This lecture series will explore seventeenth century personal book ownership, looking not only at book acquisition patterns but also investigating motives and collecting cultures. A key theme will be the use of material evidence from books themselves to help to enhance our understanding of seventeenth-century values.

The series begins Tuesday, 24 April, in the Lecture Theatre, Weston Library, at 5 pm.

Who owned books in the seventeenth century, what kinds of people, what kinds of books, how many, can patterns of change and development be tracked? The first lecture will provide an overview, based on a systematic gathering of many categories of evidence for the existence and scope of private libraries. It will consider methodologies and approaches to private libraries in contemporary book history, and review the sources we have available for constructing our understanding.