robert Nanteuil — Donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Cardinal Jules Mazarin, founder of the Bibliothèque Mazarine, seated in his library and gallery in the Palais Mazarin, now part of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Engraving by Robert Nanteuil — Donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Map showing the first location of the Bibliothèque Mazarine above the stables (ecuries). Lithograph by Thierry Frères, in Léon de Laborde, De l’organisation des bibliothèques dans Paris, 4e lettre : Le palais Mazarin et les habitations de ville et de campagne au XVIIe siècle. Paris: A. Franck, 1845. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Map showing the first location of the Bibliothèque Mazarine above the stables (ecuries). Lithograph by Thierry Frères, in Léon de Laborde, De l’organisation des bibliothèques dans Paris, 4e lettre : Le palais Mazarin et les habitations de ville et de campagne au XVIIe siècle. Paris: A. Franck, 1845. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Arts End in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (1610-12), the first institutional library in England with wall-lined shelving. Bodleian Library, Oxford: interior panoramic view with key. Line engraving. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain
Arts End in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (1610-12), the first institutional library in England with wall-lined shelving. Bodleian Library, Oxford: interior panoramic view with key. Line engraving. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain
Creating the space
Creating or repairing a building in the 17th century was not simply a matter of hiring an architect and construction company. Cosin used local masons, joiners, plasterers, glaziers, and painters to undertake the work at his residences in Durham and Bishop Auckland. The same people were also involved in building the bishop’s library on Palace Green, most likely to his own designs.
Because Cosin was in London most of the time, his instructions arrived by letter to his secretary Miles Stapylton, who had to interpret the bishop’s wishes. This was no easy task judging from the irritable responses Stapylton received from Cosin, who appears to have been frustrated by the lack of progress and the questionable quality of the work produced.
For example, on 27 May 1671, Cosin complained to his secretary in a postscript:
When you told me in yo[ur] last Letter that the new Library Room [the Annexe?] was finished I expected also to heare somewhat from you of the promoting or ffinishing of the Catalogue of my Books by T.B. [Thomas Blakiston, Cosin’s son-in-law] but when you say nothing of it from week to weeke it troubles me not a little.
Ugly and unworthy of the roome
The presence of portraits was not unusual in a seventeenth-century gentleman’s library. The upper gallery in the Bodleian library contained a frieze with a number of historic worthies, and some French and Italian libraries used portraits to divide collections into subjects. Cosin wanted the same for his library, but was unhappy with the result.
Hasten on Van Ersell [the painter Jan Baptist van Eersel] to the finishing of his works. Every body that comes to me from Durham speake highly of the Library-room, but say that his picture painting of faces is very ugly & unworthy of the roome.
Although styled the 'bishop of Durham’s library', Cosin's presence can be felt strongly, from the coat of arms over the front door to the eagle crests on the bookcases. In January 1670/1, in a postscript to a long letter about other matters, he even instructed Stapylton to commission a local bookbinder, Hugh Hutchinson, to put a gilt armorial stamp on each book.
I would faine have you get Hutchinson, the bookseller, to set the stamp of my armes upon every booke in the Library, between those bands on the back of every booke that are next under the title set upon every one of them, either in written or in gold letters, and agree with him by the score: the greater stamp upon the bigger and thicker books, and the lesser stamp upon the smaller and thinner books.
Cosin instructing Stapylton to get Hutchinson, a local bookseller, to put an armorial stamp on the spine of each book in the library. John Cosin, Pall Mall, London to Myles Stapylton, Durham, 31 January 1670/1 DUL CLB 4B, 129
Cosin instructing Stapylton to get Hutchinson, a local bookseller, to put an armorial stamp on the spine of each book in the library. John Cosin, Pall Mall, London to Myles Stapylton, Durham, 31 January 1670/1 DUL CLB 4B, 129
One of Hugh Hutchinson's stamps? Cosin's coat of arms as Bishop of Durham on Lodewijk de Dieu's Animadversiones in D. Pauli apostoli epistolam ad Romanos (Lugd. Batavor.: ex officina Elzeviriorum, M D C XLVI [1646]) DUL Cosin B.4.7
One of Hugh Hutchinson's stamps? Cosin's coat of arms as Bishop of Durham on Lodewijk de Dieu's Animadversiones in D. Pauli apostoli epistolam ad Romanos (Lugd. Batavor.: ex officina Elzeviriorum, M D C XLVI [1646]) DUL Cosin B.4.7
Cosin’s vision was that good knowledge should be available to anyone, either directly or indirectly, and also that his library should convey a message about himself and his episcopal office. As a result, the building is not simply a space for housing books, it is a personal statement of Cosin’s beliefs and aspirations.
If you were able to create your own library, what would it look like?
Let your imagination run free! If you could design your own library space, how would it look? What would you put into it?
Non minima pars eruditionis est bonos nosse libros / Not the least part of learning is to know good books
All his life Cosin appears to have been surrounded by books, but how did he know what to get for his library? What books were in the library when it first opened in 1669? Where did they come from?
