Library News

Document of the Month: a confiscated Quaker book, 1664.

(1 July 2012)

Confiscated from a Northumberland Quaker group in 1664 following the break-up of a meeting in the house of John Wastall, this collection of fifteen tracts by John Perrot (d.1655) found its way into Bishop Cosin’s hands. In 1672, it found a home in Cosin's great library, which was completed in that year. While no friend to the Quakers, Cosin was not averse to commissioning the Quaker stonemason John Langstaffe to work on … his library.

Over the last two years, the stunning library founded by Cosin has been painstakingly restored as part of a major conservation project. It will open for viewing from summer 2012. To celebrate this event, a new exhibition outlining Cosin's remarkable achievements will be shown in Palace Green Library's new Dunelm Gallery. Find out more by visiting our exhibitions webpages.

Read the full story of July's Document of the Month here.