The 1691 Catalogue of Glasgow University Library
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Classification
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The “Catalogue” is more properly a shelf
list. Glasgow University Library, then as now, was classified, at least
up to a point; books deemed by a Librarian or Librarians to ‘belong’
together, were placed on the same shelf.
The 1691
order of the books is actually very similar to other libraries of the
period: the Bibliothèque publique et universitaire in Geneva for one,
Trinity College Cambridge for another. This classification uses
the usual 23 letter alphabet of the period, excluding J, and U, and, in
this case, with W doing duty as V. The first alphabetical sequence deals
with the Bible, followed by what we would now call Biblical criticism.
The Greek and Latin Fathers follow, and then the Councils of the Church,
then back to more patristics and ritual. The catalogue goes on to
classify scholastics, then Reformed, followed by Catholic biblical
commentary; "didactic" theology, perhaps equivalent to practical
theology then lots of ‘polemic’ of various hues follows, and finally
Church History. Non theological subjects commence the second sequence,
with sizeable chunks of non-Church history and Philosophy. A
"Miscellaneous" section follows, then the works donated by John Snell
(1629-1679), founder of the Snell exhibitions at Balliol College Oxford,
and finally more practical theology. |
The classification system used in
Glasgow University Library in 1691. Current evidence suggests that
categories in sections BA-BS were added later that 1691
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While only certain
sections of the catalogue have been studied in detail, the order immediately
suggests a striking thing about the Library: the Glasgow University
Library stock corresponds to the strong
orientation of the University towards Divinity. Current evidence
suggests that
categories in BA-BS were all added later than 1691; this means that of
the remainder, 191 pages are devoted to Theology and Divinity alone, and
only 156 pages to all the rest.
The bulk of the work
appears to have been done as a single exercise, with a degree of correction
being carried out shortly after the main job was finished. However, no
working library catalogue remains static, and many additions were made
after 1691. In seeking to establish what the Library was like when the
decision was made to provide this new listing, we have to take the
additions into account, if only to exclude them. This means identifying
self-evident post 1691 additions (e.g. anything published after that
date) and making further judgements (e.g. on the basis of the hands used
to insert the additions) on the other books from before 1691,
which were nonetheless added after that date. |
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Section AI (Philosophici) from MS
Gen 1312, shows entries for 22 books in five different hands. Follow
hyperlink for a larger image. |
This page, for the sixth shelf up in Section AI (Philosophici) has
entries for 22 books dating from 1565 to 1704, with 11 dating from 1691
or later, in five hands, corresponding to the sections indicated on the
right hand image. It seems quite possible that none of them was in the
Library, or at least in the catalogue to start with, and that this shelf
had been left empty to allow for expansion, with books added, probably
at five different times, corresponding to the different hands. Additions
were made to the catalogue until well into the Eighteenth Century.
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The basic format of a catalogue entry is illustrated by page 106 from
Section S (one of a large number of ‘Polemici’), ‘Forulus’ 5, number 5 -
that is Section S, the fifth shelf up, and the fifth book along (Sp
Coll Bk8-i.12). It
reads: Peiter De Moulein’s buckler of
faith Gall: Printed at Charmtoun 1619 in 8vo.
It: Peiter De Moulein’s Examen
against Arnout’s the Jesuit: Ibid.
Some
fundamental features of the catalogue are revealed here: the cataloguers as a general rule
avoided any language other than Latin or Scots - thus here, while the entry is in
Scots, we have an indication that the book itself is in French -
‘Gall.’ Another feature of the catalogue
emerges here: the cataloguers did not attempt to provide a transcript
of the title - instead they said what the book was. A place of publication is also usually
provided; in this case the 1691 scribe errs in transcribing the French
place name "Charenton". A date of publication is usually given
and an indication of size is nearly always
provided by a statement of the format.
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Entry number 5 from Section S (Polemici),
Peiter De Moulein's Buckler of faith, is a good example of the basic
format for catalogue entries |
Pages maintained by:
Robert MacLean
Specific enquiries relating
to content should be sent to:
Stephen Rawles
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