We are delighted to announce that the Queens' Old Library has received support from Heritage Lottery Fund for the 'Renaissance Queens'' Library Project. 
Queens' College’s Historic Old Library has received £65,800 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project taking place from now until March 2018 that will catalogue and digitise key aspects of its exceptional Tudor-period library collection. A series of public exhibitions and community events will enable local people to see, understand and enjoy many of the literary wonders held by the College.
This little known reflection of Cambridge’s Renaissance past is one of the region’s most interesting yet underappreciated heritage gems which will fascinate and stimulate local people of all ages. Housed in its medieval reading room, Queens’ College Library offers a uniquely Cambridge perspective on the cosmopolitan world of Renaissance learning and Tudor politics. As well as recording the patronage and ideas of key figures of the age (Elisabeth Woodville (‘the White Queen’), Richard III, Mary Tudor, Erasmus and many others) the library chronicles the activities of innumerable now forgotten readers. Bindings by Cambridge craftsmen, hand-annotated texts, Reformation vandalism and other signs of use (and misuse!) afford evidence of how readers responded to the books they read. Managed by Queens’ Library and assisted by enthusiastic volunteers, this project will map what was collected, by whom, and how Cambridge-readers helped shape some of the great developments of the Renaissance. Through our catalogue, project website, blog, digital library, social media, exhibitions, public talks, and school events we seek to bring this important legacy to life.
Commenting on the award, Tim Eggington (Queens’ College Librarian) said: ‘We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and welcome the opportunity to share our unique and little known library as a means to promote enjoyment and better understanding of Cambridge’s fascinating Renaissance and Tudor past.’
The project’s first public event opens at 7.00pm on 16 February with the opening of a public exhibition in Queens’ medieval Old Library entitled: ‘The Rabbi and the English Scholar: An Exhibition of Jewish Thought in Renaissance Cambridge’. Rabbi Reuven Leigh (of the Cambridge Lehrhaus) will provide an entertaining explanation of the exhibition and its overall significance. Refreshments will be provided.
All welcome!
This exhibition reveals the influence of Jewish thought on Cambridge scholars of the Renaissance period and after, as witnessed by rare book collections in Queens’ Old Library. Showcased items will include the earliest printed Hebrew bibles to Isaac Newton’s published investigations into the biblical past. Come discover a controversial and significant era of Jewish-Christian dialogue which left its mark on Cambridge in the sixteenth century and after.
Following the opening event the exhibition will then be open free to the public on weekdays at 1.15-4.30pm from 22 February until 24 March.
Robyn Llewellyn Head of Heritage Lottery Fund in the East of England said ‘This delightful exhibition will enable the local community of Cambridge to see both the splendid interior of the Old Library and fascinating historic books that are usually hidden away inside Queens’ College. This is a fantastic opportunity for people to explore a little known aspect of the region’s history’.