Cosin did not record his ownership in the books he acquired. The library catalogues he commissioned are unfinished and incomplete. Moreover, we know that he had a library for his private use – did any of those books come to the library at a later stage? Because other people donated early books to the library, we do not know for sure what the original collection looked like.
A universal library
Conrad Gessner’s Bibliotheca instituta or Bibliotheca universalis was one of the bibliographies Cosin appears to have used to gather his library. Gesner claimed that it contained entries for most books published in the first century of printing in Latin, Greek and Hebrew.
Conrad Gessner, Bibliotheca instituta et collecta, primum a Conrado Gesnero… Tiguri [Zurich]: excudebat Christophorus Froschouerus, Anno M. D. LXXXIII [1583]. DUL Cosin R.2.23
Conrad Gessner, Bibliotheca instituta et collecta, primum a Conrado Gesnero… Tiguri [Zurich]: excudebat Christophorus Froschouerus, Anno M. D. LXXXIII [1583]. DUL Cosin R.2.23
Library as museum
Library science was in its infancy in the seventeenth century. The first book on the subject was Gabriel Naudé’s Advis pour dresser une bibliotheque (1627).
Although we cannot be certain that Cosin read Naudé’s Advis, he owned a copy of Claude Clemens’ Musei sive bibliothecae, a manual for designing and managing a library. It is not clear if the copy in the library today was purchased by Cosin after his return from France or is a later addition, but it is listed in the catalogue of his books left at Peterhouse in Cambridge in the 1640s.
Claude Clemens, Musei sive bibliothecae tam privatae quam publicae extructio, instruction, cura, usus. Libri IV. Lugduni [Lyon]: Sumptibus Jacobi Prost, M.DC.XXXV. [1635] DUL Cosin Y.3.17
Claude Clemens, Musei sive bibliothecae tam privatae quam publicae extructio, instruction, cura, usus. Libri IV. Lugduni [Lyon]: Sumptibus Jacobi Prost, M.DC.XXXV. [1635] DUL Cosin Y.3.17
In the first chapter of his book, Clemens argues that the primary function of a library is to be useful to the public.
Authors that will be useful in a public library
Stuck in London due to ill health, Cosin regularly instructed Stapylton either to send money to him for book purchases or to redirect income from rents and fees. In one letter, he tells Stapylton to get works by authors that will be useful for people in the city and surrounding country.
John Cosin [in London] to Miles Stapylton in Durham, 19 March 1669/70. DUL CLB 4A, 37
There were other ways of getting volumes on the library shelves. Cosin sometimes suggested debts were repaid in the form of books or that a book was donated to supplement rental dues.
In one instance, a volume of pamphlets was confiscated from a Quaker and never reclaimed, found its way to Cosin's Library.
Inscription at the front of a volume of pamphlets relating to Quakerism. DUL Cosin N.5.12
Inscription at the front of a volume of pamphlets relating to Quakerism. DUL Cosin N.5.12
This copy of John Milton’s defence of the commonwealth was offered to Sir Henry Vane by its printer William du Gard.
Joannis Miltoni[i] Angli pro populo Anglicano defensio contra Claudii Anonymi, alias Salmasii, defensionem regiam. Editio emendatior. Londini : typis Du-Gardianis, Anno domini 1651. DUL Cosin K.3.15
Joannis Miltoni[i] Angli pro populo Anglicano defensio contra Claudii Anonymi, alias Salmasii, defensionem regiam. Editio emendatior. Londini : typis Du-Gardianis, Anno domini 1651. DUL Cosin K.3.15
It was seized after the Restoration of the Monarchy when Vane was found guilty of treason. We do not know how Cosin acquired it.
Dedication by William du Gard to Sir Henry Vane, President of the Council, of John Milton's defence of the Commonwealth. DUL Cosin K.3.15
Dedication by William du Gard to Sir Henry Vane, President of the Council, of John Milton's defence of the Commonwealth. DUL Cosin K.3.15
Were these controversial books suitable reading for the public? Perhaps Cosin included them for people to educate themselves on such 'dangerous' views and to argue against them.
Building a librrary
MANAGING COSIN'S LIBRARY
Looking after the building
Right from the beginning, the roof over the library was causing issues, perhaps due to a flaw in the pitch that stopped water from draining freely. In January 1670, Cosin was anxious to hear from Stapylton if the library roof had withstood the great snow and rain about which he had heard reports:
John Cosin in London to Myles Stapylton in Durham, 20 January 1669/70 DUL CLB 4A, 17
John Cosin in London to Myles Stapylton in Durham, 20 January 1669/70 DUL CLB 4A, 17
Among all the weather storys of our great snows & raine I expected that you would have said somewhat how much they wrought upon the lead cover of my library & I pray you let me know whether any drops came into the roome or no.
A week later, he brings up the subject again and hopes that the roof is now permanently fixed...
Managing the collection
Gabriel Naudé (1600-1653) was the librarian for Cardinal Mazarin's important book collection in Paris when Cosin was living there. Like Claude Clemens, Naudé believed that books should be accessible to everyone, not just their owner.
He also held strong views on the management of the library, from selecting the right books to how they are stored and retrieved:
Without order and arrangement a collection of books of whatever size … would no more merit the name of a library than … a great heap of stones and building materials the name of a house.
