Crediton Parish Library

The Crediton Parish Library is the largest of the four parish libraries housed at the University of Exeter Library. The earliest existing catalogue, thought to date to 1700, was produced by Reverend Thomas Ley, who was Vicar of Crediton from 1689 to 1721. He presented his own library to the Church for use by the Vicar and Chaplain of Crediton, and the Chaplain of Sanford. Many items in the collection have Thomas Ley's signature in them. The Library has survived very well over the years; very few items have been lost and many still retain their original binding.

Extent

About 2474 volumes (including 1225 seventeenth and eighteenth century pamphlets).

Custodial History

Founded by the Reverend Thomas Ley, Vicar 1689-1721, the library was housed for many years in the Parvise Chamber over the South Porch of Crediton Church. In 1929, the then University Libarian, Mr H. Tapley Soper, surveyed the collection and advised it be transferred to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter (then the site of the University Library), believing it 'a pity that these books are segregated at Crediton where they are probably never used'. The church governors disagreed, preferring to preserve the library within the parish. Policy had changed by the 1960s, however, when the library was transferred on permanent loan to the University of Exeter in 1968.

Scope and Content

Collection strengths

As would be expected, the library contains a great number of theological works, but there is also a good cross-section of other subjects, such as history, politics, science, geography and literature. The majority of books are published in England, though there is a selection of titles published on the continent, mainly amongst the older titles.

The collection consists of two distinct parts, books and pamphlets, including 1225 seventeenth- and eighteenth-century pamphlets, many on non-conformist topics. D. Wyn Evans, former deputy librarian at Exeter, writes that 'the pamphlet collection is an unusually good one. Most of the works cover the period 1670-1720 and they form a useful source for the history, politics, religious controversy and literature of those years'.

The two incunabula in the collection are both dated 1495, being Henricus Boort's Fasciculus morum, published at Deventer, and Problemata Aristolelis, published at Cologne.

The collection also contains three manuscript catalogues of the Crediton Library: i) manuscript catalogue compiled by Rev. Thomas Ley [c. 1700] ii) manuscript catalogue and index (1854) iii) catalogue compiled by Symes and Robinson, solicitors, Crediton (1966). (for further information see MS 242)

Chronological emphasis

The collection breaks down as follows (the number given in brackets being the number of items in each section): incunabula (2); sixteenth-century books (49); seventeenth-century books (864); seventeenth-century pamphlets (613); eighteenth-century books (298); eighteenth-century pamphlets (612); nineteenth-century (and later) books (36).

Known gaps

Few of the books are thought to have been lost (the early library catalogues survive).

Evidence of research value

See D. Wyn Evan's 'Devon Parish Libraries at Exeter University', The Devon Historian, 24, April 1982, to which this collection description is indebted.

System of Arrangement

There are two sequences of books according to size, both arranged in chronological order by date of publication.

Accruals

The collection is closed.

Access Conditions

Usual EUL Special Collections arrangements apply.

Reproduction Conditions

Usual EUL Special Collections arrangements apply.

Finding Aids

The collection is fully catalogued and entries appear on the University Library's online catalogue. You can browse the catalogue by following this link

Language

Chiefly English.

Physical Characteristics

Some items in this collection are fragile and require careful handling.

Subject Keywords

History of Libraries -- Parish Libraries, Devon -- Sixteenth- to Twentieth-Century