To create order within a library, Naudé advised that owners should order their books according to subject and to create subject and author catalogues.
This is exactly what Cosin did (or rather, got others to do for him).
First, draft catalogues were compiled. Thomas Blakiston, Cosin's son-in-law, was tasked with creating a final version. Typically, the old bishop was unhappy with the results and with the lack of progress Blakiston made.
You have not in a long while said any thing of my publick library, nor told me whether the Alphabeticall [author] Catalogue bee yet finisht or no, nor how ready T[homas].B[lakiston]. is to write the Classicall [subject]...
Page opening from the author catalogue, showing books listed by first letter of the alphabet and format. DUL Cosin B.1.24, ff. 324v-325r
Page opening from the author catalogue, showing books listed by first letter of the alphabet and format. DUL Cosin B.1.24, ff. 324v-325r
Along with the portraits over the book cases, the catalogues ensured (in theory) that someone could find what they were looking for in the library without too much effort.
Building a librrary
COSIN'S LIBRARY THROUGH TIME
What happened to the library after Cosin's death in 1672? Did readers flock to the collection as Cosin intended?
Later Bishops of Durham added some of their books to the collection, such as this Book of Common Prayer, donated by Bishop Nathaniel Crewe. It was given to him by King Charles II and was originally used in the Royal Chapel. It is one of the more spectacular bindings in the collection.
Book of Common Prayer (London: Printed by his Majesties Printers, 1662) DUL SB++ 0021 (formerly Cosin B.1.12)
Book of Common Prayer (London: Printed by his Majesties Printers, 1662) DUL SB++ 0021 (formerly Cosin B.1.12)
However, there are indications that Cosin's successors were not as interested in the library. An anonymous member of the second Earl of Oxford's household commented in 1725 that the library was 'a handsome square room and well stored with books, but very slovenly and negligently looked after'.
In the later eighteenth century, the library was restored. Sadly, there is not a lot of information about the work that was done. The printed word 'Reformati' inside one bookcases may date from this time. It refers to the subject of the books shelved underneath, perhaps replacing the function of the portraits.
From a surviving borrower register we know that some people were borrowing books from the library. However, on the evidence of that alone, it seems that the collection was little used.
The first entry in the earliest surviving borrower register is dated 2 June 1721, when Thomas Rud, librarian at Durham Cathedral, borrowed a Bible with commentaries (now DUL Cosin A.1.12-17) and John Bale's work on English and Scottish writers (DUL Cosin L.2.9). Borrower register, DUL Cosin MS B.i.21
The first entry in the earliest surviving borrower register is dated 2 June 1721, when Thomas Rud, librarian at Durham Cathedral, borrowed a Bible with commentaries (now DUL Cosin A.1.12-17) and John Bale's work on English and Scottish writers (DUL Cosin L.2.9). Borrower register, DUL Cosin MS B.i.21
Occasionally we catch a glimpse of others reading books in the library itself. Samuel Taylor Coleridge for example consulted a text by the medieval philosopher John Duns Scotus in 1800. In a letter to his friend and fellow poet Robert Southey, Coleridge expressed his disappointment to find only one work by the philosopher in the library...
In 1832, Cosin's Library became part of the newly established University of Durham. Ten years later, this print of students working in the library was published in a history of universities.
Cosin's Library, from The English Universities: from the German of V.A. Huber; an abridged translation edited by Francis W. Newman (London: W. Pickering, 1843), vol. 2 part 2, opposite page 556.
Cosin's Library, from The English Universities: from the German of V.A. Huber; an abridged translation edited by Francis W. Newman (London: W. Pickering, 1843), vol. 2 part 2, opposite page 556.
Those two large bookcases coming out into the room contained the books donated by Bishop Trevor in the late 18th century. The man in the portrait watching over the students is Bishop Van Mildert, founder of the university. Both the bookcases and the portrait are no longer in the library. The gallery was added in the 1830s.
In the 20th century, the library continued to be used for different functions. Prints and photographs give a slightly different picture of the space. Instead of rows of chairs and tables, the library looks set up for small official gatherings.
Photograph of the fireplace (enlarged in the 19th century) and bust of Charles Thorp, first Warden of the University. DUL Gibby Collection CITY/B/36
Photograph of the fireplace (enlarged in the 19th century) and bust of Charles Thorp, first Warden of the University. DUL Gibby Collection CITY/B/36
From about 1950 until quite recently, the university used the library as a research space for staff and students. These days, anyone interested in Cosin's books can make an appointment to visit our modern search room in the Barker Research Library.
Photograph of the library being used as a search room. The chandeliers were designed by the architect George Pace as part of the library's restoration in the late 1950s. DUL Gibby Collection CITY/A/84
Photograph of the library being used as a search room. The chandeliers were designed by the architect George Pace as part of the library's restoration in the late 1950s. DUL Gibby Collection CITY/A/84
Looking to the future
After a period of repairs and conservation work, Cosin's Library is reopening its doors to visitors again.
If you would like to visit us, use the button below for the latest information about our opening times, or follow us on Twitter @cosinslibrary.
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